Sioux City Community Leaders Join the Movement to Block the Controversial Dakota Access Pipeline
Sioux City Protest Planned on September 3, 2016 to Block the DAPL
SIOUX CITY, IOWA — On September 3rd at 10:00am — just a week before the federal government decides the fate the Dakota Access Pipeline — Sioux Community leaders will hold a peaceful protest at the Sergeant Floyd River Museum demonstrating their opposition to the controversial pipeline.
The Dakota Access Pipeline, if approved, will carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day along the Missouri River. It will transfer fracked oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and connect to an already existing pipeline in Illinois that links all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Aside from disturbing Native American lands, this pipeline imposes a threat of spill damage to thousands of miles of fertile farmland, wildlife, forests, and rivers, in addition to people’s homes and livelihoods.
The Standing Rock Tribe members have been objecting to the construction of this project since 2014. The pipeline is set to cross through the tribe’s sacred treaty lands and cultural areas, seriously threatening their main water source
On July 25th the Army Corps of Engineers gave authorization to the Dakota Access pipeline to begin construction, despite tribals concerns on the environmental risks.
Hundreds of tribal members went to the pipeline construction site on August 12, 2016 with the intention of stopping it. Since then, members and allies from across the country have been camping near the Missouri River to join the cause.
The tribe has also submitted a lawsuit against the Army Corps for failing to comply with environmental and historic preservation laws.
With the protest getting more and more media exposure each day, more people are gathering up all over the country to protest in solidarity to the Standing Rock tribe.
For now, construction has been ceased while a decision is set to be made on September 9th by Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington DC.
What: Community Leaders Protest DAPL
When: Saturday, September 3rd at 10:00am
Press Conference: 10:00am
Where: Sergeant Floyd River Museum 1000 Larsen Park Rd Sioux City, Iowa 51103
More about the Dakota Access Pipeline
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency approximately 20,000 oil spills are reported each year. While the severity of these spill reports varies, the environmental consequences are devastating. And once released to the environment it can never be fully mitigated.
In 2004, Taylor Energy’s underwater oil wells starting leaking from a damaged production platform just a few miles off the coast of Louisiana. The platform is still leaking today creating oily sheens on the surface of the water that stretch for miles and are visible from space. While the owner has been lobbying himself out of the whole mess this whole time.
There are entire communities all over the U.S. still suffering from the consequences of oil leak incidents. People have lost their homes, cattle, crops and even their health.
With the very high chance that the Dakota Access Pipeline will leak. It can potentially contaminate our waterways and underground water sources. This would not only affect the members of the Standing Rock Tribe, it would affect all of us.
There have been several pipeline leaks in the past ten years that have cost tens of millions of dollars to clean up. And this is a small price to pay in comparison to the soil, rivers, wildlife, and populations being exposed to to these toxic flammable substances.
The maximum liability fee, if a pipeline should leak is only $250,000 in the form of surety bond. Meaning that they don’t actually have to put down any cash. Many companies, that have had major problems, just declare bankruptcy. Which means that they let the taxpayers pay for the damage.
Final approval for the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline lies in the hands of the U.S. Army Corps of engineers. They are responsible for taking environmental and safety concerns into consideration before approving the project.
