Victory For Water Activists Concerned With Dakota Access Pipeline

Native American tribes concerned about water contamination won a major victory this weekend in a fight to stop an oil pipeline from being built across sacred lands near a reservation.

“The Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River,” The New York Times reported.

Dakota Access pipeline proponents had wanted it to take a path underneath Lake Oahe, a water reservoir, according to Slate.

“A coalition of Native American groups, environmentalists, Hollywood stars and veterans of the U.S. armed forces protested the $3.8 billion oil project. They said construction would damage sacred lands and any leaks could pollute the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe,” Reuters reported.

The Army said it will look for alternative routes for the nearly $4 billion pipeline, according to reports.

“Construction of the route a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation has become a global flashpoint for environmental and indigenous activism, drawing thousands of people out here to a sprawling prairie camp of tents, tepees and yurts,” The New York Times explained.

The project may need to undergo an environmental review that will hold up the effort for months, according to The Times.

Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement: "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."

Still, it remains unclear if the decision will remain in place when Donald Trump becomes president.

“Though the Army’s decision calls for an environmental study of alternative routes, the Trump administration could ultimately decide to allow the original, contested route. Mr. Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, but he has said that his support has nothing to do with his investment,” the Times reported.

“Trump's transition team said on Monday it would review the decision to delay completion once he takes office Jan. 20,” Reuters reported.

The backdrop, per Slate: “The 1,172-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline that would carry 470,000 barrels per day was set to run within a half-mile of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, and opponents had long been saying it could pollute drinking water as well as disturb sacred tribal sites.”

For similar stories visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.