Two federal courts upheld the North Dakota pipeline protesters yesterday in separate decisions.
The District of Columbia Federal Circuit Court has granted the Tribes’ emergency motion to stop the pipeline’s construction within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The Court acted to give itself additional time to weigh the issues, and ordered the parties to file additional pleadings by September 19.
The Standing Rock and the Cheyenne Rive Sioux Tribes requested the emergency motion to prevent destruction of sacred sites that might be within the pipeline’s route.
The Army Corps opposed the Tribes’ motion, claiming that the Tribes’ “largely refused to engage in consultations” about potential cultural sites during earlier discussions of the pipeline’s route.
The Court order halts the pipeline’s construction in the vicinity of the Tribal Reservation.
The Corps and two other federal agencies are also taking a look-back at their environmental review of the pipeline’s impacts near Lake Oahe. The Corps could potentially rescind its original review of the pipeline and insist on more scrutiny before allowing the pipeline to continue.
In a separate action, the North Dakota Federal District court dissolved a restraining order against several Sioux Tribal officers, which had banned them and others from engaging in obstructionist and dangerous behavior to prevent the pipeline’s construction. The action lifted the threat of contempt of court charges against tribal leaders.
Nonetheless, Federal Judge Hovland l�����ambasted the protests, charging that, “… the citizens of North Dakota are inundated with images of “peaceful” protesters engaging in mindless and senseless criminal mathem.”
Police have arrested nearly 70 protestors, including seven for chaining themselves to construction equipment.
www.wdaz.com/...
www.bloomberg.com/...