<\/p>\r\nFT. YATES, North Dakota \u2013 Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chair Mike Faith spoke for many when he thanked federal regulators October 23 for granting Oceti Sakowin requests to extend the scoping period for public comment and government-to-government consultation on the Dakota Access Pipeline environmental impact statement.
<\/p>\r\nHis tribe, followed by the Cheyenne River Sioux, Yankton Sioux, and Oglala Sioux tribes, successfully sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to obtain a court order March 25 for elaboration of the environmental impact statement.
<\/p>\r\nTime was running out for input during the scoping period set to end October 26 when Omaha Army Corps District Commander Col. Mark Himes advised Faith of the extension until November 26.
<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe thank Col. Himes for granting this extension, as it very important for the tribe to have input at this early stage of the process,\u201d Faith said. \u201cWe thank everyone who continues to support us in this ongoing effort,\u201d he added.
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<\/p>\r\nIn the Native-led effort to prevent construction of the hazardous materials line across the Missouri River just upstream from the tribal drinking water intake, tens of thousands of grassroots supporters from around the world rallied at encampments on unceded 1851 Ft. Laramie Treaty lands here in 2016-2017 to support tribal government opposition.
<\/p>\r\nNonetheless, the Corp of Engineers permitted the crossing with only an environmental assessment, which is a document that requires less public consultation than an impact statement.
<\/p>\r\nThe tribal lawsuits to obtain an expanded process attracted legal support from the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen\u2019s Association (GPTCA), the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and the National Congress of American Indians Fund (NCAI Fund).
<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe decision ensures that the treaty-reserved rights of the plaintiff tribes \u2013 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Yankton Sioux Tribe, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe \u2013 are adequately addressed, along with any other land and natural resource considerations, in a full-fledged and well-documented environmental review process,\u201d they said after the legal coup.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/jennimonet\/status\/1321082674610466816\r\n
<\/p>\r\nIt was March 25 when U.S. District of Columbia Judge James Boasberg ruled the Army Corps broke the National Environmental Protection Act by permitting an easement without executing the impact statement required.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nThe recent extension of the scoping period for comment gives the public until November 26 to submit testimony.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nAt a live online public scoping meeting conducted from Omaha, Nebraska, on October 16, all commenters in the hourlong event expressed doubts and opposition to permitting the easement in the same terms as before.
<\/p>\r\nParticipant Meryl Tihanyi reminded the Corps of the ongoing Superfund cleanup in Michigan state created by the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil pipeline spill, considered to be the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nA Michigan resident, DAPL encampment chef Matthew Shawn Borke, sued Energy Transfer and its Rover Pipeline contractor Leighton Security on October 13. Leighton subcontracted with the controversial private counterintelligence firm TigerSwan LLC during the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock.\r\n
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