So I finally read the court judgement that had allowed the pipeline to continue. There are some interesting passages. "By the time the company finally settled on a construction path, then, the pipeline route had been modified 140 times in North Dakota alone to avoid potential cultural resources.“
And
"The company also opted to build its new pipeline along well-trodden ground wherever feasible. See ECF No. 22-1 (Declaration of Joey Mahmoud), ¶¶ 18, 24, 40. Around Lake Oahe, for example, the pipeline will track both the Northern Border Gas Pipeline, which was placed into service in 1982, and an existing overhead utility line. Id., ¶ 18. In fact, where it crosses Lake Oahe, DAPL is 100% adjacent to, and within 22 to 300 feet from, the existing pipeline. Id. Dakota Access chose this route because these locations had “been disturbed in the past – both above and below ground level – making it a ‘brownfield crossing location.’” Id., ¶ 19. This made it less likely, then, that new ground disturbances would harm intact cultural or tribal features”
Also, the pipeline operators seem to have consulted with the Standing Rock tribe’s Historic Preservation Officer on the projected route, and the CofE attempted dozens of times over the course of seven years to meet with and consult the tribe, sent maps, extended comment deadlines, and scheduled many meetings with Tribe officials and Tribe Archaeologists, which were always cancelled by the Tribe.
From January to March 2016, the Corps and pipeline operators held a series of meetings with the Tribe where the Tribe identified cultural sites to be avoided, insisted on double-wall piping, and other safety measures, conditions which the CofE agreed to.
“The Corps also seems to have conducted district-level tribal listening sessions and workshops. See Tribal Information Fact Sheet at 1. There is no indication in the record that the Tribe responded to the Corps’ invitation to consult, but was ignored. The Tribe, in fact, concedes that it did not participate in the notice-and-comment for NWP 12 at all”
"Plaintiff never defined the boundaries of its ancestral lands vis-à-vis DAPL. Instead, Standing Rock asserts that these lands extend “wherever the buffalo roamed.”
It does sort of seem like the pipeline company and the US Government went to pretty great lengths to get tribal input and approval for all work done, and had a process in place to stop work should any cultural artifacts be discovered or suspected, and do so under tribal observation. Also, by sticking to the same routes as current pipelines and power lines, they would minimize disturbing hidden cultural sites.
Unless the court’s ruling really misrepresents the issues, It does not look like this particular pipeline work is more damaging than any other pipeline work that has gone on. I understand that this does not satisfy those who oppose all transport of fossil fuels by pipeline, rail, or road. Those people seem to be the loudest voices here.
If anyone has different facts, I would really like to hear them.
