By: Lizbeth Urquizo
They all look at each other, nervously. They are waiting for the news that will decide what will happen to them and their people.
On the fifth of December, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was informed that “the Army Corps of Engineers will not grant the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline to drill under the Missouri river”. This was “a major victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe after a months-long campaign against the pipeline.” This victory was important to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the other tribes that went to North Dakota.
Although the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe did get what they wanted, the only question that is left now is, for how long will this victory last? The spokesman of Donald Trump made a statement saying “[The pipeline] is something we support construction of, and we will review the situation when we are in the White House to make the appropriate determination at that time," Donald Trump will be going to office on January 20 of 2017. There is a chance that when he goes to office, he can find a way to give the permit to the oil company that the Obama administration denied.
On the official Dakota Access Pipeline Project website it says, “The pipeline will enable domestically produced light sweet crude oil from North Dakota to reach major refining markets in a more direct, cost-effective, safer and environmentally responsible manner.” The thing is that the company can’t fully guarantee that oil won’t spill in the Mississippi River, in fact no one can. If the oil were to ever spill, that oil would goin to the Mississippi River. Since the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe uses natural resources, if that water were to be contaminated by oil, they wouldn’t be able to drink from it, as well as the other places where the Mississippi river goes to would be affected as well.
Many people have their reasons on why they support the Dakota Access Pipeline project. According to New York Times, “The Dakota Access pipeline is a $3.7 billion project that would carry 470,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to Illinois, where it would be linked with other pipelines. Energy Transfer says the pipeline will pump millions of dollars into local economies and create 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs though far fewer permanent jobs to maintain and monitor the pipeline.” Energy Transfer says the truth that most people tend to forget. The pipeline will create jobs but, that number will decrease once the pipeline is fully built because most workers won’t be needed. Fewer people will be able to keep their job so they can check up on the pipeline.
According to New York Times, people from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe don't want the pipeline. "They say its route traverses ancestral lands which are not part of the reservation where their forebears hunted, fished and were buried." Historical and cultural reviews of the land where the pipeline will be buried were inadequate. Also, they worry about the environmental damage if the pipeline were to break where it goes under the Missouri River.”
The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said, “...it is imperative that we push through as much as we can under the current administration. We cannot afford to lose momentum and continue to be on edge due to the Dakota Access presence at the drill pad. We also urge you to contact the banks investing in this risky and unsafe project to make them aware of the terrible acts this company has committed and reconsider their financing.”
All that is left now to wait more, but what will happen? As the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said, “This is far from over.”
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