page_title: Dakota Access Pipeline protests
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Dakota Access Pipeline protests / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Cannonball River, North Dakota
context_page_description: The Dakota Access Pipeline protests, also called by the hashtag #NoDAPL, were grassroots movements that began in early 2016 in reaction to the approved construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States. The pipeline was projected to run from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota to southern Illinois, crossing beneath the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, as well as under part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Based on ample scientific evidence, many in the Standing Rock tribe and surrounding communities considered the pipeline and its intended crossing beneath the Missouri River to constitute a serious threat to the region's drinking water, as well as to the water supply used to irrigate surrounding farmlands. The construction was also seen as a direct threat to ancient burial grounds and cultural sites of historic importance.
  In April 2016, youth from Standing Rock and surrounding Native American communities organized as a direct action group and social media campaign to stop the pipeline, calling themselves, "ReZpect Our Water".
context_section_description: The Dakota Access Pipeline, a part of the Bakken pipeline project, is a 1,172-mile-long (1,886 km) underground oil pipeline project in the United States. The pipeline was planned by Dakota Access, LLC, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas corporation Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. It begins in the Bakken oil fields in Northwest North Dakota and travels in a more or less straight line southeast, through South Dakota and Iowa, ending at the oil terminal near Patoka, Illinois.  According to court records, the pipeline was due for delivery on January 1, 2017.
  Routing the pipeline across the Missouri River near Bismarck was rejected because of the route's proximity to municipal water sources; residential areas; and road, wetland, and waterway crossings. The Bismarck route would also have been 11 miles (18 km) longer. The alternative selected by the Corps of Engineers crossed underneath the Missouri River half a mile (800 m) from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. A spill could have major adverse effects on the waters that the Tribe and individuals in the area rely upon. Using a permit process that treated the pipeline as a series of small construction sites, the pipeline was granted an exemption from the environmental review required by the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
  However, citing potential effects on the Native tribes, most notably the Standing Rock Sioux, in March and April 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Interior (DOI), and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a formal Environmental Impact Assessment and issue an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
  Noting that the water system serving Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Reservation was only 10 miles (16 km) downstream of where the pipeline would cross Lake Oahe and the Missouri River, the EPA recommended that the Army Corps revise its Environmental Assessment and open up a second public comment period. "Based on our improved understanding of the project setting, we also recommend addressing additional concerns regarding environmental justice and emergency response actions to spills/leaks."
  The DOI also expressed concerns about the pipeline's proximity to the tribe's water source:
  The routing of a 12- to 30-inch crude oil pipeline in close proximity to and upstream of the Reservation is of serious concern to the Department.  When establishing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's permanent homeland, the U.S. reserved waters of sufficient quantity and quality to serve the purposes of the Reservation. The Department holds more than 800,000 acres of land in trust for the Tribe that could be impacted by a leak or spill. Further, a spill could impact the waters that the Tribe and individual tribal members residing in that area rely upon for drinking and other purposes. We believe that, if the pipeline's current route along the edge of the Reservation remains an option, the potential impact on trust resources in this particular situation necessitates full analysis and disclosure of potential impacts through the preparation of an [Environmental Impact Statement].
  As of September 2016, the United States Department of Justice had received more than 33,000 petitions to review all permits and order a full review of the project's environmental effects.
caption: Cannonball river area, North Dakota
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