Environmentalists are planning a national day of protest at Army Cops of Engineers offices around the country in an attempt to stop construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.
On Nov. 15, environmentalists will go to Corps offices around the country to pressure the agency into blocking an easement necessary to finish the controversial pipeline. Organizers said they are expecting thousands of people to show up at offices around the country to stand with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which is protesting the pipeline in North Dakota.
“For hundreds of years, the U.S. Army and Native people have been at odds,” said Tara Houska of Honor the Earth. “It’s time that we step forward and begin a new chapter together, one in which indigenous rights are respected, our lands are respected, and our waters are respected by the U.S. government.”
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.
About 100 events are planned at Army Corps offices around the country, according to organizers.
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.
