Environmentalists criticized police in North Dakota for turning water cannons on protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline site in below-freezing temperatures Sunday night.
The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said it was involved in an “ongoing riot” with protesters at the site of the controversial pipeline. The deputies estimated about 400 people were on a bridge and trying to walk north past a police barricade. Police said the protesters were starting fires.
However, environmentalists and activists who support the protesters disputed that account and said the use of water cannons in the 25-degree temperatures Sunday night was irresponsible use of police power.
Adrienne Keene, a Native American writer and professor, said a livestream of the protest showed that the fires were not started by protesters. Instead, tear gas canisters shot into the crowd ignited the grass, Keene said.
Other reports said protesters lit the fires to keep warm, not to damage any property.
Sierra Club Director Michael Brune called the actions of the police, especially spraying the water, “an unacceptable assault” on the protest.
“This act of brutality by militarized police is an unacceptable assault on peaceful water protectors exercising their First Amendment rights and standing up for their heritage,” Brune said. “Spraying water on peaceful water protectors in freezing temperatures is nothing short of life-threatening and inhumane, making this a disgraceful new low in the ongoing use of force by police.
“The Sierra Club stands in solidarity with our tribal allies in this historic effort, and urges President Obama to take the steps necessary to protect the safety and rights of everyone in Standing Rock immediately.”
The 1,172-mile crude oil pipeline has become a major fight for environmentalists, akin to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and would run from the oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois. It is expected to transport about 470,000 barrels per day of light, sweet crude oil.
Pipeline construction has been temporarily halted by the Obama administration over concerns from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The tribe says the pipeline would cross under a reservoir used for their drinking water and would disturb ancient artifacts that are important to the tribe.
The Obama administration temporarily blocked construction on the pipeline, but two federal judges have ruled that construction could continue since the Standing Rock Sioux were properly consulted about the pipeline during the permitting process. In protest, the demonstrators moved their campsite into the path of the pipeline.
About 60 percent of the pipeline has been completed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to issue one final easement over the Missouri River for construction to be completed. The Army Corps announced last week that it needed to do more analysis before deciding whether to allow the pipeline to move forward.
