It’s a project they fear will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and millions further downstream.
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The leader of an American Indian tribe in North Dakota that is protesting the oil pipeline says the “cause is just”.
Protesters said the pipeline, which would be built to go underneath the Missouri River, would ruin the tribe’s water supply.
A months-long protest against the $3.8 billion oil pipeline, which will run through four states, descended into violence during the weekend after construction destroyed sacred Native American burial grounds in South Dakota. Once the marchers arrived at the construction site, they broke down a wire fence by stepping and jumping on it, the marchers estimated to be at least 300 people, broke into the building area and rushed construction workers, she said. He said at least 30 demonstrators were hit with pepper-spray. “These grounds are the resting place of our ancestors”. A federal judge is expected to rule on the court case by September 9th.
The Army Corps of Engineers granted permits the Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.The project is estimated to cost $3.8bn and will carry some 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota to IL, according to NBC News.
The initially peaceful gathering, with tents, trailers and horses took a violent turn when four security guards and two dogs were injured in the aftermath of a confrontation between protesters and construction crews.
Activists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline clashed with construction workers and security forces on Saturday in North Dakota. “In one day, our sacred land has turned into hollow ground”. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings can not be replaced.
Vicki Anderson Granado, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners, the company in charge of the pipeline, said in an email that there were 14 security personnel on site Saturday.
Tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz said in court documents that the tribe was only recently allowed to survey private land north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.
But Dakota Access Pipeline used evidence submitted to the Court as their roadmap for what to bulldoze.
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David Archambault II, the tribe’s chairman, said in a press statement construction crews scraped clear several tons of topsoil over a 150 feet wide area stretching almost 2 miles.
