The company’s attorney told Farrell on Friday that delays to pipeline construction could cost more than $8 million. “I’m asking that we proceed with prayer and with peace”, Archambault said. “Due process, which is a constitutional right that all of us have, requires among other things an opportunity to make your case and defend your case”. Though there have been isolated reports of disorderly conduct, trespassing, and interference with observational aircraft, Governor Jack Dalrymple noted that the protests have been largely peaceful. “It’s very hurtful”, she added, according to the Bismarck Tribune. The matter could be resolved by a federal court hearing scheduled for Wednesday regarding an emergency injunction filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
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Those opposed to the pipeline say a leak will jeopardize the water supply for the Standing Rock tribe. “While lawful protests are appropriate while other legal avenues are pursued, the company’s permit to build the pipeline is also legal and should be honored”.
While the hearing goes on, Indigenous people from various tribes around the country as well as Hollywood stars are gathering outside of the courthouse to declare solidarity and demand justice for the Standing Rock Sioux.
US District Judge James Boarsberg heard the case in a Washington, DC court on Wednesday and will issue an opinion on 9 September.
Protesters have disrupted construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline that’s created to carry North Dakota crude to IL. The line has a maximum capacity of 570,000 barrels per day and runs from North Dakota to patoka, Illinois. They asked the question: Can a protest against oil happen without oil? Dozens of passing drivers honked their horns in solidarity, though one yelled an expletive aimed at Native Americans.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project that 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, Illinois, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets.
Valley News Live has a crew in Washington for the hearing.
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In an interview on Monday, the governor reiterated that the land actually belongs to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has forced the protesters to request a permit to carry out any further actions on what is historically their own land.
