Opponents of Dakota Access pipeline take message to Trump with march in capital
WASHINGTON — With options dwindling to stop construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, American Indians and their supporters brought their message to President Donald Trump on Friday with rallies outside the White House and his Washington hotel.
Even if the pipeline is completed, the protest movement has been successful because it has called attention to the issue of tribal sovereignty, participants said.
The final, disputed section of the pipeline would pass under a reservoir that provides drinking water to the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux reservations. The tribes and their supporters say the pipeline threatens their religious rights and water supply.
Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said Dallas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners would ultimately pay a price for disregarding the tribes’ religious beliefs.
“We have not lost this battle,” Goldtooth said. “Nothing will ever go right for those corporations. It’s only a matter of time before it will fall flat on its face.”
A federal judge this week declined to halt construction of the final section of the pipeline, meaning oil could begin flowing through it as early as next week. The disputed section would pass under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota. The pipeline stretches from North Dakota to Illinois.
The Obama administration halted construction, but Trump gave the pipeline the green light to start again with an executive order.
A court hearing in the ongoing legal fight against the pipeline is not expected until at least April.
Hundreds of people participated in Friday’s march, which began at the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters. The agency manages the Missouri River and last month gave Energy Transfer Partners permission to finish the project. Protesters also erected a teepee outside Trump’s hotel.