WASHINGTON, DC — Today, in the latest in the fight led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from wreaking havoc on nearby sacred lands and contaminating water sources, the federal court judge who was set to make the decision on the injunction filed to stop the construction of the 1,172-mile project rescheduled the ruling until September. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ignored their concerns about the pipeline before granting permission to the Texas-based company, Energy Transfer Partners, to move forward with construction on the project.
“Each of the last fifteen consecutive months have been the hottest in history — this is not the moment for neutrality or indecision on climate action. This has been an unprecedented mobilization, and today’s delay reinforces our resolve to stand with the Standing Rock Sioux and allies across the country to stop this dangerous fossil fuel project,” said May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org. “The more than half a million gallons of fracked oil that the Dakota Access Pipeline would carry each day need to be kept in the ground, not transported across sensitive lands threatening our climate and our communities.”
Since April, nearly 80 tribes have joined the Standing Rock Sioux to gather at the Sacred Stone camp in North Dakota calling for a halt to the pipeline construction. In the past weeks, thousands have joined the camp in support of stopping the project and protecting sacred lands against the pipeline’s destruction. Today, coinciding with the federal court hearing, allies of the Standing Rock Sioux held a rally outside the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
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Contact: Lindsay Meiman, [email protected], (347) 460-9082