On July 25, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, slated to be built by Energy Transfer Partners. This approximately 1,172-mile-long pipeline will run from the Three Forks and Bakken oil production areas located in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. This pipeline, which, if completed, has the capacity to transport up to 570,000 barrels of domestically produced crude oil to refineries per day. However, in order to reach its destination, the pipeline is required to go under the Missouri River, with the location just a short distance upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux American Indian Reservation. The community utilizes the river for fishing, recreation, and irrigation practices.
Oh, and they also use the Missouri River for cultural and religious practices, which is enough to make a lot of people stop and think that maybe this pipeline’s trail isn’t such a great idea. But, get this: of the approximately 8,500 people that live in the Standing Rock community, most, if not all, of them rely on the Missouri River to get their drinking water.
Still think that this is a great idea? Because it’s really not. Already this year, we’ve seen Flint, Michigan, a community with a predominantly ethnic population, face a drinking water crisis because the state of Michigan decided that, instead of paying Detroit to use water from Lake Huron, it would be a better idea to take water from the nearby Flint River. The Flint River’s water is highly corrosive, which should have also been treated with an anti-corrosive agent, but since it wasn’t, the water caused the pipes to leach lead and iron into the water supply that traveled to the homes of Flint’s residents.
But this is old news right? Not really, because the problem has still yet to be completely solved. Imagine what could happen if the Dakota Access pipeline, which has plans to run underneath the Missouri River, had a leak or burst? Oh, wait, we already have an example.
Yeah. That happened in Moscow, Russia, but that could happen here in the United States of America on the Missouri River, right next to the Standing Rock community.
Protests against the Dakota Access pipeline started in April, but are still going strong today. Even Shailene Woodley, actress and star of the “Divergent” series, has been showing unyielding support for these people, along with Rosario Dawson and Riley Keough. These protests have been peaceful in nature, although according to this report by 12news.com, over two dozen protesters have been arrested. But, even ranchers in Iowa have filed a lawsuit against the construction of this pipeline, which will be going through their land as well. As of right now, no decision has been made, but 12news.com also states that the U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has said that he plans to make a decision before September 9.
We can ask so many questions of those who had a hand in the Dakota Access pipeline’s creation, but perhaps the biggest question is: when did humans progress so far that we decided that the economy was more important than the safety of our own brethren? I try not to get on my soap box more often than is welcome, but this is a legitimate question of mine. Even if the construction of this pipeline has received approval and is in compliance with the relevant legal regulations, it is still quite obviously putting money over the well-being of people who need clean drinking water in order to survive. The members of the Standing Rock community have lives that are just as valuable as those behind the Dakota Access pipeline. We are all together in the human condition, and we are all doing what we can to survive, but taking away another’s means for survival for whatever reason is grotesquely wrong and I applaud all who have called the construction of the pipeline into question over the past weeks and months. I stand with Standing Rock, and I hope that as the days pass, more will also stand with us against the gross injustice that has been imposed upon this community.
