Standing Rock Sioux sues Corps over oil pipeline permits

Source: Associated Press

Standing Rock Sioux sues Corps over oil pipeline permits

James Macpherson, Associated Press

Updated 3:36 pm, Thursday, July 28, 2016

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is suing federal regulators for approving part of a $3.8 billion oil pipeline between North Dakota and Illinois that would be the biggest-capacity pipeline yet carrying oil out of the state's oil patch.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington challenges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision a day earlier to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings in four states for the Dakota Access pipeline. The line, being built by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, would carry oil across South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois, where the crude would be shipped to Midwest and Gulf Coast refineries.

The tribe argues that the pipeline would impact drinking water and sacred sites on its 2.3-million acre reservation straddling the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The recently approved permits allow the pipeline to cross beneath the Missouri River twice, including less than a mile upstream of the reservation, home to about 8,000 people, according to Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II.

"Our culture sites are at risk, our water is at risk and people are at risk," Archambault said Thursday, noting that protests against the pipeline have been ongoing for months. "This water is a life source, and not just for my people."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Standing-Rock-Sioux-sues-Corps-over-oil-pipeline-8492148.php