Secret DAPL Analysis Withheld from Tribes: Government Memo Spotlights Flawed Process

In the waning days of the Obama administration, the top lawyer for the U.S. Department of Interior wrote about significant flaws in the permitting process for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) easement under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. The government had not honored federal trust responsibilities to consult with Native nations. Worse, the government had kept key environmental analysis secret, unavailable for review by Native nations and the general public. Worse yet, some of the analysis was simply inaccurate — and since it was secret it couldn’t be challenged.

The 38-page memo is from Hilary Tompkins, the Department of Interior’s solicitor, to the Secretary. The conclusion is this:

[T]here is ample legal justification for the Corps to exercise its discretion to suspend or revoke the existing Section 408 permit and/or postpone a decision on the proposed easement conditional on additional analysis
and government-to-government consultation concerning the tribal-specific issues discussed in this Memorandum … If the Corps ultimately does decide to authorize the easement, additional tribal consultation is necessary to develop conditions for the authorization that will protect the Tribes’ rights and interests in and around Lake Oahe. (page 35)

Disturbingly, the Dec. 4 memo details problems with the government’s process that until recently have been hidden.

76 Water Protectors Arrested; Requests for Action, Donations

Seventy-six people were arrested as they tried to establish a new camp to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) according to a story today in the Bismarck Tribune. Among those arrested was Chase Iron Eyes, a former Congresssional candidate and legal counsel with the Lakota People’s Law Project. Those arrested have been spread out to five different North Dakota county jails.

The story said the arrests took place on private property located on the west side of N.D. Highway 1806, on top of a hill across from the main Oceti Sakowin camp.

A webinar organized by NoDAPL Solidarity.org provided additional details, including suggested actions and requests for donations to support those who were arrested.

Next Mde Mada Ska Community Meeting Saturday; More DAPL Updates

The next round of community conversations around Mde Maka Ska (Lake Calhoun) and the sacredness of water will be held this Saturday, Dec. 3, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,, at First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Ave. S. Lunch will be served.

This is the latest in a series of community conversations, but there is no need to have attended any of the previous conversations to participate. Teens welcome!

Roughly 50-75 residents had attended previous meetings in late 2015 and early 2016 to build relationships and brainstorm about what Mde Maka Ska could be to the world and how to tell the stories Mde Maka Ska holds. One of the ideas to emerge from this work a proposal for a “Mni Wakan: Decade of Water” Summit. (Mni Wakan means Sacred Water in Dakota.)

Come and join the conversation. For more background, here is our earlier blog on the meetings. Here is an article The Circle Newspaper ran on the Water Summit.

These sessions are facilitated by LeMoine LaPointe and his sons Wakinyan and Thorne LaPointe.

Breaking News: Water Protectors Refuse to Leave Main Camp Dec. 5, in Spite of Army Corps of Engineers Orders

The likelihood of increasing tension, violence, and mass arrests over the Dakota Access Pipeline is quickly increasing, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ordering the shut down of Oceti Sakowin, the Water Protectors’ Main Camp, and threatening arrests. The Water Protectors are refusing to leave.

In a nut shell, the federal government is bailing on the Water Protectors. North Dakota law enforcement has used excessive force against the Water Protectors, including water cannons in freezing temperatures and tear gas. Instead of investigating the situation or intervening on behalf of the Standing Rock Nation and its allies, the federal government is pulling the permit for the Water Protectors to be on federal land. The Water Protectors have to leave by Dec. 5 or face arrest, according to CNN and other news sources.

NBC is reporting tonight that the Water Protectors are vowing to stay, regardless of the order.

Oahe Dam: Standing Rock’s Earlier Experience with Environmental Racism; and More DAPL Updates

Lake Oahe was formed by damming the Missouri River. In the process, it flooded Standing Rock land. (Image from Wikipedia.)

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is not the first example of environmental racism suffered by the Standing Rocking Nation. A recent op/ed piece in Native News Online.Net gives important history.

Missouri flood waters decimated Omaha, Nebraska in 1943; Congress responded by passing the Pick–Sloan Act, also known as the Flood Control Act of 1944, writes LaRae Meadows. It became part of a comprehensive plan covering other commercial and safety aspects of the river.

As the plan took shape over the next two decades, the  burden for its success fell heavily on Native peoples. Part of the response included construction of the Oahe dam in South Dakota, a project that backed up the Missouri River for water storage and hydropower — flooding land in North and South Dakota. Meadows writes:

Lake Oahe Reservoir and hydroelectric dam was created when the Army Corps of Engineers flooded the fertile river lands and displaced a village on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in 1960. A forest was deluged – lost to the water. Bison died. Burial grounds were submerged. Homes were lost.

Wikipedia adds the following:

Over 200,000 acres on the Standing Rock Reservation and the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota were flooded by the Oahe Dam alone. As of 2015, poverty remains a problem for the displaced populations in the Dakotas, who are still seeking compensation for the loss of the towns submerged under Lake Oahe, and the loss of their traditional ways of life.

Yet, writes Meadows: “The Army Corps of Engineers’ requirements under Pick-Sloan may be the last weapon the Water Protectors have to stop the drill and the pipeline.”

Say a Prayer for the Water Protectors: President-Elect Trump a Likely DAPL Supporter

Efforts to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) have taken a sharp turn for the worse and the potential for more violent conflict has increased.

Say a prayer for the Water Protectors.

Obama Says DAPL Reroute is a Possibility; National Day of Action Nov. 15

President Obama is raising the option of rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline away from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Obama has been getting a lot of public pressure to take stronger action against the pipeline. A reroute might satisfy some, but probably wont satisfy those who oppose the pipeline because of the environmental damage it will create — no matter what path it takes.

Obama says that ” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is examining whether the four-state project can be rerouted in southern North Dakota to alleviate the concerns of American Indians,” according to an MPR report.

Obama told the online news outlet NowThis that his administration is monitoring the situation closely but will “let it play out for several more weeks.” …

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault welcomed Obama’s statement but said the administration and the Corps should go farther and stop work on the pipeline and do a full environmental impact study.