Original Environmentalists Protest Short Sighted Economic Policies of the United States

Map of Dakota Access Pipeline route

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a proposed 1,100-mile pipeline that will be used to carry over a half-million barrels of crude oil per day from northwest North Dakota to southern Illinois, across four states.

Since 2014, after first learning about this project, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has actively opposed the permitting and construction of this pipeline, voicing their concerns to the company, the Federal Government, the United States Congress, and the State. Finally, the tribe filed litigation in federal court in the District of Columbia to challenge the actions of the Corps of Engineers regarding the Dakota Access pipeline.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe: Background on the Dakota Access Pipeline

Background Statement on Dakota Access Pipeline from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe:

The Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation is home to Dakota and Lakota people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Since time immemorial, they have lived and governed a vast territory throughout North and South Dakota, and parts of Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Currently, the Tribe is located in central North and South Dakota.

Despite strong objections from the Tribe from the first time they heard of the project, on July 25, 2016, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers granted authorization to the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross Lake Oahe as part of the construction of a 1,100 mile pipeline that is proposed to carry over a half-million barrels of Bakken crude oil to Illinois and across four states.