A pipeline protester spraypainted grafitti on the North Dakota portion of the World War II Memorial in Washington in an apparent statement about the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.
Tweets circulated Tuesday showing “#NoDAPL” spray-painted in black on the memorial. That is the widely used hashtag meant to protest the pipeline, which has become a huge battleground between environmentalists and fossil fuel interests in recent months.
The 1,172-mile pipeline 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.
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.
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 by the Corps about the pipeline during the permitting process. In protest, the demonstrators moved their campsite into the path of the pipeline.
Confrontations between protesters and police in North Dakota have ramped up in the past week, with armed police firing tear gas at protesters and the protesters throwing objects at police, including reports of Molotov cocktails being lobbed at officers.
