Kirchmeier said the probe is focused not only on protesters but also whether the pipeline’s private security personnel with guard dogs were licensed and whether Dakota Access destroyed sacred sites as Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials claim.
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Several Native American tribes are speaking out against the proposed oil pipeline – which would run some 1,170 miles through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and IL – citing potential negative effects on the local drinking water supply as well as other environmental concerns. “This pipeline violates our treaty rights and our human rights, and it violates the UN’s own Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.
Dozens of people gathered at the Four Freedoms monument for a peaceful protest. No arrests had been made when protesters began to disperse at about 4:30 p.m.
Kirchmeier said the investigation will determine which firms were hired to provide security that day and whether they were licensed.
According to a statement sent to media including Colorlines, Standing Rock Sioux members will also meet with United Nations ambassadors to discuss the rights of Indigenous people. The goal of the pipeline is to enable domestically produced crude oil in a safer and more efficient manner and will cross 18 Iowa counties. The project, he notes, was approved without appropriate consultation with the Tribe. “But the oil companies and the government of the United States have failed to respect our sovereign rights”, Archambault told the commission in a video shared by the tribe. The iconic singer-songwriter is a famed environmentalist and longtime support of Native American rights, his new song – which details the controversial pipeline – is called “Indian Giver”.
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“Our lives and our rights are threatened by Energy Transfer Partners” Archambault said.
