Thousands Back Pipeline Resistance
By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News Health & Environment Editor
CANNON BALL, N.D. –– As opponents of the Dakota Access (aka Bakken) Pipeline traveled to the U.S. capital for a judge’s Aug. 24 decision on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s petition to bar construction of the 1,172-mile project, support of the tribe’s position skyrocketed.
Delegations from near and far poured into the Red Warrior Camp and Sacred Stone Spirit Camp in Cannon Ball, to take part in prayer ceremonies and direct actions aimed at preventing pipeline companies from building the oil transport route across the Missouri River.
The North Dakota Transportation Department closed Highway 1806 and set up a control point on Highway 6, alleging heavy pedestrian and other traffic related to the resistance.
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple declared a state of emergency to requisition public money for law enforcement to protect the pipeline companies from the activists after a federal court approved Dakota Access LLC’s request for a temporary restraining order against Standing Rock Tribal Chair David Archambault II and activists.
The companies, Houstonbased Energy Transfer Partners, Phillips 66, and Enbridge Inc., have obtained most of the permits to begin building the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, across the Great Plains, the Missouri River, its tributaries, and wetlands in its watershed.
The route would carry oil from Canada and the Bakken Formation centered at the Mandan Hidatsa & Arikara Nation in North Dakota. After passing through South Dakota and Iowa, the DAPL would continue to Illinois, where it would transfer its load to another nearly completed line carrying the hazardous material to the Gulf of Mexico refineries and export facilities in Texas.
Representatives of all the Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation were together in unity at the spirit camps on Aug. 20, when estimates are that at least 4,000 pipeline resisters participated in the resistance here.
They gathered near the proposed site of the DAPL river crossing, a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, to form a flotilla of watercraft on the Cannon Ball River at its entrance to the Missouri’s Oahe Reservoir and raise awareness about the project’s threat to water supplies.
Emotion and excitement ran high, as expressed by one of the Lakota campers: “I woke up here! Surrounded by many nations of strong and beautiful relatives, my heart is so full. Many times yesterday I was in tears, grateful. Pretty much every single one of my heroes is here, indigenous organizers from across the nation, all of us standing for our future, together.”
The Missouri is the longest river in North America. The crossing near Cannon Ball is approximately at the river’s midpoint and upstream from the drinking water intakes of communities in several states, such as those of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply System, which serves Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Lower Brule Indian reservations, as well as off-reservation municipalities in South Dakota.
Last Real Indians’ representative Lakota Matt Remle pointed out the environmental injustice in the companies’ decision to shift the river crossing downstream from Bismarck due to concerns of that population.
“In the initial environmental assessment, the maps utilized by Dakota Access — and reviewed and incorporated by the Army Corps — did not indicate that the (Standing Rock) tribe’s lands were within one-half mile of the proposed crossing of Lake Oahe. Furthermore, the company selected this route because the route to the north would be near and could jeopardize the drinking water of the residents in the city of Bismarck,” he said.
“It actually omitted the very existence of the tribe on all maps and any analysis, in direct violation of the U.S. environmental justice policies,” he said.
However, Rapid City resident Darren Thompson, recently named official ambassador of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Tribe, clarified in an essay, that this is not about race or “one particular tribe that is causing the delay,” rather about making sure of “a precious resource preserved” for everybody.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, in granting the temporary restraining order to dissuade activists, said pipeline proponents and opponents are “strongly encouraged to meet and confer in good faith” to end the dispute out of court.
More than two dozen people have been charged with civil and criminal offenses over the dispute in the past several weeks. None of them are from the pipeline company.
In the face of the opposition, DAPL LLC suspended construction efforts Aug. 12, pending the hearing on Standing Rock’s case, which is being joined by Cheyenne River and Yankton tribes.
The case targets the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for granting the water crossing permits, allegedly in violation of 1851 and 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty terms, as well as the rules of the EPA.
Proponents say that the construction would mean at least 8,000 jobs, and the project would generate $129 million annually in property and income tax.
“Protecting landowner interests and the local environment is a top priority of the Dakota Access Pipeline project,” a company fact sheet says.
Rural residents in Iowa are going to court to argue that their lands should not be condemned under the tenets of eminent domain to allow the line to go through, because DAPL is not a public utility, rather a private, for-profit venture.
On Aug. 18, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) jointly submitted an urgent action communication to four UN human rights Special Rapporteurs. It cited grave human rights and treaty violations resulting from the construction.
The submission quotes Archambault, saying, “The Dakota Access Pipeline is harmful. It will not be just harmful to my people but its intent and construction will harm the water in the Missouri River, which is the only clean and safe river tributary left in the United States.”
Most experts believe it is not a matter of “if” but “when” a spill will contaminate the ground and river water upon which the tribe depends, the communication states.
Since 2010, more than 3,300 incidents of crude oil and liquefied natural gas leaks or ruptures have occurred on U.S. pipelines. These incidents have killed 80 people, injured 389 more, and cost $2.8 billion in damages, it notes.
According to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, spills and ruptures released over 7 million gallons of crude oil into the environment in these five years, Spills release toxic, polluting chemicals in local soil, waterways, and air, it adds.
As solidarity mounted, the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s Executive Council unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Aug. 18 pronouncement reads: “As stewards of the air, land, and sea, who have respect for nature and property, Central Council stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who have been peacefully protesting to protect their way of life, water, people and land.”
Central Council President Richard Peterson had these words to offer: "As we embark on our own battles over trans-boundary mining issues, we need to support our brothers and sisters across Indian country so that we might be able to call on them to do the same for us in the spirit of the Idle No More movement.”
The Diocesan Council of the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota unanimously endorsed allocating 10 percent of the value of its 2016 Bakken royalties to help outreach efforts for the campaign against the pipeline and the Sacred Stone Camp.
It approved the North Dakota Council of Indian Ministries (NDCIM) requests to call upon the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reverse its decision for construction of the DAPL.
It also called on authorities to re-open Highway 1806, saying, “Not only is this closure an unnecessary inconvenience to Standing Rock residents, but it has effectively resulted in an economic sanction against the Standing Rock Nation.”
From the Navajo Nation, Councilman Jonathan Perry sent a letter to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe “on behalf of those Diné who are in solidarity in the No DAPL campaign.”
In it, he said, “I encourage you to continue to stand your ground. Many of the indigenous nations across this land are encountering many of the same issues, and we must come together for the sake of not only our environment but for future generations.”
Demonstrations in Bismarck, North Dakota, and in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota showed urban support for the pipeline resistance.