http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/04/permit-dakota-access-oil-pipeline-rejected-victory-tribe-protesters/
[images in on-line article]
Standing rock victory: tribes, protesters celebrate as Dakota Access oil
pipeline permit rejected
By Associated Press
4 December 2016 • 11:08pm
The US Army Corps of Engineers said on Sunday that it won't grant an
easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota.
The decision is a victory for the several thousand camped near the
construction site, who've said for months that the four-state, $3.8
billion project would threaten a water source and cultural sites.
The pipeline is largely complete except for the now-blocked segment
underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. According to a news
release, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her
decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the
pipeline's crossing.
"Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new
information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear
that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete
that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes
for the pipeline crossing."
The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer
Partners, had said it was unwilling to reroute the project. It and the
Morton County Sheriff's Office, which has done much of the policing of
the protests, didn't have immediate comment.
US Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the
Corps' "thoughtful approach ... ensures that there will be an in-depth
evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at
potential impacts" and "underscores that tribal rights reserved in
treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with
tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be
undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward."
The federal government has ordered people to leave the main encampment,
which is on Army Corps of Engineers' land, by Monday. But demonstrators
say they're prepared to stay, and authorities say they won't forcibly
remove them.
Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said
tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations
with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out
those who've dug in against the project.
About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the Oceti Sakowin, or
Seven Council Fires, camp in southern North Dakota for a meeting with
organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential
candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans
were coming, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived.
"We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action," Wes Clark
Jr. said. He then talked about North Dakota authorities' decision to
move away from a key bridge north of the encampment by 4 p.m. Sunday if
demonstrators agree to certain conditions, saying the National Guard and
law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed.
"If we come forward, they will attack us," Clark said. Instead, he told
the veterans, "If you see someone who needs help, help them out."
Authorities said they'll move from the north end of the Backwater Bridge
if protesters stay south of it and come to the bridge only if there is a
prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove
barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late
October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a
serious arm injury.
"The question was asked if we would consider pulling back from the
Backwater Bridge," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a Saturday
news release after a conversation between law enforcement and the
group's organizers, "and the answer is yes! We want this to de-escalate."
Protesters also are not supposed to walk, ride or fly drones north of
the bridge, Laney said. Any violation will "will result in their
arrest," the statement said.
The bridge blockade is something that Standing Rock Sioux tribal
chairman Dave Archambault has been asking to be removed, the Bismarck
Tribune reports , and something he said he would to talk to Gov. Jack
Dalrymple about when they meet in person. A date for that meeting hasn't
been set.
Veterans Stand for Standing Rock's GoFundMe.com page had raised more
than $1 million of its $1.2 million goal by Sunday - money due to go
toward food, transportation and supplies. Cars waiting to get into the
camp Sunday afternoon were backed up for more than a half-mile.
"People are fighting for something, and I thought they could use my
help," said Navy veteran and Harvard graduate student Art Grayson. The
29-year-old from Cambridge, Massachusetts, flew the first leg of the
journey, then rode from Bismarck in the back of a pickup truck. He has
finals this week, but told professors, "I'll see you when I get back."
Steven Perry, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran who's a member of the Little
Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians in Michigan, spoke of one of the
protesters' main concerns: that the pipeline could pollute drinking
water. "This is not just a native issue," he said, "This is an issue for
everyone."
Art Woodson and two other veterans drove 17 hours straight from Flint,
Michigan, a city whose lead-tainted water crisis parallels with the
tribe's fight over water, he said.
"We know in Flint that water is in dire need," the 49-year-old disabled
Gulf War Army veteran said. "In North Dakota, they're trying to force
pipes on people. We're trying to get pipes in Flint for safe water."
On Monday, some veterans will take part in a prayer ceremony in which
they'll apologize for historical detrimental conduct by the military
toward Native Americans and ask for forgiveness, Clark said. He also
called the veterans' presence "about right and wrong and peace and love."
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