Glenn Morris, an American Indian Movement activist, recently returned from the North Dakota encampment and said more is at stake than access to clean water.
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BISMARCK, N.D. | A federal judge kept in place Monday a previous work-stoppage order on a small portion of the almost 1,200-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline while federal agencies review construction permits for the site, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says is sacred ground.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit in July against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which approved the permit for the pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which is suing federal regulators for approving the oil pipeline, says the project will cut through sacred sites and have a negative impact on drinking water.
The federal agencies also requested that Energy Transfer pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
In response to Warren’s memo, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said it will continue exploring all legal, legislative and administrative options to stop Dakota Access construction.
The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline is being developed by Energy Transfer Partners.
In the days since the federal government ordered construction to stop on a portion of the Dakota Access pipeline last Friday, Native American protesters have faced distrust and even violence in a rural North Dakota community.
Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren told employees the pipeline is almost 60 per cent complete and that “concerns about the pipeline’s impact on the local water supply are unfounded”.
Authorities asked protesters to leave and some left peacefully, Preskey said.
Rob Keller, spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, said three protesters remain attached to three pieces of equipment at the worksite as officers are working to free them.
On Sept. 9, several agencies of the federal government temporarily suspended pipeline construction on a small piece of land owned by the Army Corp of Engineers, bringing Energy Transfer’s North Dakota operations to a halt… for now.
“This issue is not simply an indigenous peoples’ issue, not simply a treaty issue”, he said. Organizers said they hope to call attention to the courageous water and land protectors at Standing Rock.
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“The St. Paul City Council stands in solidarity with native people of St. Paul and the Lakota….nations”, Prince said.
