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Hundreds of people marched peacefully on Sept. 4 to protest the destruction of sacred sites and burial grounds in the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

-Dallas Goldtooth

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This is a video on concerns And the meeting of the army Corp of engineers on issues about the Dakota access pipeline that took place e this past April of 2016. Was shot with a phantom 3 advance drone.

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Dakota Access Pipeline Blockade Briefing

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Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protesters with Dogs & Pepper Spray

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Indigenous Protesters Shut Down Construction of Dakota Access Pipeline

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Army Blocks Dakota Access Pipeline Construction After Protests

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Tribal Rights & the Dakota Access Pipeline

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Uploaded by Up Srei Media on 2016-04-26.

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The Standing Rock Sioux tribe's protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline is showing no signs of losing momentum.

Last week, protesters looking to block the construction of the massive oil pipeline in North Dakota scored a significant, if temporary, victory as three federal departments halted the project and placed it under review, overruling a federal judge's denial of the tribe's request for an emergency injunction.

The protesters have argued that the pipeline construction will disturb sacred lands and burial grounds. In addition, the tribe is worried about the environmental impact of the pipeline, since it will run under the Missouri River, which supplies the tribe's drinking water.

The tribe has attracted thousands of supporters to its protest site, including representatives of more than 200 other tribes. Solidarity demonstrations have been held throughout the world.

On Tuesday, Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Projects, the pipeline's developer, defended the project that will transport oil across 1,200 miles from North Dakota to southern Illinois. In a letter, Warren downplayed its cultural impact and called the protesters' water safety concerns "unfounded."

But amid the controversy about the project comes the question of what comes next.

To answer that, we must better understand how we got here in the first place.

Doug Hayes, a staff attorney at the Sierra Club, has been involved with a number of battles over the construction of oil pipelines, including the Keystone XL, which the Obama administration rejected last year.

Hayes sees what's happening in North Dakota as the latest in a series of recent pipeline projects convened without federal agencies undergoing the necessary environmental review processes. The agencies' inaction, he argues, has put other communities at risk of oil spills and often threatened the safety of their drinking water sources and local ecosystems.

But Hayes says there's something unique at work in this particular battle. The Huffington Post recently spoke with the attorney about the Dakota Access protests and what may be different this time.
What is the historical context for what is happening with the Dakota Access pipeline?
I would say the main point in terms of historical context is that these oil pipelines - the Keystone XL, Enbridge and other companies' pipeline expansions throughout the Great Lakes region, the growing natural gas pipeline buildout - have always undergone an environmental impact statement that looks at the impacts and alternatives and so forth before they are allowed to go forward. It's required by law under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Keystone XL controversy really was a turning point. Since then, we've seen the Army Corps of Engineers, in particular, and other agencies basically approve pipeline after pipeline without any environmental impact statements. That's what happened here.

To put a finer point on it, the tribes are concerned about, among other things, water quality, and no agency has ever analyzed the risks or impacts of oil spilling from this pipeline, in any state of review. Not a single word.

The way the Corps has begun avoiding this transparent process is through what's called nationwide permit 12. It's essentially a blanket permit for pipelines up to a half-acre of impact, a pre-issued permit. The Corps has begun treating these 1,200-mile pipelines like a series of half-acre projects that each qualify under that exemption. This is a general permit that doesn't mention oil spills or climate impacts and never talks about Native American tribes and cultural significance and sacred sites.
Obviously there are a number of unique layers to this fight: the historic coming together of tribal communities and other groups, including even some farmers, against this. Is that what makes this battle so unique?
This is an unprecedented coming together of tribes around the country and the world, really. It's not just an environmentalist issue, though there are certainly a lot of environmental concerns we care deeply about. It's ranchers in very often conservative parts of the country that are seeing their land taken away by corporations to build these pipelines through their property through eminent domain, for the private gain of these corporations. In the Keystone XL fight, that was a good example of this, a pretty diverse coalition of groups coming together - the tribes in South Dakota and Nebraska were crucial in that fight, as well as landowners along the pipeline.

The first Keystone XL pipeline was supposedly the safest one ever built and it spilled oil 12 times in its first year of operation. One of those times, there was a 60-foot geyser of oil in South Dakota that a local rancher just happened to see and called into the pipeline company. And with this pipeline in particular, they originally proposed to build it near Bismarck, but they determined that it's a more highly populated, higher-income part of the state and they were worried about the stress to their water supply. So they moved it out to the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and its drinking water supply. I think that decision is a perfect example of what sparked such an outrage here.

This is not the first time a controversial project like this has been placed on or near tribal land and threatened water quality for Native communities, of course. How does that trend play into what's happening here?
The short answer is it's easier for the industry to build these without significant opposition in places where there are lower-income communities. There are the massive oil spills you hear about on the news several times a year, but there are hundreds of others that happen too.

The Kalamazoo spill in Michigan was an incident where the pipeline spilled for 17 hours into the river before they detected it. Then you have really egregious examples like just last week in Louisiana. In the last three years, there have been over 200 crude oil spills. They happen all the time. And those are just the ones where you get the data. All the pipelines' leak detection systems are only set up to detect spills of greater than 2 percent [of their liquid]. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you have a pipeline pumping 470,000 barrels of oil every day, it is. These pipelines are often seeping or leaking in small places and we don't have any way to detect them. These are the types of concerns the tribes have and they're, frankly, very well-founded.

There's also the issue of drilling these pipelines under waterways, like they are in the Missouri River by the Standing Rock reservation. The Yellowstone River spill several years ago was an instance where the river pipeline drilled under the river eventually eroded and spilled up into the river. It's a whole other series of issues that haven't been addressed here.
Given the Obama administration's action to block the pipeline, are you optimistic that more good news is coming for the protesters?
It's definitely a great and encouraging first step. The administration is clearly listening to the Standing Rock tribe and its indigenous allies that have gathered there and we're hopeful they've committed to looking at the process and whether a further environmental review is needed. I think the answer to that is clearly "yes."

With a project of this magnitude - 1,200 miles going through the ancestral lands of the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribal nations and communities along the pipeline route - there's a risk of spills, a climate impact and everything else points to a thorough, transparent environmental review like we've seen with the Keystone and other pipelines. I'm hopeful the administration is going to agree this pipeline warrants further review.

Joseph Erbentraut covers promising innovations and challenges in the areas of food and water. In addition, Erbentraut explores the evolving ways Americans are identifying and defining themselves. Follow Erbentraut on Twitter at @robojojo. Tips? Email joseph.erbentraut@huffingtonpost.com.

BEFORE YOU GO

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Here's What The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Are Really About

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The Standing Rock Sioux tribe's protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline is showing no signs of losing momentum. Last week, protesters looking to block the construction of the massive oil pipeline in North Dakota scored a significant, if temporary, victory as three federal departments halted the project and placed it under review, overruling a federal judge's denial of the tribe's request for an emergency injunction.

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INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS: Respect our water! Respect our lands! Honor our treaties! Honor our rights!

DENNIS BANKS: What's happening here is equally as important, because of the stand that you're ready to make. When they threaten the environment, they're threatening you. We are part mountain. We are part ocean. We are part river. We are part flower and grass and tree. All of this, we are part of all of it, so that when they threaten the environment anyplace, they're threatening you. You have to be in that mindset like that. That's who you are. That's who we are. And our culture, our heritage is what has made us warriors.

Chairman, thanks very much for being with us. Can you explain for us what this whole controversy is about?

There are portions of this pipeline that cross federal lands, like water, and so they have to get permits, but they get easements on private property. And the private landowners who do not approve of the pipeline, there's the eminent domain taking. So, the landowners where the pipeline crosses kind of have their hands tied. But in the federal permitting process-and it's like, of the 1,200 miles, 200 waterways, maybe 300 miles are on federal lands. That's what we're saying: If we can't do anything on the private lands, we're going to ask the federal agencies to reconsider and take a look at this, because we never had the opportunity to express our concerns.

Right now what's going on is it's about peace, and it's about prayer, and it's about uniting. And there's a really good feeling, if you were to walk through the camp. There are no guns, no violence, no drugs, no alcohol. And it kind of took a life of its own. It evolved into something very special.

The state, on the other side, has taken action, which there's no cause for. They created a barricade just south of Mandan, right before you get into Fort Lincoln, Custer's park. It's about 25 miles north of the camp. And this barricade creates a hardship for the members who live on Standing Rock. The state also removed its emergency assistance vehicles, that we initially got to establish and accommodate large masses of people.

So, what we're filing a lawsuit on is the destruction of our ancestral burial sites and never being given the opportunity to protect them, as well as the nationwide permitting process. Rather than permitting the project as a whole and doing a full EIS, the Corps of Engineers asked that they permit chunks and pieces of it. And they require an EA. Now, the EA is less intensive as the EIS, so they're able to kind of do unlawful things, that-such as destroy our sites that are sacred to us.

We don't agree with the fact-they're going to say they had consulted with us on this matter. To us, consulting doesn't mean corresponding through letter or mail, or it doesn't mean presenting us a final draft of what you're going to do. Consulting, to us, would mean that we need to have deliberation and share our concerns and hope that they hear us and see a reflection of our concerns in the final plan. None of that has taken place. We asked for consultation prior to any final drafts and to survey the routes to make sure that none of the sites that we cherish would be destroyed. It's not until after they finalized what they want to do, this Dallas-based company who is doing the EA for the Corps of Engineers tells us how or where they're going to go. Now they come and invite us to do surveys, and we don't think that's right. We think it's unlawful, and we think it's unjust.

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Standing Rock Sioux Chairman: Dakota Access Pipeline "Is Threatening the Lives of My Tribe"

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In North Dakota, indigenous activists are continuing to protest the proposed $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which they say would threaten to contaminate the Missouri River. More than a thousand indigenous activists from dozens of different tribes across the country have traveled to the Sacred Stone Spirit Camp, which was launched on April 1 by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

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Counter Current News - Your one stop for all the news the mainstream media can't get away with.

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Big religion makes $1.2 trillion income, yearly, in the United States. The organizations make their money, tax free, from religious "healthcare facilities, schools, daycare and charities; media; businesses with faith backgrounds; the kosher and halal food [...]

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Standing Rock, North Dakota - Widespread outrage over both the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and violent police crackdowns rages on. That outrage is spreading even to police agencies now returning from deployment to the reservation. Two departments have already refused to return, citing personal and public objections. As if that wasn't enough, an army of sympathizers is re-purposing social media to combat police efforts in Standing Rock.

Minnesota's Hennepin County Sheriff's Department is among that group. Lawmakers, according to MPR News, found police activities in Standing Rock "inappropriate". It's to the point where they're considering rewriting legislation to avoid future deployments to incidents like the pipeline resistance.

Police officials, of course, declined to comment on their return from North Dakota or their feelings on what's happening there. It's also made the task of rebuilding trust with the community an even loftier uphill battle. "I do not support Sheriff Stanek's decision to send his deputies to North Dakota", says LT. Governor Tina Smith, "nor did we approve his decision to begin with. I do not have any control over the Sheriff's actions, which I think were wrong, and I believe he should bring his deputies home if he hasn't already."

Smith's comments split the state's government, however, and she was targeted. Minnesota State Rep. Tony Cornish condemned Smith for prioritizing "the rights of protesters over the needs of law enforcement", saying she should apologize to the cops.

Sheriffs from Wisconsin's Dane County were more empathetic, pulling out and refusing to return. According to the Bismarck Tribune, Sheriff Dave Mahoney made the decision after a "wide cross-section of the community" decried the deployment. "All share the opinion that our deputies should not be involved in this situation", says Mahoney. Dane County's deputies were deployed to Standing Rock for around a week. Sources report Dane County wasn't involved in recent arrests, a string of which scooped up an alderwoman from Madison Wisconsin.

Ald. Rebecca Kemble traveled to North Dakota as a "legal observer", filming and participating in prayer ceremonies. When Morton County officers-if they cans till be called that-grabbed and arrested her for engaging in a riot. According to Kemble, no riot was happening. Other Wisconsin departments have been recalled, with at least one staying behind for a more couple weeks.

Many other citizens have been charged for trespassing and participating in non-existent riots, including journalists. One of the most renowned reporters who's faced DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline)- related charges was Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Goodman's team filmed dog attacks by DAPL contractors who lacked proper K9 licenses. The contractors have also been accused of unethical surveillance, intimidation, and sabotaging the movement by attempting to make authorities believe the protesters have finally turned violent.

Other journalists, including documentarian Deia Schlosberg, face decades in prison for filming climate activists at a separate oil project. Journalists from the independent outlet Unicorn Riot, who recently reported use of a sound cannon on water protectors, have also been arrested.

Thousands of opponents to the pipeline have flooded Standing Rock to repel construction and police brutality. More still have taken to the internet, spreading information in the form of writing, video, photography, and art. Among the renegade tactics is using Facebook to "check-in" at Standing Rock. According the Guardian, over a million people-even people I know-have joined the action.

It began with a Facebook post, disclosing that Morton County sheriffs are allegedly using Facebook check-ins to track protesters. "Checking in"-whether you're at a friend's, restaurant, or escalating resistance-pinpoints your location to a tee. Once you check in, a notification is sent out to, yes, your friends, but theoretically anyone who's capable of watching. It's yet another tool in the bag of tricks authorities have deployed against civilians, and are likely utilizing in Standing Rock.

Some detractors have dismissed the social media action as a waste of time. An editor at The Fifth Column challenged these in a Facebook post, narrating a debate on the subject he'd had. Editor Justin King pointed out that even if the check-in's wasted two minutes of time, multiplied by hundreds of thousands, that equates to two months of wasted police work. Now imagine how ineffective the surveillance may be with millions continuously checking.

Morton County Sheriff's, Guardian reports, called claims of police surveillance misguided "rumors". Morton County, by their own account, isn't "monitoring Facebook check-ins for the protest camp or any location for that matter." Before you trust them, consider that Facebook access for water protectors was reported as "blocked' during a military-style raid on a camp.

Data Collection Nationwide

Other police departments are similarly sketchy when pressured to speak on their surveillance technologies. Wisconsin's Milwaukee PD hid the use of cell site simulators, or Stingrays, from courts for months. Stingrays mimic cellphone towers, thus tricking phones into providing all manner of user information and data

Nearby, the Wauwatosa Police Department, despite having admitting to "collecting and analyzing cell phone data" in its public reports, denied ever even coming close to a Stingray. It took the department 5 weeks to respond to that open records request, which is considered unusually long. It remains unknown how Wauwatosa PD, which has been blasted for lack of transparency before, collects cell phone data.

The Hand's Fingers In Open Rebellion

In addition to the general retreat of departments, two officers have already turned in their badges in support of the protesters. North Dakota water protector Redhawk, MintPress reports, disclosed the revelation. The individual also pointed out "you can see it in some of them, that they do not support the police actions." "Some are waking up", they continued, "we must keep reminding them that they are welcome to put down their weapons and badge and take a stand against the pipeline as well." Hints of shame could be seen in the faces of officers who confronted protesters as they blocked them from prayer grounds. As the protesters condemned officers, some of whom looked down or off to the horizon in shame.

The modern era of internet and technology gifts us with a plethora of ways to express ourselves, and help one another. Standing Rock is quickly becoming a stand out of that fact. Citizens, journalists, and activists are all using the internet to achieve their own goals. Whether that be spreading information being blocked, tracking police movements, sending food and rations or just voicing opinions. Standing Rock's resistance is spreading globally, with protests occurring in Europe and elsewhere. As long as construction doesn't stop, the movement won't rest.

Stories published in our Daily Digests section are chosen based on the interest of our readers. They are republished from a number of sources, and are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in these articles are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

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Police From Two States Leave Standing Rock, Refuse To Return

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Standing Rock, North Dakota - Widespread outrage over both the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and violent police crackdowns rages on. That outrage is spreading even to police agencies now returning from deployment to the reservation. Two departments have already refused to return, citing personal and public objections.

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And depending on who you ask, the results could be an economic boon that makes the country more self-sufficient or an environmental disaster that destroys sacred Native American sites.

Here's what you need to know about the Dakota Access Pipeline:

The 1,172-mile pipeline would stretch from the oil-rich Bakken Formation -- a vast underground deposit where Montana and North Dakota meet Canada -- southeast into South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.

The oil potential in Bakken is massive. An estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered oil is believed to be in its US portion, according to the US Geological Survey.

After the pipeline is completed, it would shuttle 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day, developer Energy Access Partners said. That's enough to make 374.3 million gallons of gasoline per day.

From Illinois, the oil could go to markets and refineries across the Midwest, East Coast and Gulf Coast.

Who approved it?

The US Army Corps of Engineers approved the project and granted final permits in July.

But the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the Corps, saying the pipeline "threatens the Tribe's environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance to the Tribe."

The Army Corps of Engineers has declined to comment to CNN, citing pending litigation.

But an advocacy group says the tribe's claims are misleading, saying the pipeline "does not cross into the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation."

The Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now also said 100% of the affected landowners in North Dakota, where part of the tribe lives, voluntarily signed easements to allow for construction.

What's the argument for and against?

Pro: The pipeline wouldn't just be an economic boon, it would also significantly decrease U.S. reliance on foreign oil, the developer Energy Transfer Partners said. The pipeline would also help free up railways to transport "crops and other commodities currently constrained by crude oil cargos."

Con: Construction for the pipeline will "destroy our burial sites, prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts," the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said. Opponents also cite environmental concerns, including possible contamination due to breaches and eventual greenhouse gas emissions.

What's the environmental impact?

The developer says the pipeline would provide a safer, more environmentally friendly way of moving crude oil compared to other modes of transportation, such as rail or trucks.

Pipeline supporters cite the 2013 disaster in Quebec, Canada, where a train carrying crude oil derailed and destroyed downtown Lac-Megnatic.

But Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II said he doesn't support moving more crude oil from North Dakota. He told CNN affiliate KFYR that Americans should look for alternative and renewable sources of energy.

More than 274,000 online petitioners agree.

"The Dakota Access pipeline would fuel climate change, cause untold damage to the environment, and significantly disturb sacred lands and the way of life for Native Americans in the upper Midwest," a petition on CredoAction.com states.

Opponents also say they're worried what would happen if the pipeline, which would go under the Missouri River, ruptured and contaminated the water supply.

But the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now backed the developer's claim that pipelines are a safe way of moving crude oil.

"Already, 8 pipelines cross the Missouri River carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of energy products every day," the group said in a statement.

What's the economic impact?

Energy Transfer Partners estimates the pipeline would bring an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes to state and local governments. The developer also says it will add 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs.

But Archambault said his tribe will settle for nothing less than stopping the pipeline's construction.

"We're not opposed to energy independence. We're not opposed to economic development," he told CNN. "The problem we have -- and this is a long history of problems that evolved over time -- is where the federal government or corporations take advantage of indigenous lands and indigenous rights."

What's going on with the protests?

Protests have been taking place in North Dakota for months. Police said they arrested at least 141 protesters in one day.

Law enforcement officials spent six hours pushing about 200 protesters from one area back to their main encampment. Police deployed bean bag rounds and pepper spray gas, and unleashed a high-pitched siren to disperse the crowd.

In response, protesters lit debris on fire near a bridge and threw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, North Dakota Department of Emergency Services spokeswoman Cecily Fong said.

Around 50 cars were towed away. A handful were either burned or otherwise vandalized.

What do the landowners get?

Energy Transfer Partners said it has tried to steer the pipeline away from residential areas and has tried to reach voluntary deals with property owners "at a fair price."

But Archambault, the tribal chairman, said he thinks the Native Americans are getting short-changed once again.

"What we're opposed to is paying for all the benefits that this country receives," he said. "Whenever there's a benefit, whether it's energy independence ... whether it's economic development, tribes pay the cost. And what we see now are tribes from all over sharing the same concern that we have, saying, 'It's enough now. Stop doing this to indigenous people. Stop doing this to our indigenous lands.'"

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dakota access pipeline: what's at stake?  - cnn

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Dakota Access Pipeline: What's at stake?

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And depending on who you ask, the results could be an economic boon that makes the country more self-sufficient or an environmental disaster that destroys sacred Native American sites. Here's what you need to know about the Dakota Access Pipeline: The 1,172-mile pipeline would stretch from the oil-rich Bakken Formation -- a vast underground deposit where Montana and North Dakota meet Canada -- southeast into South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.