DAPL’s private security brought attack dogs to fend off the crowd and pepper-sprayed at least 30 people.
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Yet the Corps concluded, “there will be no direct or indirect effects to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe”.
A Dakota Access attorney says if there weren’t disturbances on the section of the oil pipeline that was part of a federal judge’s decision, it would be completed by the end of the week.
Energy Transfer Partners responded in federal court today saying they have not destroyed any important historical sites.
Aside from the legality of the issue, there are environmental risks involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline Project-mostly pertaining to the Natives’ primary water supply. What began as a peaceful demonstration quickly evolved into a violent outbreak, during which Energy Transfer Partners’ security dogs bit the protestors and almost 30 Natives were pepper-sprayed as they stampeded the site.
A weekend confrontation between protesters and construction workers near Lake Oahe prompted the tribe to ask Sunday for a temporary stop of construction, which a judge partially granted Tuesday.
Tuesday, a federal judge ruled Energy Transfer Partners could continue construction work only in certain areas before a hearing next Friday.
The Standing Rock Sioux also requested a temporary restraining order to put the construction on hold while the case is pending. This part of the construction site is a sacred tribal burial ground.
Attorneys representing the Standing Rock Sioux and attorneys representing both the Army Corps of Engineers and the company constructing the pipeline.
Grand Ronde tribal council secretary Cheryle Kennedy said Grand Ronde was monitoring the situation in North Dakota but did not have any plans to extend further assistance.
On Saturday, September 3, DAPL construction crews graded the entire two-mile area by removing the top layer of vegetation and soil, removing or burying all stone features in and next to the pipeline’s 150-foot right of way.
The judge is expected to issue a decision on the matter later this week.
Over the weekend, a violent clash broke out between security guards and protesters at a North Dakota construction site where an oil pipeline is being built.
Archambault says as a sovereign nation, the Standing Rock Sioux aren’t just another stakeholder.
Lawyers for Energy Transfer Partners filed court documents Tuesday morning denying that workers have destroyed any cultural sites and asking the judge to reject the tribes’ request for a temporary work stoppage.
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That motion is based on the tribes’ claim that it was not properly consulted before the U-S Army Corps of Engineers approved the pipeline project which would run from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and IL.
