By Nick Bernabe at theantimedia.org
North Dakota — Following months of protests and brutal crackdowns by law enforcement, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has just been reignited. Today, at the behest of President Trump, the Army Corps of Engineers announced in a court filing that they will grant an easement for the DAPL to cross under Lake Oahe.
The $3.8 billion DAPL project is supported by oil companies, the Trump administration, and advocates of American energy independence. Native American tribes are opposing the pipeline, arguing their ancestral lands are being harmed. They are joined by clean water activists (“water protectors”) and environmental activists, among others.
This Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota has been the main site of contention. Critics of the pipeline say it crosses Sioux treaty land, and proponents say it doesn’t. The Sacred Stone Camp, one of the main Native American encampments that have been on the front lines of opposition to the pipeline, put out a preemptive statement on January 31st calling for a renewed stand against DAPL. The announcement came in anticipation of the Army Corps’ announcement.
Video: https://www.facebook.com/earthw7/videos/10208655110920613/
Tribal leaders have decided to take a legal route with their opposition the pipeline, challenging DAPL in court and encouraging water protectors to break camp and go home. However, some water protector camps have chosen to stay at Standing Rock and continue the fight on the ground.
As Anti-Media reported last week, U.S. military veterans have already vowed to mobilize once again against the DAPL, continuing their previous commitment to protecting protesters and halting the pipeline.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, have received widespread criticism for their heavy-handed tactics against protesters and journalists, which have left hundreds injured and jailed.
This article (Breaking: Army Corps Approves Final DAPL Construction, Setting Stage for Showdown) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nick Bernabe and theAntiMedia.org.
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The corps’ mission is to “Deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nation’s security, energize the economy AND REDUCE RISKS FROM DISASTERS. [wikipedia]