“If constructed, 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”, stated Micah Parkin with 350 Colorado.
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The announcement came the same day as a planned “day of action” in cities around the US and in other countries, including the Toronto demonstration. Bernie Sanders and others speak.
Hours after the memo was released, two water protectors locked themselves to construction equipment outside Mandan, North Dakota, bringing construction on the pipeline to a halt. In the case of Dakota Access, “all the procedures and policies were followed, permits were issued, and then due to some demonstrations and violence in and around the project, somehow the administration made the decision to overrule a federal judge who had said the proper processes were followed”.
Chairman Archambault II of the Standing Rock Sioux had this reaction to the decision.
“I am confident that as long as the government ultimately decides the fate of the project based on science and engineering, the Dakota Access Pipeline will become operational…”
“We come here to demand that the Army Corps of Engineers and President [Barack] Obama revoke the permits given to Dakota Access Pipeline”. Tribe members say the pipeline poses an environmental and cultural threat, traversing ancestral lands.
“We are committed to completing construction and safely operating the Dakota Access Pipeline within the confines of the law”, Warren wrote in the memo.
The tribe said in court documents filed Monday that it wants U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to “formalize” the agencies’ requested stoppage for 20 miles on both sides of the Missouri River at Lake Oahe in southern North Dakota.
The Departments of Justice, the Interior and the Army announced that the Corps will temporarily halt authorization for construction of the pipeline around Lake Oahe while it reviews its decisions regarding the large reservoir.
The Dakota Access Pipeline has been the focus of growing opposition by Native American and environmental groups, led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which sued the Army Corps of Engineers in July to stop the pipeline.
ETP removed damaged or vandalized construction equipment from the area near the protest site Tuesday.
“A couple of the individuals that laid down or refused to walk on their own were carried to the transporter vans”, says Sheriff Dean Danzeisen, Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. The two who tethered themselves to equipment also face charges of hindering law enforcement and disorderly conduct. Warren also says the company has met with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe nine times over the course of the permit application process.
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Speakers called on President Barack Obama, who visited the reservation in 2014, to support their mission. The Obama administration chose to block construction on federal land shortly after a U.S. District Court judge rejected a request from Native Americans for a court order to block the project.
