Tribal groups are suing federal regulators over permits for the 1,134-mile pipeline because of threats to the Missouri River and other regional water ways.
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Amnesty International is concerned about whether the traffic barricade on State Highway 1806 north of the demonstration site is necessary for safety or whether it’s created to deter protesters, Demant said. Similarly, there are nearby water intakes for a tribal irrigation project and the main Standing Rock Reservation drinking water system, as well as individual drinking water wells located along the Missouri River.
Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a press release of his own on Thursday, condemning the pipeline and upholding the grassroots efforts to stop it.
Dozens of people protested outside the Nebraska state capitol on Wednesday.
Supporters said the pipeline would create more markets and reduce truck and oil train traffic – the latter of which has been a growing concern after a spate of fiery derailments of trains carrying North Dakota crude, including one near Dalrymple’s hometown of Casselton in 2013, and an explosion in Quebec that same year that killed 47 people.
The board issued an order Wednesday requiring Dakota Access to provide detailed information about the progress of construction in Iowa and the cost the company will incur if it is required to work around the parcels.
More than 20 people have been arrested on charges including disorderly conduct and trespassing onto the construction site.
While work is progressing on the southern part of the Dakota Access Pipeline, work in the north is moving slower.
Energy Transfer Partners said the project meets “all applicable federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and standards”, according to a company fact sheet. “We are protecting the lifeblood of our people, these rivers are the arteries of Mother Earth”.
Angela Bevans, an assistant attorney with Sioux background, told the Guardian on Thursday that “a$3 ny delay is a win for us, it will give Dakota Access pause and it puts word out that Standing Rock still needs assistance on this”.
A federal judge said Wednesday he would rule on or before September 9 on Standing Rock’s request for an emergency injunction to halt construction.
“This is the first time the drill came to our community and in the case of my tribe we fought that company off”.
The tribe argues the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – who approved the pipeline in July – failed to adequately consider the pipeline’s impact on sacred sites.
Still pending, is Earthjustice’s Sioux Tribe lawsuit and a request for a preliminary injunction to block construction of the pipeline.
At a time when white-supremacist notions are re-emerging and a major-party presidential candidate is encouraging America to hate again, this battle of government and corporate power against Native American rights is an important reminder of the real power dynamics in the US and of who has been denied rights since the founding of the country.
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The North Dakota Transportation Department closed Highway 1806 and set up a control point on Highway 6, alleging heavy pedestrian and other traffic related to the resistance.
