Judge rules that construction can proceed on Dakota Access Pipeline

Native Americans march on Sunday to a sacred site they say was disturbed by bulldozers working on the Dakota Access Pipeline, near an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's protest.(Photo by Robyn Beck /AFP/Getty Images)
Native Americans march on Sunday to a sacred site they say was disturbed by bulldozers working on the Dakota Access Pipeline, near an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s protest.(Photo by Robyn Beck /AFP/Getty Images)

A federal judge has denied a Native American tribe’s request for an injunction that would have temporarily halted construction on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, set to carry crude oil across four states.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says the pipeline route crosses under the Missouri River near its reservation and puts their drinking water and sacred lands at risk. Outrage over the pipeline has galvanized Native American tribes and environmentalists across the U.S.

The Standing Rock Sioux says it wasn’t adequately consulted by the federal agency authorizing the permits for the pipeline, and sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In Friday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg acknowledged that “the United States’ relationship with the Indian tribes has been contentious and tragic.” But he went on to say that the Army Corps “likely complied” with its obligation to consult the tribe, adding that the tribe “has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the Court could issue.”

If you haven’t been following the controversy, here are some basics.

The Pipeline

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline is set to span some 1,200 miles, from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Patoka, Ill. According to Dallas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners, “it will transport approximately 470,000 barrels per day with a capacity as high as 570,000 barrels per day or more — which could represent approximately half of Bakken current daily crude oil production.” The company says that, pending regulatory approvals, oil was to start flowing late this year.

The pipeline’s original route crossed the Missouri River near Bismarck, N.D., The New Yorker reported, “but authorities worried that an oil spill there would have wrecked the state capital’s drinking water. So they moved the crossing to half a mile from the reservation, across land that was taken from the tribe in 1958, without their consent.”

The Arguments

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says the pipeline construction could desecrate sacred lands, including grave sites and culturally important stone features. And they fear that any pipeline leak at the Missouri crossing, which lies just upstream of the reservation that straddles the Dakotas, could contaminate crucial drinking water.

Tribal leaders also say they weren’t included in discussions during the planning process for the Dakota Access Pipeline. “My nation’s history is at risk because the pipeline builders and the Army Corps failed to consult the tribe when planning the pipeline, and routed it through areas of cultural and historical significance, which will be destroyed,” David Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said in a court filing.

For its part, the company maintains that the pipeline is safe — indeed, Energy Transfer Partners says government statistics show “pipelines are the safest mode of transporting crude oil.” It adds that the Dakota Access “will be built and operated using the most advanced technology and monitoring systems to make it even safer.”

And the pipeline would reduce the use of rail and truck transport of crude oil, according to Energy Transfer Partners.

The Lawsuit

The Standing Rock Sioux sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July, accusing it of improperly granting permits authorizing the construction. Acting on the tribe’s behalf, the environmental group Earthjustice filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

It “alleges that the Corps violated multiple federal statutes, including the Clean Water Act, National Historic Protection Act, and National Environmental Policy Act, when it issued the permits,” according to Earthjustice. A subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, Dakota Access LLC, is also party to the lawsuit.

The tribe sought an injunction to halt construction along portions of the pipeline — those authorized by the Army Corps — while the lawsuit plays out.

In today’s ruling, Boasberg said the tribe had not demonstrated that it would be harmed by construction in areas that received permits from the Army Corps. “The Tribe has not carried its burden to demonstrate that the Court could prevent damage to important cultural resources by enjoining the Corps’ DAPL-related permitting,” the decision reads.

Separately, in response to the ongoing construction work, the tribe filed an emergency motion on Sunday, seeking protection for a specific area along the planned route that contains sites sacred to the tribe. The judge issued a temporary restraining order for a portion of the area, effectively halting construction. It was less than the tribe had requested and expires at midnight tonight.

Rising Tensions

Tribe members and their supporters have been camping along the border of the reservation near the construction site for several months, and the demonstration grew significantly when construction in the area began in early August. They call themselves water protectors, rather than protesters.

The gathering has attracted Native Americans from tribes across the country in a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Numbers have grown from a handful to thousands.

Construction on the controversial section of the pipeline began in mid-August. It halted briefly amid protests but started up again earlier this month, a day after after the tribe declared to the court that it had recently discovered areas along the pipeline route that are culturally and spiritually significant. The tribe said in a court filing that the work “desecrated and destroyed” the sacred sites.

Tensions dramatically escalated over the weekend, resulting in violence. “What happened is some protesters who’ve been camped out near this construction area broke through a fence to access this construction site and were met with some private security guards and guard dogs hired by the pipeline company,” as reporter Amy Sisk of the public radio collaboration Inside Energy said in an NPR Live discussion on Facebook.

“Law enforcement says the protesters attacked the security guards and the dogs,” she said, adding that protesters say the dogs “actually bit some of the protesters.”

And ahead of today’s decision, David Archambault II, chairman of the tribe, called for calm. “We call upon all water protectors to greet any decision with peace and order,” he said in a statement on the tribe’s Facebook page. “Even if the outcome of the court’s ruling is not in our favor, we will continue to explore every lawful option and fight against the construction of the pipeline.”

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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