The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe along with more than 300 other Indian Tribal Nations have been protesting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline at Cannonball, ND. The Dakota Access Pipeline is $3.7 billion project involving the routing of crude oil via a pipeline from North Dakota to Patoka, IL. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe purports the pipeline creates a major cultural and environmental threat by destroying sacred burial grounds and potentially contaminating their water supply.
According to the Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, “The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the law when it green-lighted construction of the oil pipeline without consulting with the tribe.” A letter signed by 19 members of Congress addressed to President Obama stated, “The pipeline poses significant threats to the environment, public health, and tribal and human rights.”
Sources: nbcnews.com; abcnews.go.com; and daplpipelinefacts.com
-Tony Franklin
