In what’s been called the largest gathering of American Indians in more than 100 years, the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes, along with lots of environmental activists, have converged on DAP construction sites, riding right up to pipeline workers on horseback and holding anti-pipeline rallies.
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A federal judge is expected to render a decision today which will either block construction of the pipeline or allow it to continue. People came from as far as NY and Alaska, some bringing their families and children, and hundreds of tribal flags dotted the camp, along with American flags flown upside-down in protest.
Owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project would carry almost a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Ill., where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets.
After Judge Boasberg said in his ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to fast-track the pipeline project was not illegal, tribal leaders quickly filed a notice of appeal. This July, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the pipeline, followed by a lawsuit from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Protesters and private security guards have skirmished on private land, where the tribe says construction has disturbed ancient sacred sites.
“Construction … of the pipeline will not go forward at this time” on USA -owned land, the federal statement said.
Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II told hundreds of protesters who braved a torrential downpour to gather at the North Dakota Capitol grounds in Bismark that a public policy win is a lot stronger than a judicial win.
The refusal handed down in a 58-page opinion by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that the Standing Rock Sioux tribe “had not presented enough evidence that the pipeline would cause irreparable harm to the tribe that the Court could prevent”.
The Department of Justice called upon Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners to voluntarily halt construction temporarily within 20 miles of Lake Oahe, which is considered sacred to the regional native tribes. And they weren’t alone – that day, the Sarayaku of Ecuador, the Navajo from Arizona, and the Pomo from California were also represented – by last week over 2000 Indigenous tribes had spoken in solidarity with the Sioux. Critics say education, access to medical care and access to economic opportunity on such reservations are substandard, and that the rights of indigenous people are still overlooked by the US government today.
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“It’s very encouraging to see them step forward again, and we hope this marks a turning point in how our federal government consults with Tribal Nations, and with the farmers and landowners whose livelihoods are threatened by these massive fossil fuel infrastructure projects”, he said in a statement.
