Native Americans unite against Dakota oil pipeline to protect sacred sites

https://www.rt.com/usa/357043-native-americans-dakota-pipeline/

Cherokee Nation joined Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline Tuesday, standing up for the sacred sites and natural resources under threat.

The tribe's Principal Chief Bill John Baker said he would stand in “solidarity” with his Sioux cousins.

“The Standing Rock people have an inherent right to protect their homelands, their historic and sacred sites, their natural resources, their drinking water and their families from this potentially dangerous pipeline,”Baker said.

He also urged “safe and responsible energy development” that would respect the rights of tribal governments over the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would run from western North Dakota to Illinois.

In a lawsuit against the pipeline, construction of the planned project has been delayed.

The case highlights the violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, which was implemented to protect such sites as the Standing Rock Reservation.

The $3.8 billion pipeline would disturb sacred burial grounds and sites by crossing Lake Oahe and the Missouri River, contaminating water supplies for neighboring communities on the Standing Rock Reservation.

“As Indian people, we have a right to protect our lands and protect our water rights,” Baker added. “That’s our responsibility to the next seven generations. The Standing Rock Sioux should be allowed a place at the table to express their legitimate concerns on a pipeline plan that could be detrimental to their tribe for many future generations.”

Indigenous lands have frequently been exploited and polluted by the US government and corporations.

Most recently, the Navajo Nation sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over spilling 3 million gallons of toxic waste into the Animas River in Colorado and New Mexico.

The environmental disaster was so severe, that it turned the river water yellow and hit community members and farmers hard.

READ MORE: Navajo Nation sues EPA over toxic gold mine spill which turned river yellow

Developers who stand to profit from the pipeline maintain their construction is safe but time and time again environmental activists have pointed out the dangers of such projects.

The Keystone 1 Pipeline leak in South Dakota, for example, contaminated 300 sq ft of farmland in April, but the company said there was no evidence of a threat to the environment or public safety.

In the XL phase of the pipeline, which was vetoed by President Barack Obama in November 2015, the initial plan was to develop the project from southern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, which crossed through the lands of numerous tribes and posed a detrimental hazard to water supplies and the environment.

READ MORE: Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline over environmental concerns

Former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Winona LaDuke, who has been demonstrating against the pipeline, said the state of North Dakota has been “bending over backwards for the oil companies.”

“North Dakota’s regulators are, I would suggest, in bed with the oil industry and they have looked the other way,” the half-Ojibwe, half-Russian Jewish LaDuke told Democracy Now on Tuesday. “And so, they have pushed these pipelines through really fast without any tribal consultation and without a full environmental impact statement.”

Native American tribes from Alaska to Canada have also backed the protest movement against the pipeline, including the Blackfeet Nation, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Rosebud Sioux.

* Embedded Links *

meanwhile,Buffett is lobbying like hell,just as he was agaainst the Keystone Pipeline,in favor of his Railroad carrying the Oil,regardless of the Spills caused by Traincrashes on the aged Tracks of his Railroads!
Even Soros bought into Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Road!
Wonder if this is another Skulduggery of that Duo!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-07/another-buffett-owned-oil-tanker-train-derails-wisconsin-one-day-after-obama-kills-k

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/08/obama-did-warren-buffett-railroad-stocks-huge-favo.aspx

http://fusion4freedom.us/putin-and-buffetts-war-on-u-s-pipelines/


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-10/buffetts-15-billion-from-bnsf-show-railroad-came-cheap

BNSF’s tracks sit on top of North Dakota’s Bakken formation, where energy producers are using fracking and other extraction methods to pull crude from the ground in unprecedented volumes. Because pipeline capacity is limited in the area, oil companies have turned to BNSF to ship their product to refineries.

The extra freight has exacerbated weather-related train tie-ups that the railroad has spent months working to resolve. In June, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ordered BNSF and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. to report plans for resolving the delays.

Below Standards

At a hearing in North Dakota in September, state officials urged the railroad to improve service. BNSF has said it’s adding workers and rail cars to improve operations. In the filing last week, Berkshire said that the railroad’s service is still “well below” its standards.

The expansion of crude shipments has also created risks for the industry. Derailments of oil tank cars in the U.S. and Canada have led to fires, spills and the bankruptcy of smaller carrier Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. after a derailment in Quebec last year that killed 47 people.

BNSF has worked to allay concerns about oil shipments by agreeing to buy 5,000 safer tank cars. It has also announced plans to apply a surcharge on an older generation of cars that have been involved in some of the worst accidents.

Investments like those have been common since Berkshire took over. The railroad budgeted a record $5 billion this year to upgrade its network, expand facilities and buy equipment. That’s about $1 billion more than it spent in 2013.<<<<<<<

Bingo,build the Pipeline,and Buffett will lose money!

In any society, the needs/desires of the many out way the needs/desires of the few.

There are just to many people on planet Earth to pamper small groups.

Ancient beliefs come and go. So to shall the Indian hocus pocus.

I do like looking at the old Indian Scribbles and Ruins though.

I feel fine saying this as I'm part Native American.

As for me I'd stand with the Cherokee and Sioux

Native Americans Unite Against Dakota Oil Pipeline to Protect Sacred Sites

http://youtu.be/sS_1PHiJwpI/
2:05

Exclusive Interview: Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II on Suit Against Dakota Access

 - ICTMN.com



http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/24/exclusive-interview-standing-rock-sioux-chairman-david-archambault-ii-suit-against-dakota/
_____________________________________

Dakota Access Ruling Postponed in DC as Archambault Lauds 'Powerful Precedent'



http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/24/dakota-access-ruling-postponed-dc-archambault-lauds-powerful-precedent-165574/

Resolution of construction issues involving the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation has been postponed until at least September 9, as a U.S. District Court judge announced at a Wednesday, August 24 hearing that he would need until then to deliver a decision on a motion filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Earth Justice, an environmental law group.

Despite the postponement, SRST Chairman David Archambault said the court hearing was a victory in its own right.

“For our children that are not even here yet, this is something that is very powerful, very special,” he told Indian Country Today Media Network after Judge James E. Boasberg said he needed time to weigh the evidence presented at Wednesday’s hearing on the lawsuit brought by the SRST against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Whatever the result is, know that we won, because we’re changing policy on how pipelines are put in. These projects encroach on Indian country, so we’re setting a precedent that’s very powerful. And it’s only done because we’re able to unite and we’re able to do it with prayer.”

More than 4,000 people have gathered at change to camps along the MIssouri River) in an attempt to stop Dallas-based company Energy Transfer from piping Bakken oilfield crude underneath the Missouri River, the main source of drinking water for the tribe.

As hundreds of protesters rallied outside U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., Judge James E. Boasberg said he would need until September 9 to weigh all the evidence presented at a hearing on the lawsuit brought by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The tribe sued over the Army Corps’ approval of the pipeline without a comprehensive environmental and archeological review.

September 8 is the day that Archambault and other defendants appear in court to answer a lawsuit filed by Dakota Access Partners against the water protectors. Dozens, including Archambault, were arrested last week during demonstrations at the construction site near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Dakota Access brought a lawsuit against Archambault soon after.

The August 24 hearing hinged on whether the tribe had been adequately consulted during the permitting process, and whether due diligence had been performed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved permits for the project at the end of July despite written objections by three federal agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Construction has started in all four states that the 1,172-mile-long pipeline will run through amid protests from citizens opposing the project.

“Out of 359 miles of pipeline we only had an opportunity of two sites to look at,” argued EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund attorney Jan Hasselman on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, referring to the consultation process. “That was not enough, and the scope was too narrow.”

Further, he said, Dakota Access’s archaeologists did not know enough history to even identify what constituted a sacred site.

“The site could be registered right now as a historical site with what they have found,” Hasselman said, quoting the tribe’s archaeologist. “Meanwhile, the Dakota Access archeologist had walked right over it.”

Dakota Access attorneys said the tribes had been given ample opportunity to visit pipeline sites and that since the company wants to have oil running by January of 2017, any halting of the construction would be unfair to people with vested interests. Construction is continuing elsewhere along the route.

But history and culture must transcend such concerns, Archambault said in a statement read during the hearing by one of the tribe’s attorneys.

“Our history connects us, and all of our spiritual connections are lost when sites are destroyed, even when they do not have access to them.”

 "Partial halt to North Dakota oil pipeline opposed by Native Americans"

http://youtu.be/7f6yKemS2co/
1:25 Euro News

Published on Sep 7, 2016

There have been mounting protests in the US over plans to build an oil pipeline in North Dakota over land that's sacred to Native Americans.

A court in Washington has put off until Friday a wider legal challenge to the $3.7 billion (3.3 billion euros) project that would be the first to bring crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in the area directly to Illinois.

A judge imposed a temporary, partial restraining order - which was welcomed by a lawyer for one of the tribes.

But he said it wasn't …

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2016/09/07/partial-halt-to-north-dakota-oil-pipeline-opposed-by-native-americans/

Well can they stop calling them indians or red Indians or whatever coz columbus clearly made a mistake thinking he reached india while it was the U.S

The U.S actually belongs to the natives...it's only later that that the freemasonic empire came and invaded it

Dakota Access pipeline: Iowans sue, while North Dakota calls in National Guard (VIDEOS)

http://www.rt.com/usa/358729-dakota-access-pipeline-iowans-national-guard/

As the Dakota Access pipeline faces high-profile opposition in North Dakota, including in federal court from Native tribes, another state’s residents are suing over the crude oil transportation project. Landowners in Iowa want its eminent domain status voided.

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline is being built across 1,172 miles, from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. That is, unless a court order prevents the project from moving forward, and that is a possibility in multiple court cases.

Bill Hanigan represents 15 Iowan farmers in their suit against Dakota Access LLC. What’s different about this case, compared to the one in North Dakota, is its focus on eminent domain law, which codifies the government’s power to seize private property for the public good.

“In North Dakota, they’re arguing about Native American artifacts. In Iowa, we’re arguing about the application of the Constitution,” Hanigan explained on Democracy Now! in an interview Tuesday.

The pipeline’s defenders “can’t prove” they are serving a public purpose, Hanigan plans to show in an Iowa district court. He hopes Judge Jeffrey Farrell will override the Iowa Utilities Board’s decision to grant eminent domain status for the project.

Bold Iowa Director Ed Fallon told RT America’s Ashlee Banks that the costs of the pipeline to the environment and private property owners outweigh any promised benefit.

“There’s an incident that I just learned about this week where they failed to fence the trench where they put the pipeline,” Fallon said, “and a woman had one of her cows fall in that trench and die.”

Following “complaints after complaints,” Fallon says, there will be a protest this Saturday against the construction of Dakota Access.

In North Dakota, activists are hoping for a preliminary injunction, a court-ordered stoppage on all construction of the pipeline while the lawsuit is in effect. That decision is anticipated to come Friday, following a ruling last week that placed a temporary moratorium on building near a contested river site.

Calling the pipeline a “continuation of policies of destruction” and “something that has been occurring throughout the history of the United States of America,” national campaign director at Honor the Earth, Tara Houska, told RT that her organization and the others in the lawsuit have their “fingers crossed” that the judge will recognize the pipeline’s threat to Native American sacred sites and its environmental risks.

Future protests in North Dakota may be quelled more swiftly, as Governor Jack Dalrymple announced Thursday that the state’s National Guard will serve an administrative and assisting role to the Morton County Sheriff's Department in order to secure that the pipeline production continues peacefully.

On the other side of the North Dakota river dispute is Congressman Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), who told RT that although those against the pipeline have “a legitimate question” about the risk posed to the river, the pathway already “follows an existing corridor.”

“In fact, some of the sites that are under dispute are literally right on top of the Northern Border gas pipeline that's been there for 30 years,” Cramer told RT’s Ed Schultz.

“The safest pipe on a pipeline is that which is buried under the river,” Cramer added. “In this case, 95 feet below the floor of the river, pulled through double-layered shut off valves that respond quickly should there be a leak.”

Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the pipeline, claims its workers based in Texas are able to close block valves in less than three minutes if a pipeline break is identified.

Court denies Sioux tribe request to halt Dakota Access pipeline construction

A federal judge has denied the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s request for a temporary injunction to halt the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.

In a one-page ruling issued by US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC on Friday, described the government’s relationship with the tribes as being “contentious and tragic.”

The judge said the Army Corp of Engineers “has likely complied with the NHPA (National Historic Preservation Act) and that the Tribe has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction."

Judge Boasberg ordered the parties to appear for a status conference on September 16, according to the Associated Press.

In its lawsuit filed in August, the tribe had challenged the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners' $3.8 billion pipeline.

They argued the projected violated several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will harm water supplies. The tribe also says ancient sacred sites have been disturbed.

The ruling said that "this Court does not lightly countenance any depredation of lands that hold significance to the Standing Rock Sioux" and that, given the federal government's history with the tribe, "the Court scrutinizes the permitting process here with particular care. Having done so, the Court must nonetheless conclude that the Tribe has not demonstrated that an injunction is warranted here."

A lawyer for the tribe says the ruling will be appealed.

The Standing Rock Sioux's tribal historian told AP the judge’s decision to deny a temporary stop of construction on the pipeline gives her “a great amount of grief.”

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, who also has been a part of the protests which began in April near the North Dakota reservation, told AP that the tribe will "continue to stand" and "look for legal resources," as well as continue to protest peacefully.



http://www.rt.com/usa/358846-dakota-pipeline-judge-ruling/

yea....it works.....more or less........don't force me to do so again....also....more or less......

“Growing in number and spirit, the Standing Rock Sioux protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline is swiftly gaining strength ahead of a federal hearing on the controversial project. Support has spread across the country, and thousands have descended on the peaceful ‘prayer camps’ in recent days, prompting state officials on Monday to remove the demonstrators’ drinking water supply.

“North Dakota homeland security director Greg Wilz ordered the removal of state-owned trailers and water tanks from the protest encampment, despite the sweltering heat, because of alleged disorderly conduct, according to the Bismarck Tribune, including reports of laser pointers aimed at surveillance aircraft.

“‘People are getting overheated now already,’ said Johnelle Leingang, the tribe’s emergency response coordinator, as temperatures hovered around 90º F on Monday. ‘It’s very hurtful.’

“Tribal activists say the state’s response, which includes surveillance, road blockades with military checkpoints, and a state of emergency declaration, has been overly aggressive and manipulative.

“‘It is deeply ironic that the Governor would release emergency funds under the guise of public health and safety, but then remove the infrastructure that helps ensure health and safety in the camp,’ said Tara Houska, national campaigns director for Honor the Earth.


“The supplies were provided last week by the North Dakota Department of Health at the tribe’s request to support the roughly 2,500 people now gathered along the Standing Rock reservation’s border on the Cannonball River, near where the pipeline is slated to cross.

“LaDonna Allard, director of one of the prayer camps, said, ‘The gathering here remains 100 percent peaceful and ceremonial, as it has from day one. We are standing together in prayer…Why is a gathering of Indians so inherently threatening and frightening to some people?’

“‘This is nothing but repression of our growing movement to protect our water and future generations,’ Houska added.”

Total Media Blackout of Major Uprising Against Federal Government

http://survivalinstitute.com/are-we-seeing-a-media-blackout-of-this-new-reality-in-america/

http://www.rt.com/usa/358995-amy-goodman-arrest-dakota/

Democracy Now! journalist and producer Amy Goodman has been issued an arrest warrant for covering the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s North Dakota pipeline protests.

The Native American tribe and their supporters are protesting a proposed $3.8 billion Energy Transfer Partners pipeline, which would carry oil across four states, because of concerns that the 470,000 barrels of oil passing through their land each day could poison the water.

While reporting from the site of the protests last week, Goodman captured private security contractors using dogs and pepper spray on the demonstrators in a broadcast that went viral.

On Sunday, Goodman announced that she had received an arrest warrant for alleged criminal trespass during the protest. The misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and 30 days’ imprisonment.

“This is an unacceptable violation of freedom of the press,” Goodman said in a statement on Sunday. “I was doing my job by covering pipeline guards unleashing dogs and pepper spray on Native American protesters.”

Democracy Now! is an independent news channel that has covered the Native-American-led protests in depth, capturing the clashes between private security and protesters and showing a man with bite marks and a dog with a bloody mouth.

Goodman’s arrest warrant was reportedly discovered by attorneys looking into the arrest of Red Warrior Camp protest organizer Cody Charles Hall, who was arrested for criminal trespass on Friday.

Read more: Obama dodges Dakota pipeline question, fails to back Native American protesters

Thirty-eight people have been arrested at the protests, Native News Online reports.

Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein also received an arrest warrant, along with her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, for scrawling graffiti on equipment during the protests.

Read more: Jill Stein charged for spray-painting bulldozer in Dakota pipeline protest

Arrest warrants for THE Amy Goodman and @DrJillStein? No problem. Holding Trump or Hillary accountable for ANYTHING? Never. USA! USA! USA!
— Michael Salamone (@MichaelSalamone) September 10, 2016

Police arrest 22 after ‘swarm’ at Dakota pipeline construction site (VIDEO)

http://www.rt.com/usa/359246-police-arrest-22-dakota-protesters/




Sanders calls for change in energy system at Dakota pipeline protest in DC (RT EXCLUSIVE)

 http://www.rt.com/usa/359309-sanders-us-energy-policy/

Facebook ‘censors’ Dakota Access pipeline protest livestream – activists

http://www.rt.com/usa/359371-facebook-dakota-access-protest-censor/

An alternative media group’s live coverage of riot police clashing with protesters at a construction site of the Dakota Access pipeline was blocked by “Facebook’s automated censorship system”. However, the social network hasn’t been doing much about it.

Unicorn Riot was in North Dakota Tuesday, covering a “direct action” protest against the Dakota Access pipeline. Any time they tried to post their livestream, Facebook rejected the link as one that “our security systems detected to be unsafe.”

Twenty-two protesters were arrested by police in riot gear, including two Unicorn Riot journalists. The crude oil pipeline is the subject of protest, in part, because environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe claim its construction is destroying sacred sites and natural resources or risks damaging them.

In an emailed statement to RT, a member of the Unicorn Riot said, “our collective members immediately noticed that the full Livestream event URL (http://livestream.com/unicornriot/events/6340986) was being blocked from Facebook.”

“Posts and comments with the URL both immediately triggered popup security alerts,” the team member continued. “We tried putting the same URL through Bitly shortening and that official Unicorn Riot page post was deleted by Facebook within a few minutes. Finally we went with sharing our ‘Live Channel’ URL on our own website which had the embed included on it.”

The statement went on to clarify that “the ‘Facebook Debugger’ warned that our live video URL violated ‘community standards.’”

In its response, Facebook offered little more than words to make up for blocking the news content.

“The link was removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate. Our team processes millions of reports each week, and we sometimes get things wrong. We're very sorry about this mistake,” a Facebook spokesperson told Motherboard.

Blaming “both Facebook and law enforcement” for blocking their media distribution, the collective member vowed, “we will not let them stop our mission to amplify the voices of people who might otherwise go unheard, and broadcast the stories that might otherwise go untold.”

“Also, as one member of the collective, I should point out it is obviously concerning when a large media conglomerate blocks URLs to competing video platforms,” the Unicorn Riot member concluded.



NOTE: CAN NOT FIND A LIVE STREAM ANYWHERE

I think you are confusing wants with needs
Many people want oil to be their saviour
Many people believe their want of oil wont interfere with their need of water
I'm wondering when this belief becomes ancient hocus pocus
Will the pipeline be useful in providing water?