[News] Victory for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe - Court Finds That Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline Violated the Law

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.theindigenousamericans.com/2017/10/17/victory-standing-rock-sioux-tribe-court-finds-approval-dakota-access-pipeline-violated-law-2/ 



  In Victory for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Court Finds That Approval of
  Dakota Access Pipeline Violated the Law

By theindigenousamericans_6i2sru - October 17, 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a significant victory today in its 
fight to protect the Tribe’s drinking water and ancestral lands from the 
Dakota Access pipeline.

A federal judge ruled that the federal permits authorizing the pipeline 
to cross the Missouri River just upstream of the Standing Rock 
reservation, which were hastily issued by the Trump administration just 
days after the inauguration, violated the law in certain critical respects.

In a 91-page decision, Judge James Boasberg wrote, “the Court agrees 
that [the Corps] did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill 
on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the 
degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly 
controversial.”

The Court did not determine whether pipeline operations should be shut 
off and has requested additional briefing on the subject and a status 
conference next week.

“This is a major victory for the Tribe and we commend the courts for 
upholding the law and doing the right thing,” *said Standing Rock Sioux 
Chairman Dave Archambault II in a recent statement.* “The previous 
administration painstakingly considered the impacts of this pipeline, 
and President Trump hastily dismissed these careful environmental 
considerations in favor of political and personal interests.

We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue 
political influence and will ask the Court to shut down pipeline 
operations immediately.”

The Tribe’s inspiring and courageous fight has attracted international 
attention and drawn the support of hundreds of tribes around the nation.

The Tribe is represented by the nonprofit environmental law firm 
Earthjustice, which filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers for issuing a permit for the pipeline construction in 
violation of several environmental laws.

“This decision marks an important turning point. Until now, the rights 
of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been disregarded by the builders 
of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump administration—prompting a 
well-deserved global outcry,”* said Earthjustice attorney Jan 
Hasselman*. “The federal courts have stepped in where our political 
systems have failed to protect the rights of Native communities.”

The Court ruled against the Tribe on several other issues, finding that 
the reversal allowing the pipeline complied with the law in some respects.

The $3.8 billion pipeline project, also known as Bakken Oil Pipeline, 
extends 1,168 miles across North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and 
Illinois, crossing through communities, farms, tribal land, sensitive 
natural areas and wildlife habitat. The pipeline would carry up to 
570,000 barrels a day of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North 
Dakota to Illinois where it links with another pipeline that will 
transport the oil to terminals and refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20171018/1139fa5c/attachment.htm>