Order could have little effect on pipeline protest camp

The companies say the pipeline would carry Bakken shale oil more cheaply and safely from North Dakota to IL en route to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries than it could be shipped by railroad or tanker trucks. There are also other, smaller camps nearby, across the river, on reservation land.

“Unfortunately, it is apparent that more risky groups have joined this protest and are provoking conflict in spite of the public pleas from tribal leaders”, said Col. John Henderson, the commander of the corps’ Omaha district.

Veterans are a good fit for the job, Diggs said, because they’re organized and know how to handle emergency situations and extreme weather.

The group filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday, seeking an injunction against the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and other police forces who were present on November 20, which the lawyers accuse of using excessive force – and employing “impact munitions such as rubber bullets and lead-filled “beanbags”, water cannons and hoses, explosive tear gas grenades and other chemical agents against protesters”.

Since late summer, protesters have stood beside members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota who believe the $3.7 billion pipeline project, which would move 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states, would affect its supply of drinking water and place downstream communities at risk of contamination from potential oil spills.

“We’ve had some of our streets blocked for a period of time, but generally after a period of time the protesters disband and business gets back to normal”, he said.

It’s not just the numbers that are huge either; the last few months have seen big debates and protests about where exactly the pipe should be laid.

Reports suggest that the pipeline is 87% complete and as tensions amongst the Sioux and the local authorities grow the protests have become increasingly violent. Tribal leaders say they’re preparing another campsite nearby that will house supporters throughout the winter. “I don’t think the Corps of Engineers will come in on [December 5] and try to remove us”.

With winter looming, the Corps has made a decision to close the land north of the Cannonball River where the Oceti Sakowin protest encampment have flourished on December 5, also citing the confrontations between protesters and authorities, according to a letter Archambault said he received.

“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has the right to self-determination in deciding its own destiny”.

Dave Archambault II, chairman of the tribe, wrote in a statement that the Corps of Engineers’ announcement was “saddening” but “not at all surprising”.

“Our Tribe is deeply disappointed in this decision by the United States, but our best resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever”, Archambault said in the statement as he asked the government to stop the pipeline’s construction and move it outside “ancestral and treaty lands”.

“There’s a lot of rumors going around the camps”. On that note, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. The original plan was to feed 500 but that quickly went up to 2,000.

“They are ecstatic”, Diggs said.

“If you’re in the infrastructure business”, he said, “you need consistency”.

So, it seems that both sides have taken a firm stand and neither is willing to negotiate any other terms to settle this dispute peacefully.

Besides slowing construction of the pipeline, the group’s goal is to kick up widespread support for the protesters, according to organizers.