Standing Rock: What is happening now…
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/new-hope-shutting-down-dakota-access-pipeline
A New Hope for Shutting Down the Dakota Access Pipeline
An unusual, after-construction public comment period opens the door for correcting a grave mistake
By Juliet Grable November 14, 2023
Reckless development proposals such as mines, mega-dams, and oil pipelines have a way of coming back from the dead. The controversial Keystone XL pipeline is a recent and classic example: a zombie project that just wouldn’t die. Now, in North Dakota, environmental groups and Native American tribes are seizing on a rare opportunity to shut down a fossil fuel project that’s already up and running—the fiercely fought Dakota Access Pipeline.
Earlier this month, tribal members and environmentalists gathered in Bismarck, North Dakota, to give public testimony on the draft environmental impact statement for a critical section of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Before the hearing, activists who had traveled by bus from the Twin Cities rallied on the sidewalk with members of the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux Tribes, which for years have led opposition to the oil pipeline.
Format of public comment meetings for Dakota Access oil pipeline upsets opponents
Updated 11:28 AM CST, November 2, 2023
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline are taking issue with the format of private oral testimony in meetings for public comment on a draft environmental review of the controversial pipeline.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the midst of two public comment meetings in Bismarck, North Dakota, the first held Wednesday, the second set for Thursday. People wishing to give testimony may do so orally in a curtained area with a stenographer, or do so in writing at tables.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has long opposed the pipeline due to the risk of an oil spill contaminating the tribe’s drinking water supply. The four-state pipeline crosses under the Missouri River just upstream of the tribe’s reservation.
The long-awaited draft environmental review, released in September, outlines five options for the pipeline’s fate. Those include denying the easement for the controversial crossing and removing or abandoning a 7,500-foot (2,286-meter) segment, or granting the easement with no changes or with additional safety measures. A fifth option is to reroute the pipeline north of Bismarck, which would require new state, local and federal permits.
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/08/1198492185/dakota-access-pipeline-river-crossing-environmental-review
Future of controversial Dakota Access pipeline’s river crossing remains unclear
September 8, 20233:14 PM ET By The Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. — Federal officials on Friday released a draft environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but said they’re waiting for more input before deciding the future of the line’s controversial river crossing in North Dakota.
The draft was released over three years after a federal judge ordered the environmental review and revoked the permit for the Missouri River crossing, upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The tribe is concerned a pipeline oil spill could contaminate its water supply.