Speaking from the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival world premiere of “Snowden” on Friday, actress Shailene Woodley, who has backed efforts to halt the pipeline, lauded the US government’s decision.
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More than 60 people from the Yakima Valley and beyond held a protest this afternoon against a controversial oil pipeline project in North Dakota.
The proposed Dakota Access pipeline project would transport crude oil from North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois to an existing oil terminus near Patoka, Illinois. “[The administration] asked [the construction company] to voluntarily stop the pipeline, and they don’t have to if they don’t want to”, said June Sapiel, a member of the Penobscot Nation who recently returned from a two-week stay at Standing Rock and plans to return soon.
More than a thousand people gather at an encampment near North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux reservation on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
“This case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes” views on these types of infrastructure projects, ‘ the statement said, adding that it would invite tribal leaders to talks on the issue.
US District Judge James Boasberg denied injunctive relief to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe [tribe website], which had sought to prevent the Dakota Access pipeline from being built across sacred land. The Stanford University American Indian Organization said that the Dakota Access Pipeline is the epitome of modern-day colonization, terrorism, and genocide.
Mitchell said the Wabanaki tribe here in ME is standing in solidarity with their relatives.
Brigham McCown, an industry consultant and former head of pipeline regulator U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said the federal action came “out of left field” and was unprecedented.
“Even though we cannot make it over there, we can make a difference from here”, said Tia Palmer, of Toppenish.
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The tribe’s lawsuit alleged that the Army Corps of Engineers and the pipeline company did not adequately consider the potential environmental impacts of the project and did not seek the tribe’s counsel on the cultural impacts of digging in nearby lands. The relationship between Maine’s state government and its tribes has become increasingly tumultuous over the years, largely because of conflicts over sovereignty, fishing rights, water quality and other environmental matters.
