In a joint announcement released Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Army have stopped further work on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). “Around Lake Oahe, for example, the pipeline will track both the Northern Border Gas Pipeline, which was placed into service in 1982”.
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A North Dakota judge issued a warrant Wednesday for the capture of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who is blamed for spray-painting construction equipment amid a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline.
The planned route for the pipeline would take crude oil from the Bakken shale, a vast oil formation that stretches across parts of North Dakota, Montana, and Canada, all the way to refineries in the Gulf Coast, passing through the sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
“The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved – including the pipeline company and its workers – deserves a clear and timely resolution”, the Department of Justice penned in an official statement. The Corps requested that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
The agencies continued by saying “Furthermore, 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 Corps of Engineers can block construction on its land, which does stop the contested Missouri River crossing, at least for now. Energy Transfer said the pipeline would bring an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes to state and local governments.
Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for the company, said it had no comment.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe says the statement is a “game changer”, and are acting immediately on legal options, including filing an to appeal the judge’s decision.
They promised “meaningful tribal input into infrastructure-related reviews and decisions and the protection of tribal lands, resources, and treaty rights” and “government-to-government consultations” this fall.
“We were very apolitical in the decisions we made”, he said. Robin Martinez, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild in Kansas City, told DeSmog he has mixed feelings about the implications of the joint statement. The developer, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, says modern technology allows quick detection of leaks, and pipeline supporters say it would cut the amount of oil that travels by train.
Martinez was doubtful, though, that Dakota Access would stop bulldozing contested private land.
For her, this protest is about more than opposing an oil pipeline.
After five months of peaceful protest, the Sacred Stone Camp finally got attention from the national media.
“As many of you know, the way the Native Americans were treated was tragic”.
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A journalist who captured footage of North Dakota pipeline protesters being confronted by private security officers and guard dogs has been charged with trespassing. About a dozen Guard members are manning a traffic information point on State Highway 1806 to free up law enforcement to have a visible presence near the protest site. On Friday, back in North Dakota, they ran to Bismarck for a demonstration.
