Chase Iron Eyes, a Standing Rock Sioux Tribe member and Fort Yates attorney challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat, joined other candidates in calling for better communication between state government, protesters and pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas.
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The group is joining in the protest of the multi-billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline that would cross the Missouri River several times across four states. The company’s public relations department has thus far remained fairly quiet regarding the opposition of Iowans, but on the North Dakota protest declared that the tribe in North Dakota were consulted prior to construction, and that the Dakota Sioux have no legal right to the land in question.
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II referenced the September 3 incident multiple times Tuesday as he took the pipeline fight to Geneva, Switzerland, asking the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn “the deliberate destruction of our sacred places”.
The almost $3.8 billion project is meant to transport up to 450,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude at the start of operation, with a future maximum capacity of 570,000 barrels per day.
About 50 law enforcement officers, many in riot gear, formed a blockade in front of the Morton County law enforcement center and later Mandan City Hall when protesters marched there a block away.
“I think it’s important to realize that this is a problem for everybody-not just a problem for people in North Dakota right now”. The pipeline would go under the Missouri River, so the resulting oil spills would irreparably pollute the drinking water of millions of people. “A lot of us are in struggle and a lot of us worry about what’s on the food that we eat and in the water that we drink.” said Reiley.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice halted construction near the main protest area around Lake Oahe in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, to ensure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had complied with the National Environmental Policy Act.
Officials with Paradigm Energy Partners LLC said in federal court earlier this month that the $125 million, 70-mile (113 km) oil pipeline is complete, and that it needs to complete the $16.6 million gas pipeline by November 1 due to an agreement with a private landowner.
Energy Transfer did not respond to a request for comment. The pipeline would be a huge economic boost and relieve USA dependence on foreign oil, the company says, and it’s safer than transporting oil by truck or train.
At Thursday’s live-streamed forum, Spotted Eagle called for cancellation of the DAPL construction permit and tribal consultations for any future projects. But the federal government quickly stepped in, stopping work on one section and asking the pipeline company to do the same on a larger 40-mile swath.
In the case of the Dakota Pipeline, 1,134 miles of underground pipeline would stretch over 4 states; North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and IL. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a threat to the environment, natural lands, wildlife habitat, and their water supply.
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The heaviest concentration of protests remains in and around the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. More recently, members of the group expressed solidarity the 14th with the North Dakota Standing Rock Sioux tribe as both take the same stance against the pipeline.
