Standing Rock Tribe Victorious As US Army Denies Easement And Blocks Route Of North Dakota Pipeline!
In a decision celebrated by the thousands of protestors gathered at the Standing Rock site, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday that they would not grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline and would instead “explore alternate routes.”
“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works Darcy said Sunday. “The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”
The announcement was celebrated by those gathered at the protest sites, including 2,000 U.S. military veterans that joined the protests on December 2nd to protect them from the authorities; in recent weeks, altercations between protestors and law enforcement have escalated.
Prior to Sunday’s decision, federal officials had given protestors, who have reiterated that the pipeline would threaten the water supply and damage sacred sites, until Monday to leave the protest site.
U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell added in a statement that Sunday’s decision “ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts” and “underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward,” the Washington Post reports.
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