On Friday, a federal judge chose to deny the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s attempt to halt the construction of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline, which would transfer crude oil from North Dakota to IL.
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A short time after a federal judge ruled that construction could resume on a controversial oil pipeline in North Dakota, the U.S. Departments of Justice, the Army and the Interior issued a joint statement announcing they had put a stop to the pipe’s construction in the Lake Oahe area.
Awaiting Friday’s critical federal ruling on the Dakota Access pipeline, more than 1,000 people gathered at the site of a long-running protest in North Dakota. Hundreds of people in Sandusky, who call themselves the “Water Guardians” walked to a zone constructing the pipeline, along the Mississippi River to vocalize their message.
The tribe had challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ $3.8 billion pipeline, saying that the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will harm water supplies.
The U.S. Departments of Justice, the Interior and the Army weighed in immediately after the ruling’s release with an announcement that the Corps of Engineers will at least temporarily halt authorization for construction of the pipeline around Lake Oahe, while it relooks at its previous decisions regarding this large reservoir. “Native peoples have suffered generations of broken promises and today the federal government said that national reform is needed to better ensure that tribes have a voice on infrastructure projects like this pipeline”. But say they’ll stop construction workers from entering their zones to work on the pipeline.
The $3.8 billion pipeline would carry 450,000 barrels of crude oil each day from North Dakota to IL.
The move came shortly after a federal judge in Washington rejected a request from Native Americans for a court order to block the project.
The government is also asking the pipeline company to voluntarily pause all construction within 20 miles of the lake pending a thorough review of the permits, which they pledged would be conducted “expeditiously”. “It’s earth shaking”, said Dave Archambault, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman.
The language which the Obama Administration used in halting the construction, though, is essentially a request to the company, but whether or not they choose to comply and voluntarily stop their project has yet to be seen. A status conference is scheduled for September 16.
A protest is planned at the North Dakota Capitol from 3 p.m.to 6 p.m. Friday. In a statement on its website, the group links the threat of water contamination in North Dakota — the Standing Rock Sioux worry that the pipeline will leak into the Missouri River — to the lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Mich. “The same companies that build pipelines are the same companies that build factories that emit carcinogenic chemicals into Black communities, leading to some of the highest rates of cancer, hysterectomies, miscarriages, and asthma in the country”.
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On Thursday, North Dakota’s archaeologist said a piece of private land that was not previously surveyed by the state would be surveyed for artifacts next week.
