The Dakota Access pipeline, which is already more than half completed, is a massive $3.7 billion project that would transport 470,000 barrels of oil a day across four states from the oil fields in Stanley, North Dakota, near the Canadian border, to Patoka in southern IL, where it would link with other existing pipelines.
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Representatives from tribes all across the USA and Canada along with many other supporters have established a camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota where the efforts to stop the pipeline are now centered.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled against the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe last week after the tribe filed a lawsuit claiming that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated environmental and historical preservation laws when it approved the project.
Last Friday, a federal judge ruled against the Sioux nation’s attempt to stop the work – but immediately after that ruling, the United States government ordered construction on the pipeline to halt temporarily. Acting moments after a federal judge denied the tribe’s request for a halt to construction, three federal agencies announced the administration’s plan and asked the company building it to refrain from construction on private land as well.
Horseback riders make their way through an encampment near North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux reservation on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
Meanwhile, Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has been involved in protests against the pipeline for its route through what he said are tribal burial and prayer sites, addressed Warren’s letter and lambasted the energy company in a Tuesday news release.
“I’m just here doing the best I can for the people and the planet”, Lorinda Smith said.
The 22 arrests Tuesday represented the highest number of people arrested in one day since protest activities began about a month ago, bringing the total number of arrests to 60.
The Standing Rock Sioux is challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant about 200 permits at water crossings for pipeline, which goes through the Dakotas and Iowa to IL.
Dozens of different tribes have gathered at a protest camp near the pipeline construction site in North Dakota, which has led to occasional clashes with police and security guards.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier says his office will keep pursuing charges against protesters who attach themselves to equipment.
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Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, sent a memo to employees expressing the company’s commitment to finishing the pipeline, which is almost 60 percent complete.
