Tribe Files New Suit as Army Corps Announces Eviction Deadline for Water Protectors
'We really had no choice but to go to court to protect our rights' said Oglala Sioux president
The Oglala Sioux have joined the legal battle against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, filing a lawsuit this week calling on the agency to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) until an environmental review can be completed.
Tribal leaders cited fear of water contamination in their lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the U.S District Court in Washington, the same day a federal judge rejected an emergency request from the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to delay construction.
The action comes ahead of the corps pledging to evict anyone still camping at the main resistance site in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on February 22.
The corps granted DAPL's parent company its final easement this month and canceled the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) amid widespread protests.
"After the Corps granted the easement for the DAPL to cross under Lake Oahe and stopped the environmental impact statement process, we really had no choice but to go to court to protect our rights under the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties to safe drinking water," tribal President Troy "Scott" Weston said in a statement Monday.
The Oglala Sioux are situated in South Dakota, one of the four states the 1,172-mile pipeline crosses. The lawsuit warns that a spill in the Missouri River would violate Indigenous treaty rights, contaminate clean water for more than 200,000 state residents, and bring about other environmental devastation.
"The waters of the Missouri River are sacred to the tribe," the Oglala Sioux's lawsuit states. "These waters give life to all of the creatures and plants on the tribe's lands. The tribe has treaty- and statute-protected property rights to the waters of the Missouri River."
President Donald Trump, who took office pledging support for Big Oil, signed an executive order last month instructing the corps to expedite the DAPL approval process--reversing an effort by former President Barack Obama to halt construction until the EIS could be completed.
Kelcy Warren, CEO of DAPL's parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, has previously referred to the water protectors and other pipeline opponents as terrorists.
Resistance to the pipeline has been ongoing since last summer, with more than 200 tribes from around the country supporting the front-line efforts in North Dakota led largely by the Standing Rock Sioux. That tribe was also in D.C. court this week, filing a motion to overturn the Lake Oahe easement.
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The Oglala Sioux have joined the legal battle against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, filing a lawsuit this week calling on the agency to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) until an environmental review can be completed.
Tribal leaders cited fear of water contamination in their lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the U.S District Court in Washington, the same day a federal judge rejected an emergency request from the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to delay construction.
The action comes ahead of the corps pledging to evict anyone still camping at the main resistance site in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on February 22.
The corps granted DAPL's parent company its final easement this month and canceled the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) amid widespread protests.
"After the Corps granted the easement for the DAPL to cross under Lake Oahe and stopped the environmental impact statement process, we really had no choice but to go to court to protect our rights under the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties to safe drinking water," tribal President Troy "Scott" Weston said in a statement Monday.
The Oglala Sioux are situated in South Dakota, one of the four states the 1,172-mile pipeline crosses. The lawsuit warns that a spill in the Missouri River would violate Indigenous treaty rights, contaminate clean water for more than 200,000 state residents, and bring about other environmental devastation.
"The waters of the Missouri River are sacred to the tribe," the Oglala Sioux's lawsuit states. "These waters give life to all of the creatures and plants on the tribe's lands. The tribe has treaty- and statute-protected property rights to the waters of the Missouri River."
President Donald Trump, who took office pledging support for Big Oil, signed an executive order last month instructing the corps to expedite the DAPL approval process--reversing an effort by former President Barack Obama to halt construction until the EIS could be completed.
Kelcy Warren, CEO of DAPL's parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, has previously referred to the water protectors and other pipeline opponents as terrorists.
Resistance to the pipeline has been ongoing since last summer, with more than 200 tribes from around the country supporting the front-line efforts in North Dakota led largely by the Standing Rock Sioux. That tribe was also in D.C. court this week, filing a motion to overturn the Lake Oahe easement.
The Oglala Sioux have joined the legal battle against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, filing a lawsuit this week calling on the agency to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) until an environmental review can be completed.
Tribal leaders cited fear of water contamination in their lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the U.S District Court in Washington, the same day a federal judge rejected an emergency request from the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to delay construction.
The action comes ahead of the corps pledging to evict anyone still camping at the main resistance site in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on February 22.
The corps granted DAPL's parent company its final easement this month and canceled the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) amid widespread protests.
"After the Corps granted the easement for the DAPL to cross under Lake Oahe and stopped the environmental impact statement process, we really had no choice but to go to court to protect our rights under the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties to safe drinking water," tribal President Troy "Scott" Weston said in a statement Monday.
The Oglala Sioux are situated in South Dakota, one of the four states the 1,172-mile pipeline crosses. The lawsuit warns that a spill in the Missouri River would violate Indigenous treaty rights, contaminate clean water for more than 200,000 state residents, and bring about other environmental devastation.
"The waters of the Missouri River are sacred to the tribe," the Oglala Sioux's lawsuit states. "These waters give life to all of the creatures and plants on the tribe's lands. The tribe has treaty- and statute-protected property rights to the waters of the Missouri River."
President Donald Trump, who took office pledging support for Big Oil, signed an executive order last month instructing the corps to expedite the DAPL approval process--reversing an effort by former President Barack Obama to halt construction until the EIS could be completed.
Kelcy Warren, CEO of DAPL's parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, has previously referred to the water protectors and other pipeline opponents as terrorists.
Resistance to the pipeline has been ongoing since last summer, with more than 200 tribes from around the country supporting the front-line efforts in North Dakota led largely by the Standing Rock Sioux. That tribe was also in D.C. court this week, filing a motion to overturn the Lake Oahe easement.