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PHOTO: LESLIE PETERSON / CC BY-NC 2.0
Speaking to a federal judge today, representatives Biden administration United States Army Corps of Engineers indicated that the agency will not close Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), despite the constant threats it poses to Standing rock of the Sioux tribe and the fact that it operates without federal permission.
While President Joe Biden recently announced his intention to improve tribal consultation and initiate long-term action to tackle climate change, his administration today has taken a position identical to that of former President Trump.
Earlier this year, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe leadership and others sent letters to Biden asking them to close the LAPL while the US Army Corps of Engineers is performing an environmental and safety review to determine whether the controversial pipeline is safe to operate. An oil spill could poison the tribe’s drinking water, and millions of people downstream face a similar risk. The pipeline was laid through the undiscovered ancestral lands of the Tribe without his consent, and the construction devastated the sacred places of the Tribe.
“We are seriously concerned about the continued operation of this pipeline, which poses an unacceptable risk to our sovereign country,” said Chairman Mike Faith. Standing rock of the Sioux tribe, in statement… “At a meeting with Biden’s staff earlier this year, we were told that this new administration wants to ‘get it right.’ Unfortunately, today’s report from the US Army Corps of Engineers shows that he chose to ignore our requests and take the wrong path. ”
“This pipeline is unsafe and operates in violation of federal law. Energy Transfer, meanwhile, aims to double its bandwidth, making DAPL twice as dangerous. However, the Biden administration has decided not to do anything here, ”he said. Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, who represented Standing Rock in his DAPL lawsuit for about five years. “It’s hard to imagine how we’ll ever ditch fossil fuels or show the rest of the world that we’re serious about climate change if we’re just going to shrug and turn our backs when the fossil fuel industry blatantly ignores Tribal worries and flouts our federal laws. on environmental protection and safety rules ”.
BUT January 26 a ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals confirmed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated federal law in 2016 Nov. when he issued permits for the DAPL to cross the Missouri River. The Court’s opinion convinced the army corps of the Biden administration that it needed to declare whether it intended to close the pipeline in accordance with environmental laws and regulations; or use the agency’s discretion to ignore your legal obligations and allow DAPL to continue operating without authorization.
Today’s hearing was closely watched as it was the Army Corps’ first opportunity to consolidate its position under the Biden administration. DAPL spawned an internationally significant opposition movement in 2016, when thousands of Tribe members and allies went to a construction site in North Dakota to endanger their bodies as water defenders acting in solidarity with Standing rock of the Sioux tribe.
Please, write NODAPL to 43428 and ask President Joe Biden to reconsider the decision.
For more information on the lawsuit against DAPL, CLICK HERE!
The message is breaking! Despite promises to tackle climate change, the Biden administration will not shut down the pipeline to access the Dakota first appeared in World Animal News.
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