North Dakota Access Pipeline Will Cross Tribal Waters Despite Their Disapproval

Articles | August 5 2016
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by Yessenia Funes

Two days ago (July 26), Native tribes—including the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation—received disappointing news: The Army Corps of Engineers approved permits to allow the 1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline to cross bodies of water near their communities.

This decision comes after months of protests from Native people concerned about the pipeline’s environmental and cultural impacts. Energy Transfer is the corporation behind the pipeline, which will transport about 450,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the fracked Bakken Shale Formation of North Dakota to Illinois.

“Another act of oppression by the government,” said Lisa Deville of the Fort Berthold Reservation in a statement. “When the pipeline breaks, all of our water will be contaminated. Pipelines contain radioactive material that accumulates and becomes even more dangerous.”  (Read more)