Port is affiliated with Americans for Prosperity, a “think tank” funded by the Koch brothers which is, to the say least, more than friendly to the fossil fuel and pipeline industry. The protesters claim that the pipeline will infringe on their cultural rights and access to clean water since it will go underneath the Missouri River – the main source of water for the reservation.
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The Bismarck Tribune reports that the 28 students live south of a barricade put up on state Highway 1806 on August 17 because of safety concerns related to the protest in southern North Dakota of the Dakota Access Pipeline. There is a federal court hearing in Washington D.C. this week about the lawsuit.
Kaiser said two Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office deputies were part of the group of law enforcement officers standing on the line between the protesters and Dakota Access Pipeline equipment.
“Our water is sacred”, she said.
Landowners opposed to the pipeline asked a judge to stop the project, but a district judge ruled Monday that the courts can not intervene because landowners had not yet exhausted administrative remedies before bringing legal action.
“To see people from all backgrounds and all races come together, it’s huge support”, Hall said. I’m sure that the Earthjustice lawyers will blow a great deal of smoke over any indication that Energy Transfer Partners (which owns DAPL) and/or the regulators who approved the pipeline skirted any of the reams of laws and regulations which govern such projects. “We have grandparents here”.
When asked what will happen if the judge denies the injunction and Dakota Access tries to resume construction, Camp said, “Then we’ll start blockading”.
“We have a government-to-government relationship, and in that relationship, there should be consultation”, Archambault said. “It is no longer a lawful protest, and there is no way to peacefully and lawfully participate in an unlawful protest”. “We don’t need to build this pipeline'”.
Construction on a controversial oil pipeline has been stopped as protests continue. They also continued to rail against what they contend is an unnecessarily heavy law enforcement presence, including a checkpoint about six miles south of Mandan that restricts southbound traffic on Highway 1806 to emergency response vehicles and local traffic such as farmers, ranchers and homeowners.
Judge Daniel Hovland of U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota pushed a hearing to decide whether to grant a preliminary injunction sought by the company to September 8 from this Thursday.
From 2,500 to 4,000 people were estimated to be at the protest site on Monday.
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The demonstration is taking place on property that belongs to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
