"For more than three months, thousands of protesters, most of them from out of state, have illegally camped on federal land in Morton County, North Dakota, to oppose the construction of a legally permitted oil pipeline project that is 85 percent complete.
The celebrities, political activists, and anti-oil extremists who are blocking the pipeline’s progress are doing so based on highly charged emotions rather than actual facts on the ground.
This 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline will deliver as many as 570,000 barrels of oil a day from northwestern North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to connect to existing pipelines in Illinois.
It will do this job far more safely than the current method of transporting it by 750 rail cars a day.
...Just like the companies that run the 10 other fossil-fuel pipelines crossing the Missouri River upstream of Standing Rock, Energy Transfer Partners—the primary funder of this pipeline—is taking all necessary precautions to ensure that the pipeline does not leak.But even if there were a risk, Standing Rock will soon have a new water intake that is nearing completion much further downstream near Mobridge, South Dakota.
From the outset of this process, Standing Rock Sioux leaders have refused to sit down and meet with either the Army Corps of Engineers or the pipeline company.
The Army Corps consulted with 55 Native American tribes at least 389 times, after which they proposed 140 variations of the route to avoid culturally sensitive areas in North Dakota.
The logical time for Standing Rock tribal leaders to share their concerns would have been at these meetings, not now when construction is already near completion.
...Though these protesters claim to be gathered for peaceful prayer and meditation, law enforcement has been forced to arrest more than 400 in response to several unlawful incidents, including trespassing on and damaging private land, chaining themselves to equipment, burning tires and fields, damaging cars and a bridge, harassing residents of nearby farms and ranches, and killing and butchering livestock....
...All that remains for the pipeline project to be completed is for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a final easement to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
...The simple fact is that our nation will continue to produce and consume oil, and pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to transport it. Legally permitted infrastructure projects must be allowed to proceed without threat of improper governmental meddling.
The rule of law matters.
We cannot allow lawless mobs to obstruct projects that have met all legal requirements to proceed.
2 comments:
I figured as such. There is no way a major corporation with staffs of lawyers are going to pass thru an Indian Reservation without completing endless amounts of paperwork, public hearings, getting the necessary permission and permits. I feel bad for the residents of the reservation because they don't have the resources and skill sets to compete on a level playing field with a major corporation. Public perception is that the Indians are the victims. Even if perception is not reality, perhaps the oil companies can throw some compensation at these people to make them feel like they got a win. In the end, that pipeline is going to be completed with or without their consent.
Well said, sgttrunk!
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