President Obama said the Army Corps of Engineers is looking for a way to reroute the disputed Dakota Access pipeline to accommodate the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which is leading the opposition against the project.
“We’re going to let it play out for several more weeks, and determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that is properly attentive to the traditions of the first Americans,” Obama told Now This News in an interview released late Tuesday night.
The $3.8 billion crude oil pipeline was approved by the Army Corps and the pipeline is permitted and supported by two court rulings to move forward. The Sioux argue that it threatens a portion of its reservation land’s water supply and is interfering with sacred lands. The developers argue that the pipeline went through nearly two years of reviews and public outreach to get feedback from groups, tribes and anyone with concerns before moving forward.
The Obama administration is holding up approval of a key easement that the oil pipeline requires to be completed. The Army Corps, Interior Department and Justice Department are delaying final approval to review the concerns of the Sioux.
“As a general rule, my view is that there is a way for us to accommodate sacred lands of Native Americans,” Obama said. “And I think that right now the Army Corps is examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline.”
Meanwhile, protests have increased against the pipeline, with environmental activists joining the Indian tribe in decrying the oil pipeline’s completion.
Obama said police and local authorities should practice “restraint” in dealing with the protesters, but that the activists also have an obligation to “be peaceful.”
“I want to make sure that as everybody is exercising their constitutional rights to be heard, that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt,” the president added.
