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The US government reiterated its request that construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota be paused, while authorities consider the impacts of its route on a Native American tribe. The Dakota Access Pipeline has been the subject of a months-long protest, in which Native Americans and their supporters have camped out in the state’s prairie lands to block the pipeline’s route underneath the Missouri River and the adjoining man-made Lake Oahe.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says the project threatens its drinking water source, and could destroy ancient sacred sites near the tribe’s reservation, which is less than a mile from the pipeline. A month ago, the federal government had asked the pipeline’s operator, Energy Transfer Partners, to pause construction within 20 miles of the disputed area, while authorities evaluate the tribe’s claims.
But a federal appeals court Sunday denied the tribe’s request to order a temporary stop to construction, prompting the Departments of Justice, Army and Interior to once again issue a statement of support.
—AFP