Today, a broad coalition of tribal members, landowner rights groups, and environmental organizations issued a joint statement in support of four tribal lawsuits contesting the permits recently issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the Dakota Access pipeline.
On Tuesday, July 26, the US Army Corps of Engineers approved the water crossing permits for the pipeline, proposed to carry fracked oil from the Bakken fields in North Dakota 1,172 miles to Patoka, Illinois. The coalition stands united in opposition to these permits and the process by which the USACE granted them.
The statement explains that, “This rubber stamp approval undermines the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as federal trust responsibilities guaranteed in the 1851 and 1868 United States treaties with the L/D/Nakota tribes, which remain the supreme law of the land. We support the subsequent legal filings by the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Rosebud Sioux, and Yankton Sioux Tribes, whose human rights, treaty rights, and sovereignty are violated by these permits. We join them in calling for a full halt to all construction activities and repeal of all USACE permits until formal tribal consultation and environmental review are properly and adequately conducted.”
Access the full coalition statement and list of signatories here.
Joye Braun, DAPL Organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, says, “While we are disappointed that the USACE decided to trample on treaty rights yet again, we are undaunted in our task to stop the black snake. These corporations and the United States government do not have the right to say that the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota people are expendable. We stand firm in our commitment to stop Dakota Access through prayer and non-violent direct action. Expect resistance.”
LaDonna Allard, Director of the Camp of the Sacred Stones, says, “We stand against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline and stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the lawsuit against the US Army Corp of Engineers. Water is life. We must protect the water.”
Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth, says, “When Standing Rock doesn’t even have adequate infrastructure for its people, why do they need a new pipeline for an oil company? We’ve seen enough Indian lands and Indian people sacrificed for corporate profit.”