The developer of a controversial oil pipeline crossing several US states has resumed construction of the long-delayed project.
Key points
Key points:
- Developers say the pipeline should be operational within three months
- Native American tribes file legal challenge to block the work
- Protesters vow to stand firm
Native American activists and their supporters vowed to take legal action to protect their water supply, which they feared would be contaminated by oil leaks in the pipeline as it passed under a reservoir.
The US Army granted Energy Transfer Partners formal permission on Wednesday to lay pipe under Lake Oahe, clearing the way for completion of the $US3.8 billion pipeline that would transport North Dakota oil across four states to a shipping point in Illinois.
Work has been stalled for months due to opposition by the Standing Rock Sioux and a prolonged court battle between the developer and the Army Corps of Engineers that oversees the federal land where the last segment of the pipeline will be laid.
But President Donald Trump last month instructed the Corps to advance pipeline construction.
An encampment near the construction site has drawn thousands of protesters in support of the Standing Rock Sioux since April, leading on occasions to clashes with law enforcement and hundreds of arrests.
Photo: Protesters camp near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. (Reuters: Stephanie Keith)
Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement that the tribe is prepared to keep up the battle “in the courts”.
“We will continue to fight against an administration that seeks to dismiss not only our treaty rights and status as sovereign nations, but the safe drinking water of millions of Americans,” the chairman said.
Video: Controversial Dakota Access pipeline set to go ahead (The World)
The tribe fears a leak in the pipeline could contaminate drinking water at its reservation that is just downstream from the proposed Missouri River crossing. ETP says the pipeline will be safe.
Protesters rallied in several cities across the country on Wednesday.
Demonstrators in Chicago targeted a bank. Others went to an Army Corps of Engineers office in New York City.
Several people were arrested for blocking public access to a federal building in San Francisco.
Who are the Standing Rock protesters?
The US Army is now standing in the way of the controversial pipeline at Standing Rock. This is why the protests have received international attention.
Lawyers for Native American groups affected by the pipeline have vowed to keep fighting in court.
Standing Rock neighbours, the Cheyenne River Sioux, asked a federal judge to stop the Lake Oahe work while a lawsuit filed earlier by the two tribes against the pipeline proceeds.
The Corps has notified protesters still at the encampment that the government-owned land will be closed on February 22.
But according to pipeline opponent Payu Harris, a new camp is being established on private land.
“This is not over. We are here to stay. And there’s more of us coming,” he said.
AP
