Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., wrote a letter to the GOP leadership of the House Natural Resources Committee requesting an oversight hearing into whether federal agencies properly consulted with Indian tribes on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.8-billion, 1,172-mile pipeline that would carry oil from North Dakota to IL. In Washington, D.C., hundreds of people gathered across from the White House to listen to speakers on the issue, including former presidential candidate Sen.
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Authorities say several people have been arrested for interfering with the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline about 70 miles northwest of the main protest site, which is near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.
Energy Transfer chairman and CEO Kelcy Warren told employees in a September 13 memorandum to employees that the company is committed to finishing the pipeline despite the administration’s interference.
The full statements for both Energy Transfer Partners and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe are attached to this article.
“We worry not just about this project, but what is the new set of rules?”
Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said he and the thousands of others who have gathered at an encampment in southern North Dakota to protest won’t budge. Shortly after the decision, however, the federal government said it would stop work that occurs on federal land to see whether it should “reconsider any of its previous decisions” to allow the project to proceed.
He dismissed as “unfounded” worries that oil would contaminate water in the Missouri and Cannon Ball rivers, and said the pipeline would address safety concerns connected with vehicle transport of oil.
Energy Transfer Partners, which is building the pipeline, says they are committed to continuing the construction. A U.S. District Court judge last week denied the tribe’s request for an injunction to cease construction while the case proceeds.
Yet minutes later, in an unusual move, the Obama administration announced that it was asking Energy Transfer Partners to halt construction in areas near Lake Oahe controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers while the corps reviewed its permitting decisions in those areas. Three federal agencies also asked ETP for a “voluntary pause” in work for 20 miles (32 km) on either side of Lake Oahe.
Law enforcement was called by pipeline workers who reported the protesters at the construction site west of Mandan, said sheriff’s office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey.
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Tuesday’s protest in Denver will involve representatives of Four Winds American Indian Council, American Indian Movement of Colorado, Mile High Unity, Denver American Indian Commission and Café Cultura, Fourth World Center, Indigenous Peoples Power Project, Black Mesa Denver Caravan, Lakota Healing Way Center, Owe Aku International Bring Back The Way, 350 Colorado, Sierra Club, Clean Energy Action and more, according to organizers.
