Deadline Nears For Protesters To leave Camp Near Dakota Pipeline
CANNON BALL, N.D., Feb 22 (Reuters) - Protesters opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline braced for a showdown with authorities as some vowed to defy Wednesday's deadline to abandon the camp they have occupied for months to halt the project.
President Donald Trump has pushed for the completion of the multibillion-dollar pipeline since he took office last month, despite objections from Native Americans and environmental activists who say it threatens the water resources and sacred land of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Republican Governor Doug Burgum and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set a deadline of Wednesday afternoon for protesters to leave the Oceti Sakowin camp, located on Army Corps land in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
Freezing rain and snow fell on Wednesday morning and smoke billowed over the camp as demonstrators burned some of the remaining structures.
Chase Iron Eyes, a Standing Rock Sioux member, said the activists would all stay at the camp until the 2 p.m. CST (2000 GMT) deadline.
"Then people will make their individual decisions about what their level of commitment is," he said by telephone on Tuesday. "Some will get arrested."
Protesters and law enforcement have clashed multiple times and hundreds of people have been arrested since demonstrations began in August.
The Standing Rock Sioux asked protesters to leave the area in December as they challenged the pipeline plans in court, but some 300 demonstrators have remained.
Ed Higgins, a 39-year-old military veteran from Lowell, Massachusetts, said he has spent three months at the camp, and that he plans on getting arrested peacefully on Wednesday.
He said he was unsure how many other fellow protesters would be taken into custody: "We will not know until it happens."
Law enforcement officials have urged people to leave the camp ahead of the deadline, saying they could be at risk from spring floods, as well as to remove anything that could be damaged during cleanup efforts.
Law enforcement officials have agreed to a request by camp leaders that only Native American cleanup crews be used. One activist, HolyElk Lafferty, said she had asked that government-contracted crews not begin their work until after the camp is cleared.
"It would raise the alarm and panic and not promote a peaceful process today," Lafferty said. "I want people to be safe on both sides."
State officials have set up a travel assistance center to provide departing protesters with food, water and health check-ups, as well as a voucher for one night's accommodation at a Bismarck hotel and a bus ticket home.
"We're making sure that we're taking care of people that may not have means," said a spokesman for the state highway patrol, Lieutenant Tom Iverson.
Trump, a Republican, signed an executive order clearing the way for the $3.8 billion pipeline to proceed.
A judge denied a request earlier this month by two tribes seeking to halt construction. The tribes are seeking an injunction to order the Army Corps to withdraw the easement.
The pipeline will be complete and ready for oil between March 6 and April 1, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
(Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Cannon Ball, North Dakota and Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Tom Brown)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension