In Solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Their Efforts to Halt DAPL

I strongly support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all tribal communities in urging a halt to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,168-mile long crude oil pipeline that will transport nearly 570,000 barrels of oil each day from North Dakota to Illinois.

This inevitably hazardous project would run near or through tribal lands, waters, and cultural places.

Not only would the Dakota Access Pipeline threaten sacred sites and culturally important landscapes, it would also cross under the Missouri River just upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s drinking water supply. The risk of a pipeline rupture in this area would threaten the environment, public health, and tribal and human rights.

It is wrong that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the federal trust responsibility by approving construction without meaningful tribal consultation.

Moreover, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and environmentalists have raised serious concerns that the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision violates the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, as well as its federal trust responsibility to the Tribe.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is currently locked in a legal battle to stop the construction of the pipeline. Today, the federal court will announce whether to grant a temporary restraining order against Dakota Access, the company building the pipeline.

Construction must be halted so the Tribe can continue to fight to protect its waters and sacred places.

Respect for Tribal sovereignty requires so.

#NODAPL #WaterIsLife #StandingRock