Breaking news: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced today that they will deny the formerly planned easement underneath the Missouri River at the reservoir known as Lake Oahe.
CANNON BALL, N.D. – Cheers, prayer and song rang out as word spread among protesters here who for months have blocked a final link of a multibillion-dollar pipeline: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had put up a barrier of its own.
Corps spokeswoman Moria Kelley said in a news release Sunday that the administration will not allow the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold.
Protestors are expressing some happiness at the Corps' decision:
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple continues with his bald-faced false concern over the protestors' safety, in a statement today:
The decision today by the Obama Administration to further postpone any action on the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline is a serious mistake. It does nothing to resolve the issue, and worst of all it prolongs the serious problems faced by North Dakota law enforcement as they try to maintain public safety. The administration’s lack of action also prolongs the dangerous situation of having protesters camping during the winter on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ property.
False victory?
Jack Dalrymple is right about one thing, it does nothing to resolve the issue. If it's to be built, the pipeline would need to cross the Missouri River at some place upstream or downstream of the Standing Rock Tribe. Anywhere North will not ease the tribe's and their allies' objection regarding clean water. Routing the pipeline South of the reservation would be a massive detour that would leave behind much of the pipeline's existing construction in the Northwest corner of North Dakota. And it wouldn't alleviate the same general environmental and clean water concerns for anyone downriver.
Source: DAPL Pipeline Facts (PDF), edited for clarity.
Additionally, Jennifer Brooks of the Star Tribune writes:
The Corps' denial of an easement for the pipeline's construction may not halt construction; it could merely result in fines against the pipeline company if work continues. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, and the Morton County Sheriff's Office didn't have immediate comment.
It's entirely possible that Energy Transfer Partners could continue construction and pay a fine that is within budget.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II seems to think that the Army Corps of Engineers' decision means it's over:
"We commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing.”
“With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families.”
Other protestors, interviewed by the Washington Post, have a more pessimistic or perhaps realistic point of view:
Denise McKay, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux standing by the sacred fire Sunday afternoon, said she expects Energy Transfer Partners to push back on the decision.
“It is a temporary victory,” said McKay, 54. “We’ve got to stay put and stay united.” McKay’s daughter, Chelsea Summers, 25, chimed in, saying “everybody is still here for the long haul.”
Nearby, Bruce Gali took drags from a cigarette and watched the festivities. He made his second trip to the camp last week and said he would keep returning from his home in northeastern California until authorities left the area and the pipeline was shut down.“Until all the razor wire comes down, until the helicopters stop flying overhead, the spotlights turn off, the drill pad is dismantled, this isn’t the end,” said Gali, a 67-year-old member of the Pitt River Tribe. “It’s not just about this pipeline.”