Above Photo: A woman prays during a protest in Bismarck against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Reuters
Army corps of engineers’ call for ‘additional discussion and analysis’ comes amid heightened tensions between activists and the surrounding community
The US army corps of engineers has completed its review of the Dakota Access pipeline and is calling for “additional discussion and analysis”, further delaying completion of a project that has faced massive opposition from indigenous and environmental activists.
The statement comes amid heightened tensions between Native American activists and the surrounding community over the pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says could contaminate its water supply and destroy sacred sites. On Saturday, a man brandished a gun during a confrontation with protesters and fired his weapon into the air.
The Dakota Access pipeline operator announced on election day that it had completed construction of the pipeline up to Lake Oahe – a reservoir that is part of the Missouri River – and was preparing to begin drilling under the river. But the company still lacks permission from the army corps of engineers to perform the drilling.
Assistant secretary of the army Jo-Ellen Darcy cited the history of “repeated dispossessions” of the Great Sioux Nation in a letter to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the pipeline company. She wrote that the corps wanted to begin talks with the tribe about “potential conditions in an easement” that would allow the pipeline to cross the Missouri river but lessen the risks of a spill.
“While these discussions and analysis are ongoing, construction on or under Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe cannot occur because the Army has not made a final decision on whether to grant an easement,” the letter concludes.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribal chair, Dave Archambault II, said in a statement that he was “encouraged” by the army’s statement, though the delay was not “100 percent what the Tribe had hoped for”.
“Not all of our prayers were answered, but this time, they were heard,” he said.
While today’s announcement may be good news for the Standing Rock Sioux, it is unclear how long the delay will last – and whether it will survive under the Trump administration.
President-elect Donald Trump seems unlikely to side with either Native Americans or environmentalists. He has called climate change a “bullshit” hoax invented by the Chineseand has a history of conflict with Native American tribes over competition in casinos.
Trump’s financial disclosure forms show he has between $500,000 and $1m invested in Energy Transfer Partners, and $500,000 to $1m holding in Phillips 66, which will have a 25% stake in the Dakota Access project once it is completed. Energy Transfer Partners’ stock price has climbed more than 15% since his election, from $33.37 to $38.68 a share.
“The day after the election, I walked around the camp and it was really somber,” said Kandi Mossett, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes who has been camping at Standing Rock since mid-August. “Now people have pulled themselves together and are bound and determined to stand in protection of all our natural resources.”
The pipeline company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Saturday, a man in a white pickup truck brandished a gun and fired into the air during a confrontation with protesters.
The man, identified as Richard Leingang by the Morton County sheriff’s office, was driving on County Road 82 when he was “stopped and accosted by protesters”, said Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. Herr said that Leingang was not employed by DAPL, but was a “private individual”.
“The driver did discharge his weapon into the air so he must have felt threatened,” Herr said.
Video taken by bystanders at the scene shows Leingang with a gun while protesters block the road and attempt to push back his car.
“This is my way home,” Leingang yelled.
“Go around. We’re peaceful. We love you. We care for you,” one of the protesters responded.
Leingang was interviewed by a Morton County sheriff’s deputy, but he has not been arrested or charged, raising concerns of a double standard by law enforcement among Native American activists.
“It’s crazy that we can be out there unarmed and trying to protect water, and we’re getting arrested by the hundreds, and yet a white man that is working with the company can wave a gun around and fire it and yet nothing happens,” Mossett said.
“I don’t know how that’s even legal. I don’t know how you can point a gun at people and just get away with it,” she added.
The 1,1720-mile pipeline is being built by Energy Transfer Partners to transport crude oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota to a refinery near Chicago. The pipeline was originally slated to cross the Missouri river near the city of Bismarck – about 50 miles north of the current route – but was rerouted to within a mile of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe began protesting along the Missouri river in April. Thousands of people – including members of more than 200 tribes – have travelled to the encampments to demonstrate, and indigenous groups around the world have voiced their support.
The Native American activists, who call themselves “water protectors”, fear that the pipeline could threaten their water supply. They also object to construction on land that they say includes burial sites and should technically belong to the tribe under treaties that the US government broke.
Hundreds have been arrested during protests that attempted to halt or delay construction, and a highly militarized police force has repeatedly used pepper spray, teargas, batons and army tanks to stop the actions. Some jailed Native Americans also said they faced cruel and inhumane treatment behind bars, prompting a United Nations group to launch an investigation.
On 2 November, Barack Obama told news website NowThis that the army corps was “examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline”.