ALERT: Multiple Statements Regarding Dakota Access Pipeline

US Government Statement Regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline

Contacts: Jessica Kershaw (US Dept. of the Interior) and Moira Kelley (Dept. of the Army),  Nov. 14, 2016

Washington, DC – Today, the Army informed the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Energy Transfer Partners, and Dakota Access, LLC, that it has completed the review that it launched on September 9, 2016. The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation’s dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property.

The Army invites the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to engage in discussion regarding potential conditions on an easement for the pipeline crossing that would reduce the risk of a spill or rupture, hasten detection and response to any possible spill, or otherwise enhance the protection of Lake Oahe and the Tribe’s water supplies. The Army invites discussion of the risk of a spill in light of such conditions, and whether to grant an easement for the pipeline to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location. The Army continues to welcome any input that the Tribe believes is relevant to the proposed pipeline crossing or the granting of an easement.

While these discussions are ongoing, construction on or under Corps land bordering Lake Oahe cannot occur because the Army has not made a final decision on whether to grant an easement. The Army will work with the Tribe on a timeline that allows for robust discussion and analysis to be completed expeditiously.

We fully support the rights of all Americans to assemble and speak freely, and urge everyone involved in protest or pipeline activities to adhere to the principles of nonviolence.

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Thousands Unite in Solidarity With Standing Rock

From an Article by Climate Nexus, www.EcoWatch.com, November 15, 2016

Thousands of people protested in North Dakota and outside Army Corps of Engineers offices, banks and energy companies in different parts of the country after indigenous leaders and climate activists called for a national “day of action.”

Protesters in DC were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders outside the White House who asked the government to cancel the Dakota Access Pipeline’s permit.

“All across the country, we are bringing the proverbial fires of the Oceti Sakowin to the doors of the U.S. Army Corps, demanding action to stop this bakken oil pipeline,” Dallas Goldtooth, “Keep It in the Ground” organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, said. “Now is the time for the White House administration and its Department of Army to support Indigenous rights and sovereignty by rescinding the pipeline permits and ordering a full EIS. We all stand in solidarity with Standing Rock, because we know this is a fight worth winning.”

Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, filed papers in federal court Tuesday, in an attempt to override the delay caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ Monday decision to get more input from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe before proceeding with construction.

“When elders at Standing Rock asked people from around the country to turn out in support of their campaign, I knew that people around the country would answer their call,” Bill McKibben, cofounder of 350.org, said. “Their encampment is the moral center of the continent right now, and it’s good to have some of that spirit across the nation today.”

Commentary: The Inquirer, Will Bunch column

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Dakota Access pipeline to be completed despite protests, company official tells PBS

From an Article by Ethan Lou, Reuters (NYC), November 17, 2016

The company behind the controversial Dakota Access crude pipeline will seek to complete the project even if protests against its construction continue, its chief executive told the PBS NewsHour television news program late on Wednesday.

“This is not a peaceful protest,” said Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners. “If they want to stick around and continue to do what they’re doing, great, but we’re building the pipeline.”

Dakota Access, halted by the federal government in September after protests, has drawn opposition from the Native American Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmentalists who say it could pollute water supplies and destroy sacred historic tribal sites.

Demonstrators fanned out across North America on Tuesday to demand that the U.S. government either halts or reroutes the pipeline, while Energy Transfer asked a federal court for permission to complete it.

Energy Transfer has said the pipeline would be a more efficient and safer way to transport oil from the Bakken shale of North Dakota to the Midwest and onto the U.S. Gulf Coast.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net