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North Dakota Police Want to Deny Standing Rock Protesters Food and Shelter
By Josh Voorhees
People gather at an encampment by the Missouri River, where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's protest against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipe, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on September 3, 2016.
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Monday ordered thousands of Native American and environmental activists to leave the federal property on which they’ve been protesting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline for months. The evacuation order came days after the federal government set a Dec. 5 deadline for the protesters to clear out, but neither state nor federal officials had said how, exactly, they planned to get everyone to comply. It appears we now have the answer: by making them too cold and hungry to stay put. Via Reuters:
North Dakota law enforcement will begin to block supplies from reaching protesters at a camp near the construction site of an oil pipeline project in an effort to force demonstrators to vacate the area, officials said on Tuesday. … Supplies, including food and building materials, will be blocked from entering the main camp…, said Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman from the Morton County Sheriff's Department. …
The building materials intended for the site are a top priority because the camp is not zoned for permanent structures, Fong said. Propane tanks also will be blocked because they have been used in attacks against law enforcement, she said.
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the site, first set the deadline they stressed that protesters—who believe the pipeline endangers local indigenous communities and their sacred lands, and more broadly threatens the environment—would not be removed by force. The supply blockade is theoretically a more peaceful way to get protesters to depart as winter approaches, but it remains an open question how authorities would respond if anyone tries to deliver supplies against government orders. While the order went into effect immediately, as of Tuesday morning no cars or trucks carrying supplies had yet been turned back, according to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
If completed, the pipeline would carry 570,000 barrels of Bakken Crude oil per day from the Dakotas to Illinois. But for that to happen, it first needs to cross the Missouri River. Originally, the plan was for the pipeline to cross the river just north of Bismarck, but that route was scrapped over concerns about possible drinking water contamination. The engineers then rerouted the project beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation instead. As Nives Dolsak and Aseem Prakash put it in Slate earlier this month, the message the government is sending is clear: “While the risk of water contamination is not acceptable for Bismarckians, it is OK for the Sioux Indians.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/ ... plies.html
US Veterans, Tribal Elders Discuss Joint Efforts in Blocking Oil Pipeline
December 03, 2016 7:39 PM
Reuters
Thousands of people have camped on tribal land near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota in protest of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. (E. Sarai/VOA news)
CANNON BALL, N.D. —
U.S. military veterans spoke with tribal leaders on Saturday about their shared interest in blocking a multibillion-dollar pipeline project near a Native American reservation, with as many as 3,500 veterans joining protests at the site.
Veterans Stand for Standing Rock members aim to form a human barrier in front of police to assist thousands of activists who have spent months demonstrating against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
The group of veterans, including members already gathered at the site, will also finish building a barracks and mess hall near where they constructed a headquarters at the Oceti Sakowin camp about 8 kilometres (5 miles) north of the small town of Cannon Ball.
"Men and women who fought for our nation are now standing up for the first occupants of this land. They're saying enough is enough," said David Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, in an interview. "It's symbolic for us."
Vietnam Army veteran Dan Luker of Boston attends a briefing for fellow veterans at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Dec. 3, 2016.
He said the veterans intended to avoid violence as they supported their protest over the $3.8 billion pipeline, which opponents see a threat to water resources and sacred sites.
Violent confrontations have flared near the route of the pipeline, with state and local law enforcement using tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses on the protesters, even in
freezing weather.
Some 564 people have been arrested, the Morton County Sheriff's Department said.
"I felt it was our duty and very personally more of a call of duty than I ever felt in the service to come and stand in front of the guns and the mace and the water and the threat that they pose to these people," Anthony Murtha, 29, a Navy veteran from Detroit, said on Friday at the Oceti Sakowin camp.
State officials on Monday ordered the thousands of protesters now present to leave the snowy camp, which is on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but on
Wednesday they said they would not enforce the order. The temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius) next week.
The 1,885-kilometer (1,172-mile) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.
A man makes a sign that reads "vet check in" in Oceti Sakowin camp as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, Cannon Ball, N.D., Dec. 3, 2016.
Protesters, who refer to themselves as "water protectors," have been gearing up for the winter while they await the Army Corps decision on whether to allow Energy Transfer to tunnel under the river. The Army Corps has twice delayed that decision.
"Regardless of what happens with this pipeline, we now know that with unity and with prayer we can make a stand," Archambault said. "I don't think the federal government or corporate world is going to continue to encroach on our lands after this time.
http://www.voanews.com/a/us-veterans-tr ... 22220.html
Work halted on Dakota Access Pipeline
By Michelle Rotuno-Johnson and Associated Press
Published: December 4, 2016, 4:21 pm Updated: December 4, 2016, 4:52 pm
CANNON BALL, NC (WCMH/AP) — The U.S. Army will not approve an easement that would allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Sioux lands in North Dakota, it was announced today.
Jo-Ellen Darcy, The Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, said she wants to explore other options for the pipeline crossing.
The route has been the subject of months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, who have argued the pipeline threatens a water source and cultural sites.
The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, and the Morton County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have immediate comment.
http://nbc4i.com/2016/12/04/reports-wor ... rried-out/
Wells Fargo offers to meet with tribal elders over protested pipeline in North Dakota
BY RICK ROTHACKER
rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com
Wells Fargo has told tribal elders from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that it’s willing to meet with them before year-end to talk about the bank’s role in the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been the target of an ongoing protest by the tribe and others.
The San Francisco-based bank is one of more than a dozen major financial institutions with investments in the pipeline, including Citigroup and Charlotte-based Bank of America. Bank of America’s involvement drew protesters in Charlotte in September.
In a letter that some recipients posted on Twitter, Wells Fargo, which has its biggest employee hub in Charlotte, offered to hold a meeting with a “select group of tribal elders” before Jan. 1 and said it respects “all the differing opinions being expressed in this dispute.”
In a statement provided to the Observer, Wells said the company is “committed to environmental sustainability and human rights” and that it hopes “all parties involved will work together to reach a peaceful resolution.” Reuters reported on the Wells Fargo letter on Friday.
Military veterans started to gather Sunday in North Dakota near the main Dakota Access pipeline protest camp, where they’ll join the several hundred people who are against the four-state, $3.8 billion project that’s largely complete.
Already, a few hundred of the group Veterans Stand for Standing Rock have arrived at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, camp and the group’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.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others say the pipeline north of the reservation could pollute drinking water and threatens sacred sites and want changes made to its route. The pipeline is largely complete except for a short segment that is planned to pass beneath a Missouri River reservoir, and Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners says it is unwilling to reroute the project.
The proposed 1,172-mile-long pipeline would transport oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota, Iowa and into Illinois.
The government has ordered people to leave the main encampment that’s on federal land in southern North Dakota by Monday. But demonstrators say they’re prepared to stay, and federal, state and local authorities say they won’t forcibly remove the protesters.
In its statement, Wells said it is “committed to supporting responsible development of all forms of energy, including large investments in renewable energy,” adding that since 2012 the company has invested more than $52 billion in environmentally sustainable businesses.
Wells also said it has provided banking and financial services to more than 200 Native American tribal entities in 27 different states and in the past three years has provided more than $11 million in charitable contributions to hundreds of tribal nonprofit organizations.
The third-largest U.S. bank by assets said it is one of 17 banks involved in financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. The bank’s loans represent less than 5 percent of the total amount, Wells said.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/b ... rylink=cpy
Ruth Hopkins @RuthHHopkins
So many people are divesting from Wells Fargo that they want to meet with Standing Rock elders to talk. #NoDAPL
12:16 AM - 2 Dec 2016
3,556 3,556 Retweets 4,674 4,674 likes
The company has a strong ally in President-elect Donald Trump, who supports the pipeline, according to a notice sent out to supporters last week.
Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren has said the project — a majority of which is complete — will move forward, even if it means waiting for Trump to take office next month.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... s-pipeline
[/quote]The company has a strong ally in President-elect Donald Trump, who supports the pipeline, according to a notice sent out to supporters last week.
Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren has said the project — a majority of which is complete — will move forward, even if it means waiting for Trump to take office next month.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... s-pipeline
https://www.worldpipelines.com
The two firms that are leading the construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) plan to press on with construction along its planned route, despite the recent decision made by the US Army Corps of Engineers’ to deny a crucial permit. The Corps believes that more time is required to complete further studies and to consider alternative routes. Therefore, it would not authorise construction of the final section of the DAPL.
The news was celebrated by the thousands of protesters gathered at the site. However, according to BBC News, the firms accused the US government of political interference since it failed to approve the completion of the final section of the crude oil pipeline in North Dakota.
Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics have attacked the move made by the Army Corps as a "purely political action" on the part of the Obama administration. They also highlighted that the project has already received court approval. Thus, they accused the White House of abandoning the rule of law "in favour of currying favour with a narrow and extreme political constituency".
The companies noted that they “fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting.”
According to the Financial Times, Energy Transfer and Sunoco Logistics have stated that the US Army Corps had confirmed that they had complied with all the legal requirements for construction, and its recent statement is consistent with the way that the administration had “demonstrated by its action and inaction that it intended to delay a decision in this matter until President Obama is out of office”.
It must be highlighted that the next US President, Donald Trump supports the DAPL project. His administration is expected to grant the approvals that have so far been denied. Therefore, it is highly likely that the controversy, disagreement and protests will continue.
Another reason why the companies fronting DAPL are keen to continue work is because they signed supply contracts while oil prices were higher. They could lose substantial sums if delays mean that the contracts need to be re-negotiated, highlighted the New Scientist.
The US$3.8 billion 1200 mile (1900 km) pipeline is complete, except for a final section that is planned to run under Lake Oahe and is proving to be extremely controversial. Extensive protests have taken place for months. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their far-reaching supporters fear that the DAPL will contaminate local drinking water and destroy sacred burial sites.
Google cache of Valley News Live - the original page is removed.
CANNON BALL, N.D. (Valley News Live) While many people are beginning to leave the protest camps, some people stay in the North Dakota cold and snow.
Valley News Live spoke with protesters heading home about how they plan to return soon to the cause they believe in.
Protesters know the fight isn't over and Sunday's decision is only a delay. That's why some have vowed to stay despite the Stand Rock Chairman statement that people can return home for the winter.
"It's good to here we are costing them money but the fight is not really over, the pipeline is still going in and this is a way to just let air out of the movement," said Ingrid Vacca of Kansas.
The feel of the camp is like Woodstock but with a more serious tone: the fight against big oil and protecting the water.
People continued to stream into the camp while others have left. One car bringing supplies like wood to keep protesters warm during the North Dakota cold.
"It sounds very convenient that they our doing that," said Brian Gochel of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "We have a lunatic taking over in a few weeks that will just turn it over so I realize that people are still going to be here they still need to be warm they still need help I don't think the fight is over."
Today the US Army Corps announced that it will not grant the last remaining easement needed for Dakota Access to cross the Mni Sose (Missouri River). Their statement says they intend to "explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing" and that a consideration of alternative routes "would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis." This is all the information provided.
This is an enormous victory for our movement to protect the water! It shows what is possible when we come together and take action.
However, many questions remain.
Here are the 10 questions we need to be asking in the days and weeks ahead:
1. Will the Army Corps actually conduct an Environmental Impact Statement? If so, on what portion of the project - just the river crossing, or the whole pipeline?
2. What issues will the EIS take into account? (for example, will it include an analysis of spill risk? how about sacred sites? will it reassess the economic need for the pipeline now that the bakken is busting?)
3. Which alternative routes will be considered? Will a "no-build" option also be considered?
4. How long will the EIS take?
5. What input will the tribe have? What will the public participation process look like?
6. In what way(s) was the original Environmental Assessment prepared by the Army Corps deemed inadequate?
7. What was the result of the tribal consultation process exploring possible changes to the regulatory process for pipelines in general? have any changes been proposed?
8. How easily will these decisions be reversed by a Trump administration?
9. How will these decisions be affected by the outcomes of DAPL's lawsuit against the Army Corps, scheduled to be heard on Friday?
10. Is the US government prepared to use force to stop the company from drilling under the river without a permit, if necessary?
#NoDAPL #LoveWaterNotOil
https://www.army.mil/article/179095/arm ... e_crossing
I need this email to be off the record, but I wanted to give you a few insights regarding Standing Rock.
I’m a XXXXXXXXXXX for an energy XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
My colleagues and I have a very cynical view of the industry we XXXXXXXXXXX, are well aware of its missteps and can be critical within a certain context, but Standing Rock is horrific even for an industry known for setting the bar low.
Now is not the time to lay down and take the Army Corps of Engineers decision yesterday as a full victory. I’d like to go further and plead that you use your incredible reach through your articles, social media activism and the Boycott to ask people to push even harder than they have before.
The CEO of Energy Transfer (the company leading the pipeline’s construction) is known even among of industry of generally unlikeable people to be a blood-sucking asshole. His company routinely finds any loophole it can and minimizes the social engagement necessary to get pipelines approved. (People in southwest Texas around Marfa-Big Bend have been speaking out against another pipeline, the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, and Energy Transfer’s handling of it).
Equity analysts who cover Energy Transfer and other companies like them — who are therefore viewing Standing Rock not as a human rights issue, but as an opportunity to make/lose money — uniformly came out today saying that the DAPL delay is basically a show that will end with Trump taking office and the pipeline could well go forward as initially planned. The decision gets things to stand down ahead of what was likely to be an historic and contentious Dec. 5, a day when media coverage was finally on this story nationwide (although still pretty bad/misinformed).
Energy Transfer and partner Sunoco Logistics said in a press release following the decision that they are “fully committed to ensuring this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL REROUTING in and around Lake Oahu. Northing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.”
The industry is tone deaf, to put it mildly, but in my 10 years XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX industry, my view is that this is not a bluff. They will NOT back down on this unless they are unequivocally forced to. They will fight with every tool they have and have a willing supporter in Trump.
So not only is the fight for the pipeline not over, it likely just got HARDER, because attention and funds could fade. Everyone needs to be on their guard until literally every nut and bolt are removed from the site. Be wary!
Energy Transfer is a debt-riddled company with a lot riding on this easement.
For one (and these details came from their public, third quarter earnings call), the pipeline had secured $2.5 billion in financing. $1.1 billion has been drawn, but the condition for receiving the remaining $1.4 billion was approval of the easement.
For another, Energy Transfer and Sunoco Logistics agreed to sell a minority stake in the pipeline to two other pipeline companies — Unbridle and Marathon Petroleum — in August for $2 billion cash. The easement’s approval was a condition for that deal going through.
In late November, Sunoco Logistics and Energy Transfer Partners agreed a merger. I don’t know whether that deal is also contingent upon the pipeline going through as-is. That transaction was valued at roughly $20 billion.
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