On January 31, two members of U.S. Congress from North Dakota released statements saying that
the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army directed the Army Corps to
notify Congress that it is granting the final easement for the Dakota
Access Pipeline.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
responded with a statement affirming they will pursue legal action
to ensure due process for the pending EIS.
Granting the easement now would illegally circumvent the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process and allow the company to
begin drilling immediately. The EIS was ordered on December 4, 2016 by
Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, and on January 17, the
Army Corps filed a Notice of Intent in the Federal
Register to begin the scoping process for the study, for which a
public comment period is currently open.
Law enforcement continues to build their presence in Standing Rock
and crack down on the camps as the company anticipates the granting of
the easement and resistance from our warriors.
HISTORY
The Sacred Stone Camp was established April 1, 2016 as a center of spiritual
and cultural opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline, and is
determined to stop construction through prayer and nonviolent direct
action until adequate tribal consultation and environmental review are
conducted. The spirit camp is located in between the pipeline’s
proposed crossing of the Missouri River and the water intake valves
for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, just over a mile downstream. The
camp has an active facebook page and a crowdfunding page for general operating costs,
but urgently needs separate legal defense funds to support the
warriors resisting active construction. Funds raised on this page
will only be used for the legal support for those involved in direct
action. (To save us money on processing fees, send donation via
paypal to freshetcollective@gmail.com)
On Friday, August 5, 2016, a group of Oceti Sakowin youth from
different Dakota and Lakota nations arrived in Washington DC after running ~2000 miles by relay, in
spiritual opposition to the pipeline. The runners delivered 140,000
petition signatures to the US Army Corps of Engineers and rallied at
the White House to ask President Obama to pressure them to repeal the
water crossing permits. Meanwhile, relatives back home set up a tipi and held
demonstrations in front of North Dakota’s State Capitol Building
during a 3-day special legislative session.
The Dakota Access pipeline is proposed to carry 450,000 barrels of
fracked crude oil per day, from the Bakken fields of North Dakota,
1,172 miles to Patoka, Illinois. Though originally planned to cross
the Missouri River upstream of Bismarck, the crossing was relocated
just upstream of the Standing Rock Reservation. The threats this
pipeline poses to the environment, public health, and tribal and human
rights are strikingly similar to those posed
by the Keystone XL.
We are not expendable. We have a right to live. Please stand with us
as we protect our sacred lands. Water is life, mni wiconi.
