Celebrations, tears of joy, chanting and drumming rang out among thousands of protesters at the Standing Rock site after the Army Corp of Engineers announced it will look for an alternate route for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota.
For several months, Native American tribes and their allies, led by the Standing Rock Sioux, have been protesting against the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that would transport oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana across the Plains to Illinois. The protesters, numbering in the thousands and including members of hundreds of different tribes, argue that completing the pipeline would desecrate ancestral lands, threaten their water supply, and unfairly burden the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which is unlikely to benefit from any economic development that accompanies the project. Energy Transfer Partners, the corporation behind the pipeline, suggests the project will lead to greater economic development and increased safety and efficiency compared to the trains that currently carry Bakken crude oil.
Following months of protests, of which some have turned violent in the past weeks, the Army Corps of Engineers said it will not grant a permit to allow the proposed pipeline to cross under the lake. Officials said after discussion with the tribe and Dakota Access it became clear that more work had to be done on the project. Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners, the corporations behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, said in a statement Sunday night they “fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe.” As far as they’re concerned, the White House’s directive does not change past court decisions to green light the project. “Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way,” the company said in a statement.
The decision by the Corps of Engineers would be useful in a court challenge, according to Jan Hasselman, an Earthjustice staff attorney representing the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. “If the incoming administration tries to undo this and jam the pipeline through despite the need for an analysis of alternatives, we will certainly be prepared to challenge that in court,” he said. “It’s not so simple for one government administration to simply reverse the decisions of the former one.”
Earlier this week, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple ordered the protesters to leave the campsite by Monday, citing the harsh weather conditions as a reason why they needed to decamp. The US Army Corps of Engineers had warned that come Monday, activists who refused to leave the campsite could be arrested, and then backtracked, saying the agency had no plans to forcibly remove those who stay.
Instead of backing away, the protesters came out in full force and showed no signs of backing down, even inviting over 2,000 veterans to join their already robust presence. Now with a victory for the Sioux tribe and their supporters, Standing Rock has become a protest symbol. .
If you’re looking for more information on this topic check out these articles:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/30/us/dakota-pipeline-protests/
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/09/dapl-dakota-sitting-rock-sioux/499178/
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/25/us/dakota-pipeline-access-army-corps/