Dakota Pipeline Update

[xyz]

So Crooked Donald has restarted the Dakota Pipeline:
On His 4th Day In Office Trump Wrecks The Environment With Keystone and Dakota Pipelines Action

At this rate, by his 10th day in office, there will be a war (not 100% sure with what country, but we'll see).

 

[westwall]

It's old news. President Trump has taken all the steps necessary to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Comedy Central

Yes, you are. He took a net loss on the stock to remove any chance of a conflict. He could have held on to it, then pushed the deal through, and made a killing on his stock. But no, you continue to push a false narrative. You sir, are a douchebag.

 

[xyz]

Yes, you are. He took a net loss on the stock to remove any chance of a conflict. He could have held on to it, then pushed the deal through, and made a killing on his stock. But no, you continue to push a false narrative. You sir, are a douchebag.

By giving his companies to his sons, who work in the White House? That's what you call a blind trust?

 

[jknowgood]

So Crooked Donald has restarted the Dakota Pipeline:
On His 4th Day In Office Trump Wrecks The Environment With Keystone and Dakota Pipelines Action

At this rate, by his 10th day in office, there will be a war (not 100% sure with what country, but we'll see).

Well it's safer than moving the oil by train like it's being moved now.

 

[BluesLegend]

So the environment was more important than pipeline jobs, but their casino is more important than the environment...I smell blatant hypocrisy.

 

[waltky]

The Donald gettin' the job done...

Dakota Access pipeline moves closer to completion: lawmakers
Wed Feb 1, 2017 | WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will grant the final approval needed to finish the Dakota Access Pipeline project, U.S. Senator John Hoeven and Congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said on Tuesday.

However, opponents of the $3.8 billion project, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation is adjacent to the route, claimed that Hoeven and Cramer were jumping the gun and that an environmental study underway must be completed before the permit was granted. For months, climate activists and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have been protesting against the completion of the line under Lake Oahe, a reservoir that is part of the Missouri River. The one-mile stretch of the 1,170-mile (1,885 km) line is the only incomplete section in North Dakota.

The project would run from the western part of the state to Patoka, Illinois, and connect to another line to move crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Hoeven said Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer had told him and Vice President Mike Pence of the move. "This will enable the company to complete the project, which can and will be built with the necessary safety features to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others downstream," Hoeven, a Republican, said in a statement.

Representatives for the Army Corps of Engineers could not be reached immediately for comment late on Tuesday. The Department of Justice declined to comment. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week allowing Energy Transfer Partners LP's Dakota Access Pipeline to go forward, after months of protests from Native American groups and climate activists pushed the administration of President Barack Obama to ask for an additional environmental review of the controversial project.

The approval would mark a bitter defeat for Native American tribes and climate activists, who successfully blocked the project earlier and vowed to fight the decision through legal action. On Tuesday evening, the Standing Rock tribe said the Army could not circumvent a scheduled environmental impact study that was ordered by the outgoing Obama administration in January. "The Army Corps lacks statutory authority to simply stop the EIS," they said in a statement. The tribe said it would take legal action against the U.S. Army's reported decision to grant the final easement.

"JUMPED THE GUN"

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says dat'll help keep gas prices down...

Army to Allow Completion of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline
Wednesday 8th February, 2017 - The stretch under Lake Oahe is the final big chunk of work on the 1,200-mile pipeline that would carry North Dakota oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. Developer Energy Transfer Partners had hoped to have oil flowing through the pipeline by the end of 2016, but construction has been stalled while the Army Corps of Engineers and the Dallas-based company battled in court over the crossing.

Tribe concerned about water

The Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation is just downstream from the crossing, fears a leak would pollute its drinking water and is likely to file a legal challenge to the Army's decision to grant an easement. The tribe has led protests that drew hundreds and at times thousands of people who dubbed themselves "water protectors" to an encampment near the crossing. ETP says the pipeline is safe. An environmental assessment conducted last year determined the crossing would not have a significant impact on the environment. However, then-Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy on December 4 declined to issue permission for the crossing, saying a broader environmental study was warranted given the Standing Rock Sioux's opposition.

ETP called Darcy's decision politically motivated and accused then-President Barack Obama's administration of delaying the matter until he left office. The Corps launched a study of the crossing on January 18, two days before Obama left office, that could have taken up to two years to complete. President Donald Trump signed an executive action on January 24 telling the Corps to quickly reconsider Darcy's decision. The court documents filed Tuesday include a proposed Federal Register notice terminating the study.

Oil workers poised to begin drilling

ETP has been poised to begin drilling under the lake as soon as it has approval. Workers have drilled entry and exit holes for the Oahe crossing, and oil has been put in the pipeline leading up to the lake in anticipation of finishing the project. Protesters have at times clashed with police, leading to nearly 700 arrests since the tribe set up the encampment on federal land. The camp's population thinned to fewer than 300 as harsh winter weather arrived and as Standing Rock officials pleaded for the camp to disband before the spring flooding season.

Army to Allow Completion of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline

 

[waltky]

Dakota access appeal turned down...

Request to halt Dakota Access denied
Wed, Feb 15, 2017 - SACRED WATERS: The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said clean water is necessary for its religious practice, but Energy Transfer Partners lawyers have denied the claim

A US federal judge on Monday refused to stop construction on the last stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, which is progressing much faster than expected and could be operational in as little as 30 days. US District Judge James Boasberg ruled after an hour-long hearing that as long as oil is not flowing through the pipeline, there is no imminent harm to the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes, which are suing to stop the project, but he said he would consider the arguments more thoroughly at another hearing on Feb. 27.

That gives the tribes hope that they still might prevail, Cheyenne River chairman Harold Frazier said. “To put that pipeline in the ground would be irreparable harm for us in our culture,” he said. The tribes requested the temporary injunction last week after Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners got federal permission to lay pipe under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota. That is the last big section of the US$3.8 billion pipeline, which would carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

The tribes say the pipeline would endanger their cultural sites and water supply. They added a religious freedom component to their case last week by arguing that clean water is necessary to practice the Sioux religion. “The mere presence of the oil in the pipeline renders the water spiritually impure,” said Nicole Ducheneaux, lawyer for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. However, Boasberg said any immediate harm to the tribe “”omes from when the spigots are turned on and the oil flows through the pipeline.”

Despite the setback, American Indian activist Chase Iron Eyes said pipeline opponents would continue fighting the project in the courts and maintaining an on-the-ground presence in the drilling area, “in peaceful prayer and in dignity as we assert our rights to protect our environment, our economy and our sovereignty.” Energy Transfer Partners spokeswoman Vicki Granado last week said that the drilling work would take about two months and that the full pipeline system would be operational within three months. However, David Debold, a lawyer for Dakota Access, said work is going more quickly and suggested the pipeline could be ready for oil in as soon as 30 days. “We’re not in a position where we can agree to any kind of stopping of the pipeline,” Debold said.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - where's Billy Jack when ya need him?...

Governor orders evacuation of Dakota pipeline protest camp
Thu Feb 16, 2017 | The governor of North Dakota ordered protesters on Wednesday to evacuate a demonstration camp near the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline in the latest move to clear the area that has served as a base for opposition to the multibillion dollar project.

Republican Doug Burgum ordered demonstrators to leave the camp located on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by Feb. 22, citing safety concerns that have arisen due to accelerated snowmelt and rising water levels of the nearby Cannonball River.

Tribal flags catch the wind in the opposition camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota​

Burgum also said in his executive order that the camp poses an environmental danger to the surrounding area. His order reaffirms a Feb. 22 deadline set by the Army Corps for the demonstrators to clean up and leave. Environmentalists and Native Americans who have opposed the pipeline, saying it threatens water resources and sacred sites, have faced a series of set-backs since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Police vehicles idle on the outskirts of the opposition camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota​

A federal judge on Monday denied a request by Native American tribes seeking to halt construction of the final link of the $3.8 billion pipeline after the Corps of Engineers granted a final easement to Energy Transfer Partners LP last week.

Governor orders evacuation of Dakota pipeline protest camp

 

[waltky]

Army Study of Disputed Dakota Pipeline Crossing Ended...

Army Formally Ends Study of Disputed Pipeline Crossing
Feb 17, 2017 — The Army formally ended further study of the Dakota Access oil pipeline's disputed crossing beneath a reservoir in North Dakota.

Meanwhile, its Corps of Engineers branch continued efforts to accelerate cleanup at a protest camp near the drilling site that's threatened by spring flooding. The Corps launched the study on Jan. 18 in light of concerns from the Standing Rock Sioux and other Native American tribes that a pipeline leak beneath Lake Oahe would pollute drinking water. President Donald Trump a week later pushed to advance pipeline construction, and the Army gave Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners permission for the crossing on Feb. 8. Work quickly began on the final chunk of construction. Pipeline opponents have continued to call for more study despite the fact that ETP has said the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois could be operating as early as next month. More than 100,000 comments had already been submitted for the study, according to the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The Army published notice Friday in the Federal Register that it was scrapping the study. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux also are fighting the pipeline work in court, with the next hearing set for Feb. 28. In the meantime, hundreds of pipeline opponents have continued to occupy a camp near the drilling site in North Dakota. State and federal authorities have told the few hundred people remaining in the camp to leave by Wednesday. Authorities want the area cleaned and closed before spring floodwaters wash tons of trash and debris into nearby rivers, including the Missouri River, and cause an environmental disaster.

Giovanni Sanchez, from Pennsylvania, chops wood for campfires at the Dakota Access oil pipeline protest camp in southern North Dakota near Cannon Ball.​

The tribe launched a cleanup effort in late January. The state and Corps were continuing Friday to try to line up additional contractors to speed up the work, according to Corps Capt. Ryan Hignight and Mike Nowatzki, spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum. "We're running out of time," Hignight said. "We need to ensure that the land is remediated as soon as possible." Some in camp think the flood fears are overblown and that authorities are trying to turn public sentiment against them. "We're all working hard to get the lower (flood-prone) grounds clear," said Giovanni Sanchez, a Pennsylvania man who has been at the camp since November. "I think they're just trying to find any reason to get us out of here." The latest spring flood outlook from the National Weather Service, issued Thursday, calls for minor flooding in the area. The outlook doesn't include flood risks associated with river ice jams, which can't be predicted.

The camp area has been the site of numerous and sometimes violent clashes between police and protesters. There have been more than 700 arrests in the region since August. The head of the FBI in Minneapolis, which oversees the Dakotas, recently said his agents are working with local, state and federal agencies to investigate some activity at the protests near the site. "We have not been standing out there at roadblocks, but ... there have been things that we would consider acts of terrorism — arson and so forth — that have taken place," FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Thornton said.

Army Formally Ends Study of Disputed Pipeline Crossing | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Dat's right - Injuns trashin' up the place...

Deadline Looms for Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Camp
February 20, 2017 — As dawn breaks over an encampment that was once home to thousands of people protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline, a few hundred holdouts rise for another day of resistance.

They aren't deterred by the threat of flooding, nor by declarations from state and federal authorities that they must leave by Wednesday or face possible arrest. They're determined to remain and fight a pipeline they maintain threatens the very sanctity of the land. "If we don't stand now, when will we?" said Tiffanie Pieper of San Diego, who has been in the camp most of the winter.

Protest started in August

Protesters have been at the campsite since August to fight the $3.8 billion pipeline that will carry oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners began work on the last big section of the pipeline this month after the Army gave it permission to lay pipe under a reservoir on the Missouri River. The protest camp is on Army Corp of Engineers land nearby. The protests have been led by Native American tribes, particularly the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux, whose reservation is downstream. They say the pipeline threatens drinking water and cultural sites. ETP disputes that.

Protesters block highway 1806 in Mandan, North Dakota, during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation​

Faced with the prospect of spring flooding, some protesters are considering moving to higher ground, though not necessarily off the federal land. Some may move to the Standing Rock Reservation, where the Cheyenne River Sioux is leasing land to provide camping space even though Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault has urged protesters to leave. "We have the same goals," Cheyenne River Chairman Harold Frazier said of himself and Archambault. "We don't agree on whether or not the water protectors should be on the ground."

No camp re-entry after Wednesday

On Monday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum talked with Archambault on the telephone about efforts to clean up and vacate the protest camp, Burgum's office said. Burgum and Archambault both stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open, including a one-page flyer that the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs will distribute in the camp, reminding protesters that the main camp will be evacuated at 2 p.m. Wednesday and re-entry will not be allowed, Burgum's office said.

Trash waits to be hauled away at the Dakota Access oil pipeline protest camp as a National Guard Humvee monitors the camp from a nearby hilltop​

More than 230 truckloads of debris have been hauled out as of Monday, according to the governor's office. Those urging the protesters to leave say they're concerned about possible flooding in the area as snow melts. "The purpose of this is to close the land to ensure no one gets harmed," said Corps Capt. Ryan Hignight.

Debris from camp a concern

 

[waltky]

Tribes lose appeal...

U.S. judge rules against tribes seeking to stop Dakota pipeline
Tue Mar 7, 2017 | A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled against Native American tribes seeking to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline as their legal options narrow weeks before oil is set to flow on the project.

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the tribes' request for an injunction to withdraw permission issued by the Army Corps for the last link of the oil pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP.N) is building the $3.8 billion pipeline to move crude from the Northern Plains to the Midwest and then on to the Gulf of Mexico.

Ezekiel Bahee, 18, of the Navajo Tribe of Arizona, stands with other opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline as they prepare to confront police calling for them to evacuate their main camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota​

The denial of the injunction represents yet another setback to the tribes – the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux – that have been leading the charge against the line, which runs adjacent to tribal territory in southern North Dakota. The tribes had argued that the pipeline would render water they use for religious ceremonies spiritually impure even if the pipeline goes under Lake Oahe. They said the pipeline was reminiscent of an ancient prophesy of a Black Snake that would harm natives and that they could not use other water supplies in the region because they had been polluted by decades of mining.

Boasberg said in a written ruling that the Cheyenne tribe "remained silent as to the Black Snake prophesy and its concerns about oil in the pipeline under Lake Oahe" during two years of legal disputes against the line. Chase Iron Eyes, lead counsel for the Lakota People's Law Project said "it is simply unacceptable that the government is allowing Energy Transfer Partners to build this pipeline through our sacred lands." The water the pipeline threatens supplies used by the Lakota and more than 17 million other people downstream, he said. The tribes had won a reprieve from the Democratic Obama administration in early December, but the victory was short-lived as Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order days after taking office on Jan. 20 that smoothed the path for the last permit needed.

Authorities clear the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota​

Energy Transfer Partners needed only to cross beneath Lake Oahe, part of the Missouri River system, to connect a final gap in the 1,170-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, which will move oil from the Bakken shale formation to a terminus in Illinois. The company said in a filing late Monday that it plans to start pumping oil through a section of the line under the Missouri River by the week of March 13. Lisa Dillinger, a spokeswoman for the pipeline, said the company was pleased with Boasberg's decision and that it has "progressed quickly with the final piece of construction."

FIGHT CONTINUES

 

[waltky]

Another federal judge gummin' up Trump's attempts to get somethin' done...

Judge Orders Environmental Review of Dakota Pipeline
June 14, 2017 | WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider its environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline, opening up the possibility that the line could be shut at a later date.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington said that the Army Corps did not adequately consider the effects of a possible oil spill on the fishing and hunting rights of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Operations of Energy Transfer Partners LP’s pipeline have not been suspended but that be considered at a later date, the order said. The $3.8 billion line began interstate crude oil delivery in May.

Future steps

The parties are expected to meet with Boasberg next Wednesday to discuss future steps; the Standing Rock Sioux are expected to argue that pipeline operations should be halted. The judge said in a 91-page decision that while the Army Corps substantially complied with the National Environmental Policy Act, federal permits issued for the pipeline violated the law in some respects, saying in a court order the Corps did not “adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice.” “To remedy those violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of its environmental analysis upon remand by the Court,” the judge said.

America Indians and their supporters protest outside of the White House, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Washington, to rally against the construction of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline.​

The tribe had sued the Army Corps over its approval of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, arguing the line could contaminate their water source, the Missouri River. “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,” said Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault, in a statement. ETP was not immediately available for comment.

Pipeline complete, running

In February, the Army Corps of Engineers granted the final easement needed to finish the controversial pipeline, which had been delayed for several months after protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and climate activists. The controversial pipeline needed a final permit to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir that is part of the Missouri River.

Two previous arguments by the Standing Rock tribe — that the construction threatened sacred sites, and that the presence of oil in the pipeline would damage sacred waters — had been rejected by the court. President Donald Trump, days after being sworn in, issued an executive order directing the Army Corps to smooth the path to finishing the line, prompting complaints by the tribe and environmental groups that it had not done an adequate environmental review.

Judge Orders Environmental Review of Dakota Pipeline

 

[Gracie]

It's their land. Put the pipeline in someone elses back yard.