Native American direct action halts Dakota Access Pipeline
On Fri, Sept. 9, the Obama administration, along with the United States Department of the Interior, Department of Justice and The Army Corps of Engineers, declared that all work on the Dakota Access Pipeline occurring on federal lands would be temporarily halted. The announcement came largely in response to the massive protest camp and other direct actions carried out by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and other protestors, in the pipeline vicinity.
U.S. Federal Judge James Boasberg had originally denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s initial court injunction against the Army Corps, which would have required the cancelling of all permits to work on the pipeline. The federal government then made a joint statement later in the day saying they would be reconsidering some permits and that “construction of the pipeline on Army Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe (Missouri River) will not go forward at this time.”
That same morning, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple placed the National Guard on standby in anticipation of the judge’s verdict and in response to the previous day’s unrest.
Protests in North Dakota opposing the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline have been churning since April 2016, but reached a boiling point on Sept. 3 when a private security force hired by Dakota Access LLC used attack dogs and pepper spray in an attempt to disperse protesters near the camp. Six activists were treated for dog bites.
According to an article published by the Globe and Mail, the protesters were attempting to stop bulldozers which they claim were actively destroying Indigenous burial grounds, artifacts, and sacred sites. No damage to the sites has yet been confirmed, although Dakota Access has claimed damages and filed charges against protesters who had apparently spray painted and chained themselves to construction equipment.
As of Mon, Sept. 12, the majority of protesters remained on site at the pipeline location near the fork of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers. While no official record was taken, Democracy Now! has reported that more than 1,000 individuals present in the camp were from over 100 tribes in the U.S., and some from Canada.
The Dakota Access Pipeline, or Bakken pipeline, is a 1,770 km long, $3.7 billion project in the midst of construction, having previously received government approval. Three Canadian banks have been identified as backers of the Dakota Access pipeline, including TD Securities, Royal Bank of Canada, and Scotiabank.
Stretching from North Dakota’s shale natural gas deposits to link up with refineries on the coast of Texas, the project has been opposed on grounds that Native American tribes were not actively consulted in the construction process. Opposed parties are also concerned that the pipeline poses a serious risk to local water supplies, particularly where it passes directly underneath the Missouri River, the longest river in North America.
The future of the pipeline appears to be up in the air, as the federal government work stoppage orders are only temporary. The stoppage also only applies to the part of the pipeline that crosses directly under the Missouri River, specifically at Lake Oahe, which is a reservoir within the river. Work is able to continue elsewhere, and it is possible that the Army Corps will allow work to continue once it had re-evaluated the work permits to ensure a certain level of environmental sensitivity is included in the construction plans.
Photo by Joe Catron (CC BY-NC 2.0).