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posted by martyb on Monday December 05 2016, @01:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the embrace-extend-extinguish? dept.

According to an article at Snopes.com:

The Army Corps of Engineers has denied the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline, according Colonel Henderson, who notified Veterans for Standing Rock co-organizer Michael A. Wood Jr on 4 December 2016.

More than 3,000 veterans had converged at the Standing Rock camp to support the Sioux in their ongoing opposition to the building of a $3.7 billion pipeline that would cross through disputed land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Wood said upon learning of the move, "This is history."

From a report in Al Jazeera :

The US Army Corps of Engineers has turned down a permit for a controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota, in a victory for Native Americans and climate activists who have protested against the project for several months, according to a statement released.

The 1,885km Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, had been complete except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

"The Army will not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record," a statement from the US Army said.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, along with climate activists, have been protesting the $3.8bn project, saying it could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands.

[...] "Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline," said Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II, in a statement.

"Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes."


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by meustrus on Monday December 05 2016, @09:35PM

    by meustrus (4961) on Monday December 05 2016, @09:35PM (#437400)

    The meaningful political battles have been fought and lost months ago. State utilities boards granted eminent domain to a private corporation over the objections of their citizens. Federal agencies granted permits over the objections of its citizens. The federal government and its corporate cronies have successfully ignored the sovereignty of tribal lands. The local police forces have gotten away with in assaulting peaceful protesters for the benefit of private corporations.

    At no point has the battle of local citizens' control over their own land been won. We are all at the mercy of the authorities. It just so happens that this time, the authorities are somewhat less corrupt and have actually reviewed the evidence of a particular claim. But just because the authorities are now being magnanimous on one claim - the potential for water contamination affecting a protected community - that doesn't mean we have really gained anything larger. On the contrary: it is now firmly established that the only way to protect your land is to appeal to every authority you can and hope that someone, anyone, will review the merit of your claim. Nowhere in that process is the individual or even communal right to determine how our land is used. That right belongs only to the government cronies.

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