Sioux seek global help in pipeline fight
UNITED STATES: Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline are calling for protests around the world as the US Army prepares to greenlight construction of the final stage of the project.
The army said on Wednesday it would allow the pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, clearing the way for completion of the US$3.8 billion (NZ$5.2B) project.
The army said it had granted the final permit for the pipeline after an order from US President Donald Trump to expedite the project. The army owns the land through its Corps of Engineers.
Native American tribes, led by the Standing Rock Sioux, and climate activists have vowed to fight the pipeline, fearing it will desecrate sacred sites and endanger drinking water. Project developer Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline is safe.
Opponents dubbed yesterday ‘‘#NODAPL Last Stand’’ day, and put out calls on social media for ‘‘emergency actions’’, with a list of events planned across the US and in Canada.
Standing Rock chairman David Archambault II said the tribe may have exhausted its legal options to stop the project. ’’We’re running out of options, but that doesn’t mean that it’s over.’’
The tribe said it would attempt to use a temporary restraining order. But Wayne D’angelo, an energy and environmental lawyer with Kelley Drye & Warren in Washington, said he believed the Trump administration was on ‘‘pretty solid legal ground’’.
The 1885-kilometre pipeline will move crude oil from the shale oilfields of North Dakota to Illinois en route to the Gulf of Mexico, where many US refineries are located.
Public opposition has drawn thousands of people to the North Dakota plains, including highprofile political and celebrity supporters. Large protest camps popped up near the site, leading to several violent clashes and more than 600 arrests.
The opposition sensed victory last year when the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, delayed completion of the pipeline pending a review of tribal concerns, and in December ordered an environmental study.
The protest camps dwindled in December, but a few holdouts have remained, including some who braved temperatures of minus 23 degrees C yesterday. - Reuters