“This is not going to be over on this one day, whether he rules in our favor or the company’s favor”, Archambault said.
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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is expected to rule Friday on the tribe’s request to temporarily stop construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.
In the tribe’s emergency motion, the Standing Rock Sioux accuses the developer, Dakota Access Pipeline, of razing areas on private land that the tribe’s cultural expert recently discovered were significant. We made our stance and the Indian Nation heard us.
The 1,100 mile (1,770 km), $3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline would carry oil from just north of the tribe’s land in North Dakota to IL, where it would hook up to an existing pipeline and route crude directly to refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The video, shot by Democracy Now, captured the chaotic scene as fist fights broke out between protesters and security officers. The tribe fears the pipeline will leak and contaminate its water supply and sacred sites, and its lawsuit claims the corps failed to consider the historical and cultural significance of that area. Unlike last week’s protest, officers did not attempt to cut free the man and woman bound to the construction equipment. The decision did not satisfy tribal leaders, who had hoped the construction stoppage would apply to a larger area.
Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a statement that the tribe is disappointed that the judge’s decision doesn’t stop the destruction of sacred sites while the tribe waits for a different ruling. Four private security guards and two dogs had to receive medical attention, and six protesters – including one child – were bitten while dozens of others were pepper sprayed, according to law enforcement and tribal officials, respectively. Boasberg said he will issue a ruling Friday on the tribe’s request to halt all work on the project until permitting issues and the tribe’s disputes with the Corps have been properly addressed.
The temporary, partial hold on construction follows a weekend of clashes between demonstrators and construction workers for Energy Transfer Partners.
Lawyers for the Corps have argued in court that there was a standard review process for the pipeline and that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was consulted on the project. A spokeswoman for Stein says that activists invited her to leave a message at the protest site. The pipeline, supporters say, is a better alternative to trucks and rails that would add thousands of construction jobs and millions in income and sales taxes.
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Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is accused of spray painting machinery during a protest of the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, on Tuesday, according to the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota.
