logo
  • Nonprofit News
  • Management
    • Boards and Governance
    • Communication
      • Framing & Narratives
    • Ethics
    • Financial Management
    • Fund Development
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Philanthropy
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Foundations
    • Impact Investing
    • Research
    • Workplace Giving
  • Policy
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Housing
    • Government
    • Taxes
  • Economic Justice
    • Economy Remix
    • Economy Webinars
    • Community Benefits
    • Economic Democracy
    • Environmental Justice
    • Fair Finance
    • Housing Rights
    • Land Justice
    • Poor People’s Rights
    • Tax Fairness
  • Racial Equity
  • Social Movements
    • Community Development
    • Community Organizing
    • Culture Change
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Gender Equality
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Indigenous Rights
    • Labor
    • LGBTQ+
    • Racial Justice
    • Youth Activism
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Webinars
    • Leading Edge Membership
    • Sponsored Webinars
    • Economic Justice
  • Tiny Spark Podcast
  • Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Leading Edge Membership
Donate
North Dakota

Obama Cites New Pipeline Route Assessment as Protestors Blocked from Federal Land

Michael Wyland
November 3, 2016
Share12
Tweet
Share
Email
12 Shares
Dakota-Pipeline
Bakken / Dakota Access Oil Pipeline / Tony Webster

November 2, 2016; New York Times and Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, SD)

The NPQ Newswire has written several times about the Native American-led protests against the route of the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Yesterday, President Obama said in an interview with NowThis, a social media news outlet, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls some of the land traversed by the pipeline and also administers the Missouri River for the federal government, may be exploring alternative routing of the pipeline.

I think right now the Army Corps is examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline in a way. So we’re going to let it play out for several more weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that I think is properly attentive to the traditions of the first Americans.

While the pipeline itself does not cross Standing Rock Sioux Reservation land, some tribal members, environmentalists, and others believe that sections of the 1,172-mile pipeline represent a potential danger to the Missouri River (specifically, the 370,000 acre Lake Oahe reservoir) and adjoining land the tribe considers sacred. The pipeline is being built to transport oil from the Bakken fields in northwest North Dakota to an energy transport center in Illinois from where it will be sent to oil refineries in Texas and to the east coast. The oil pipeline route being protested runs parallel to an existing natural gas pipeline under the Missouri River/Lake Oahe.

Not surprisingly, reactions to the president’s statements were mixed. Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II expressed support, saying, “We believe President Obama and his administration will do the right thing.” On the other hand, Vicki Granado, spokeswoman for the Energy Transfer Partners pipeline company, said in a statement, “We are not aware that any consideration is being given to a reroute, and we remain confident we will receive our easement in a timely fashion.” Morton County, North Dakota Chairman Cody Schulz criticized the president’s statement. “Rather than creating further uncertainty, the president should be sending us the support and resources necessary to enforce the law and protect people’s right to peacefully protest.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested law enforcement in North Dakota to protect federal land, arrest anyone attempting to trespass, and destroy a wooden bridge built by protestors across a creek near the protest site to facilitate access to federal property. Pepper spray, rubber bullets, and tear gas were used in the police action Wednesday afternoon, and one person was arrested for “conspiracy to commit obstruction of a government function for purchasing kayaks and canoes to be used to cross the water.” There were no reports of injuries to either protestors or law enforcement. FBI and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials are “investigating reports of gunshots in the camp and a person being ‘hog-tied’ and detained by ‘camp security,’ according to the Morton County Sheriff’s Office.”

The mostly-built $3.7 billion pipeline will be difficult to reroute, according to Tyler Priest, a University of Iowa expert who was a member of the president’s National Commission studying the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Acquiring new land, securing required permits, and winter construction are all obstacles that add time, expense, and logistical complexity to the project that was scheduled to be complete by the end of 2016. This assessment assumes the rerouting doesn’t spark more protests or court challenges by current or newly aggrieved parties.

Tribal Chair Archambault has indicated that compromise is possible, saying that the pipeline “doesn’t have to put our water at risk” and “everyone can still benefit.” It’s also important to remember that the weeks of review Obama referred to coincide with the end of his presidency, meaning that his successor will likely be called upon to weigh in on the issue.—Michael Wyland

Share12
Tweet
Share
Email
12 Shares

About The Author
Michael Wyland

Michael L. Wyland currently serves as an editorial advisory board member and consulting editor to The Nonprofit Quarterly, with more than 400 articles published since 2012. A partner in the consulting firm of Sumption & Wyland, he has more than thirty years of experience in corporate and government public policy, management, and administration.

Related
A Judgment in Favor of the Earth and 8 Lessons on How It Was Won
By Marian Conway
November 20, 2019
South Dakota Settles “Riot Boosting” Suit by Agreeing to Nonenforcement
By Ruth McCambridge
October 25, 2019
When Tapping Your Granddaughter as Interim ED Makes Sense—Kinda
By Ruth McCambridge
October 4, 2019
Pipeline Protest Policing Cost $38 Million—Who’s Picking Up the Check?
By Ruth McCambridge
September 19, 2019
Aging Infrastructure Poses Growing Safety Risks
By Marian Conway
August 20, 2019
Done Enriching Shareholders, PES Shutters South Philadelphia Refinery
By Skip Lockwood
July 3, 2019
other posts by The Author
Civil Society and the Rules of Impeachment in the Age of...
By Michael Wyland
September 25, 2019
NY and NJ File Suit to Challenge Feds on Donor Disclosure...
By Michael Wyland
May 9, 2019
Pink Ladies’ $320K Jackpot: A Charitable Game Gone Massive
By Michael Wyland
April 9, 2019
A Series on Sensemaking Organizations
The Sensemaking Organization: Designing for Complexity
The Sensemaking Mindset: Improvisation over Strategy
Structuring for Sensemaking: The Power of Small Segments
logo
Donate
  • About
  • Contact
  • Newsletters
  • Write for NPQ
  • Advertise
  • Writers
  • Funders
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by GDPR plugin
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.