There are several aspects to this pipeline debacle....
In the interest of full disclosure, I helped start the gas compression company that was purchased by Energy Transfer, and is at the heart of this battle.
An email that has been broadly copied/forwarded to family and friends of Energy Transfer includes the following...
In addition, much of the "protest" is being funded by a guy (I'm working to get suitable support for this claim) who has the rights to TRUCK oil across this same land, and will lose YUUUUUGE income if the pipeline is built.
Finally, an almost comical aspect of this below....
Complaints grow over whites turning Dakota Access protest into hippie festival
This could prove to be very interesting.
In the interest of full disclosure, I helped start the gas compression company that was purchased by Energy Transfer, and is at the heart of this battle.
An email that has been broadly copied/forwarded to family and friends of Energy Transfer includes the following...
Second, our corporate mindset has long been to keep our head down and do our work. It has not been my preference to engage in a media/PR battle. However, misinformation has dominated the news, so we will work to communicate with the government and media more clearly in the days to come.
In the meantime, I want to share with you information about our work on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
• The right of way for the entire pipeline has been obtained. All four states the pipeline traverses – North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa – have issued favorable certificates, permits and approvals for construction.
Third, we respect the constitutional right of all assembled in North Dakota to voice their opinions for or against projects like ours. However, threats and attacks on our employees, their families and our contractors as well as the destruction of equipment and encroachment on private property must not be tolerated.
We appreciate the work of local sheriffs and law enforcement to date. I have directed our team to work closely with local, state and federal officials to ensure the safety and protection of our construction contractors and employees, contractors’ equipment, private land and those whose right it is to peacefully protest. Together we must promote a peaceful discourse and path forward. We are committed to protecting and respecting the welfare of all workers, the Native American community, local communities where we operate, and the long-term integrity of the land and waters in the region.
In the meantime, I want to share with you information about our work on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
• The right of way for the entire pipeline has been obtained. All four states the pipeline traverses – North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa – have issued favorable certificates, permits and approvals for construction.
- Nearly the entire Dakota Access pipeline route is across private land. In addition, neither the land abutting nor Lake Oahe itself is subject to Native American control or ownership. Despite this, we worked to meet with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe leaders on multiple occasions in the past two years and gave the U.S. Army Corps data for their 389 meetings with more than 55 tribes across the project, including nine with The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at Lake Oahe. We – like all Americans – value and respect cultural diversity and the significant role that Native American culture plays in our nation’s history and its future and hope to be able to strengthen our relationship with the Native American communities as we move forward with this project.
- Nearly the entire pipeline route in North Dakota – and the entire portion the protestors are focused on – is located immediately adjacent to an existing natural gas pipeline built in 1982. The route also parallels a high voltage electric transmission line. This land has been studied, surveyed, and constructed upon – at least twice before – over the past several decades.
- Multiple archaeological studies conducted with state historic preservation offices found no sacred items along the route. State archeologists issued a ‘no significant sites affected’ determination in February on the North Dakota segment of the pipeline. If any potentially sacred objects were to be found, archaeologists, environmental inspectors, or trained construction staff are on site throughout construction to ensure their proper care and that proper notifications are made.
- Concerns about the pipeline’s impact on the local water supply are unfounded. Multiple pipelines, railways, and highways cross the Missouri River today, carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil. Dakota Access was designed with tremendous safety factors and redundancies, including compliance with and exceeding all safety and environmental regulations. The pipeline crosses 90 to 115 feet below Lake Oahe with heavy wall pipe and, as we all know, the pipe is inspected, tested and re-tested prior to being placed into service to ensure its long-term integrity.
Third, we respect the constitutional right of all assembled in North Dakota to voice their opinions for or against projects like ours. However, threats and attacks on our employees, their families and our contractors as well as the destruction of equipment and encroachment on private property must not be tolerated.
We appreciate the work of local sheriffs and law enforcement to date. I have directed our team to work closely with local, state and federal officials to ensure the safety and protection of our construction contractors and employees, contractors’ equipment, private land and those whose right it is to peacefully protest. Together we must promote a peaceful discourse and path forward. We are committed to protecting and respecting the welfare of all workers, the Native American community, local communities where we operate, and the long-term integrity of the land and waters in the region.
In addition, much of the "protest" is being funded by a guy (I'm working to get suitable support for this claim) who has the rights to TRUCK oil across this same land, and will lose YUUUUUGE income if the pipeline is built.
Finally, an almost comical aspect of this below....
Complaints grow over whites turning Dakota Access protest into hippie festival
Tension is brewing within the Dakota Access protest as complaints grow about outside activists trashing the camps, mooching off donations, and treating the anti-pipeline demonstration like a Burning Man-style festival for hippies.
“Need to get something off my chest that I witnessed and found very disturbing in my brief time there that I believe many others have started to speak up about as well. White people colonizing the camps,” said Alicia Smith on Facebook.
“They are coming in, taking food, clothing etc and occupying space without any desire to participate in camp maintenance and without respect of tribal protocols,” she said. “These people are treating it like it is Burning Man or The Rainbow Gathering and I even witnessed several wandering in and out of camps comparing it to those festivals.”
Her Nov. 14 post, now making the rounds on social media, said outsiders are “literally subsisting entirely off the generosity of native people (AND YOUR DONATIONS if you have been donating) who are fighting to protect their water just because they can.”
A local deputy who asked to remain anonymous told WDAY-AM’s Rob Port that most of the protesters are white, and that some have used racial slurs against black, Hispanic and Native American officers.
Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II, who is leading the protest, raised concerns about sanitation in a Nov. 23 interview with Vice, saying activists are “digging pits out there for their human waste.”
“Need to get something off my chest that I witnessed and found very disturbing in my brief time there that I believe many others have started to speak up about as well. White people colonizing the camps,” said Alicia Smith on Facebook.
“They are coming in, taking food, clothing etc and occupying space without any desire to participate in camp maintenance and without respect of tribal protocols,” she said. “These people are treating it like it is Burning Man or The Rainbow Gathering and I even witnessed several wandering in and out of camps comparing it to those festivals.”
Her Nov. 14 post, now making the rounds on social media, said outsiders are “literally subsisting entirely off the generosity of native people (AND YOUR DONATIONS if you have been donating) who are fighting to protect their water just because they can.”
A local deputy who asked to remain anonymous told WDAY-AM’s Rob Port that most of the protesters are white, and that some have used racial slurs against black, Hispanic and Native American officers.
Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II, who is leading the protest, raised concerns about sanitation in a Nov. 23 interview with Vice, saying activists are “digging pits out there for their human waste.”
This could prove to be very interesting.
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