This, despite strong opposition and a federal order to halt construction near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota.
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According to Gmeiner, the Dakota Access pipeline would carry fracked oil from North Dakota to IL, cutting under the Missouri River less than a mile upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux’s drinking water supply, as well as through the Tribe’s sacred and historical land.
The company building a pipeline to transport oil from North Dakota to the U.S. Gulf Coast said on Tuesday it remained committed to completing construction even after the U.S. Justice Department blocked the project while Native Americans and other protesters geared up for another day of demonstrations.
The pipeline would transport almost half a million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in IL. On Sept. 9 an Obama-appointed USA district judge ruled that the Dakota Access project is in compliance with US rules and regulations.
Holding signs and banners and chanting “Oil Kills”, protesters in Atlanta on Tuesday shouted support for Native American activists trying to stop construction of a North Dakota pipeline they say will desecrate sacred land and pollute water.
Federal government agencies intervened last week after a district court ruled in favor of the pipeline construction, calling for a temporary halt to construction on parts of the pipeline until the Army Corps of Engineers can determine a full range of environmental and other federal policies.
Morton County authorities say eight people were arrested Wednesday, including three cited for locking themselves onto construction equipment.
Preskey says 20 people face charges of criminal trespassing.
According to Sanders, the protest is also “the issue of standing with the people who have been exploited” and “whose treaty rights have been abrogated for years”. The speakers encouraged President Barack Obama, who visited the reservation in 2014, to back their cause. Those who didn’t leave were arrested, she said.
Members of more than 100 tribes have come to North Dakota to protest the pipeline, which had been under construction.
Outside the United States, activists said on social media they planned protests in countries including Britain, Spain, South Korea and New Zealand.
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Archambault said the consultations were one-sided and that “they met with us after their plans were already made”.
