A federal judge has denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request to temporarily stop construction on the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline near their reservation in North Dakota. A United States district judge temporarily stopped work on the pipeline and will rule Friday on the tribe’s challenge.
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Boasberg wrote that the court “does not lightly countenance any depredation of lands that hold significance to the Standing Rock Sioux” and that it “scrutinizes the permitting process here with particular care”. She commented on North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s support of suppression of the Standing Rock protests: “You are not George Wallace, and this is not Alabama”.
If completed, the 1,172-mile pipeline would carry 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to IL.
The tribe haggled with the oil pipeline developers over whether the National Historic Preservation Act, which allows the government to preserve historical and archaeological sites, can and should be used to prevent the building of the $3.8 million pipeline.
Protesters opposed to the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline are rallying in downtown Indianapolis.
Protesters are also anxious that digging the pipeline under the Missouri River could affect the drinking water supply if the pipeline breaks.
A Native American tribe’s efforts to halt construction of a crude oil pipeline in North Dakota have swelled into a movement, drawing global attention and the support of movie stars and social media, and making a major oil company blink.
The bulldozers retreated, but the security guards attempted to repel the land defenders, unleashing at least half a dozen vicious dogs, who bit both people and horses.
The judge’s order was announced over a loudspeaker at the protest camp near the reservation on North Dakota’s southern border. The tribe also alleges that ancient sites have been disturbed during construction. The Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association has asked the federal Justice Department to send monitors to the site because it said racial profiling is occurring.
The tribe released a statement earlier Friday asking protesters to respect the ruling “even if the outcome of the court’s ruling is not in our favor, “.
The tribe argues the project threatens water supplies and has already disrupted sacred sites. None of the arrests stemmed from Saturday’s confrontation between protesters and construction workers.
Members of an Ojibwe tribe are helping to erect lodges capable of withstanding North Dakota cold, and people from as far away as London and South Korea have joined the protest, signing their names to a map at the campsite. She also said the protest will continue.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has accused the Corps of failing to properly consider whether the 1,170-mile pipeline poses a threat to important areas in North Dakota. In April, residents of the reservation and supporters from other tribes set up camp near the construction site to keep an eye on the pipeline workers who were waiting for approval and preparing to break ground. They hired a company that had guard dogs, and then they came in, and then they waited.
North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness said in a statement Friday the industry group is pleased with the judge’s ruling but disappointed but disappointed with the federal agencies’ decision to postpone construction.
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The ruling said Dakota Access hired professional archaeologists to survey the entire route through the Dakotas and much of Iowa and IL for cultural resources.
