There was understandable joy in the Oceti Sakowin Camp Sunday after the Army Corps of Engineers announced what will be, at the very least, a long delay in further construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Army said it will conduct an environmental impact statement of alternative routes. For months, Indians of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, representatives of more than 100 other tribes, and their non-Native allies have opposed construction of the North Dakota pipeline by putting their bodies on the line to oppose building it through ancestral Sioux lands and under the Missouri River, which supplies the reservation’s drinking water. Drumming, dancing, fireworks, and lots and lots of smiling took place after the Army’s decision was announced.
It was a far cry from the anxiety so prevalent at the camp and across America among supporters of the thousands of people, including 2,000 veterans who arrived to join the resistance on the ground late last week and over the weekend. The state had threatened to evict the people at the camp today. There were fears that action by the heavily militarized state and county police would cause injuries or worse. Several previous encounters, during which more than 600 people at the site were arrested, have been punctuated by law enforcement’s use of pepper-spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons against unarmed resisters. Jack Healy and Nicholas Fandos report:
Glad tears greet the Army’s announcement.“The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing,” Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. The move could presage a lengthy environmental review that has the potential to block the pipeline’s construction for months or years. [...]
Though the Army’s decision calls for an environmental study of alternative routes, the Trump administration could ultimately decide to allow the original, contested route. Representatives for Mr. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, but he has said that his support has nothing to do with his investment.
Their hopes answeredThus, while Sunday brought a reprieve, the struggle is not over. Nevertheless, even though the future of the pipeline is uncertain, the Army’s decision is a clear victory for the tribe. It had raised objections because the pipeline route goes through ancestral Sioux land, including what the tribe calls an old burial ground, and threatens the reservation’s drinking water supply should a break and leak occur.