Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by on Sunday February 12 2017, @10:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the rebellion dept.

The Guardian reports that the U.S. Army sent a letter, dated 7 February, to member of Congress Raúl Grijalva, saying it would grant a permit for the construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. Work could resume as early as 8 February.

"I have determined that there is no cause for completing any additional environmental analysis," wrote Douglas W Lamon, the senior official performing the duties of assistant secretary of the army, wrote in a notice to the federal register.

More recent news in Standing Rock from Feb 9:

The restarting of the drilling operation, which a pipeline spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday morning, began soon after the US government gave the oil corporation the green light to proceed on Wednesday. The controversial pipeline could be transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois within three months.

At the Standing Rock camps in Cannon Ball – where activists have been stationed since last spring to fight the project – indigenous and environmental organizers vowed to stay put and continue opposing the pipeline.

[Continues...]

And from Feb 11:

Army veterans from across the country have arrived in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, or are currently en route after the news that Donald Trump's administration has allowed the oil corporation to finish drilling across the Missouri river.

The growing group of military veterans could make it harder for police and government officials to try to remove hundreds of activists who remain camped near the construction site and, some hope, could limit use of excessive force by law enforcement during demonstrations.

"We are prepared to put our bodies between Native elders and a privatized military force," said Elizabeth Williams, a 34-year-old air force veteran, who arrived at Standing Rock with a group of vets late on Friday. "We've stood in the face of fire before. We feel a responsibility to use the skills we have."

Previous stories:

Army Corp [sic] of Engineers Now Accepting Public Comment on the Dakota Access Pipeline
Army Corps of Engineers Blocks the Dakota Access Pipeline and many others in the archives.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12 2017, @08:26PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12 2017, @08:26PM (#466283)

    Another reason for a particular route* is to parallel existing pipelines -- it is much harder to fight a new pipeline on private land if there is an existing one already in place. Not sure if this was a factor in this particular pipeline, but it is very common.

    * I found this out the hard way when a new pipeline came through our families rural retreat property ~10 years ago and made a huge mess. We lost over 1000 trees (4" or larger) in a quarter mile of right-of-way. There were already two small pipes in place when my father bought the vacant land (not suitable for farming) in the late 1960s. One was a 4" from the 1950s (disused--but a company still owns the right of way) and another from the early 1960s that was 6" or 8". Now we have a 24" at 1200 psi running parallel.