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North Dakota Media Calls for Construction to Continue

The Grand Forks Herald published an editorial which called for construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue and for the ongoing protest in Morton County to cease:

“In the eyes of the public, protesters who take the law into their own hands have two strikes against them.

Violence results in the third strike. That means the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline is ‘out,’ and the protesters should heed North Dakota Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley’s call to disperse.”

In the wake of nearly three dozen arrests, and ongoing reports of continued violence, trespassing, and threats to law enforcement and construction workers, not to mention a siphoning of state resources. It appears that these protesters have worn out their welcome in Morton County.

If there was a case to be made, it should have been made long ago at the three public hearings that were held by the Public Service Commission and not at the expense of public safety and North Dakota taxpayers. But since these groups did not bother to show up, it’s certainly not the time to make these points now, nor is it ever acceptable to commit the violent and illegal actions committed to date by these protesters.

Lee County Supervisors See Pipeline Construction, Safety Precautions up Close

Throughout the lengthy and exhaustive approval process for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, representatives of the men and women who would be put to work on the project repeatedly stated their intention to build the pipeline with safety as the top priority. This week, Supervisors from Lee County, Iowa decided to see firsthand just how the construction of the pipeline would look. Their visit was covered by a reporter at The Hawkeye and described what they saw.

 Board chairman Ron Fedler, Matt Pflug, Gary Folluo and Rick Larkin were given a rare glimpse at the progress of the pipeline, which nearly splits Lee County in half, from it’s northwest corner at the Van Buren county line, south of Montrose along the Mississippi River.

 The pipeline enters Lee County west of Donnellson, then cuts 30 miles across the county before crossing the Mississippi River into Hancock County, Ill. In total, the 1,168-mile Dakota Access pipeline will run from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to an oil refining hub in Patoka, Ill., transporting crude oil through a 30-inch underground pipeline.

 “It blows my mind how they put this all together,” Pflug remarked as they gathered along the riverbank before heading to the site of the Mississippi River bore.

The article went into detail about the steps taken to ensure safety at the drilling site.

 Michels, the horizontal drilling company employed by the project’s contractor, Precision Pipeline, keeps between seven and 10 laborers, operators, teamsters and drillers on-hand about 10 hours per day working on the bore.

 “These guys really take a lot of care in what they do,” Weaver said. “I mean, there’s a lot riding on a job like this, right here. We have to make sure that we do it right.”

 For the men and women in the oil pipeline industry, it’s “all about the integrity of the pipe.”

Once completed, the pipeline will carry Dakota oil to a refinery in Illinois, and significantly boosts the energy security of the Midwest as well as the nation.

South Dakota Political Blog Highlights Chaos in Morton County, North Dakota

The Dakota War College, a South Dakota political news site, published a piece that highlighted the disintegration of law and order in Morton County, North Dakota during the ongoing protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The “Spirit Camp” at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannon Ball Rivers has become a site of lawlessness and opposition to all forms of authority as protestors continue to engage police, shut down highways, threaten aircraft, vandalize public services, and illegally occupy private land.

The posts also highlights the influence of environmental groups who have allied themselves with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as part of a broader campaign to stop the development of important energy infrastructure. According to the post, one of those groups, EarthJustice, who is now suing the United States Army Corps of Engineers for their approval of the construction permit at the Lake Oahe crossing, also made no attempt to participate in the public process including three public hearings held by the North Dakota Public Service Commission.

Construction Disruption A Safety and Security Risk

The Independent Women’s Forum recently published a post which called the disruption of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline a “safety and security risk.”

In reports from the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, protesters have continued to forcefully and even violently engage both law enforcement and construction personnel. Not only have there been numerous violent incidents that have forced the involvement of Morton County and the North Dakota State Troopers, but now even the FBI is investigating incidents of protesters threatening the safety of overflying aircraft!

What should have been a peaceful exercise in public discourse has devolved into a state of lawlessness. The actions of these protesters should no longer be tolerated.

Construction Unions Call On the Governor of North Dakota to Secure Work Sites, Promote the Rule of Law

In an announcement today, the General Presidents of four unions: Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and the United Association (UA) announced that they have sent a letter to North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple. The letter requests that the governor use all the resources at his disposal to protect the hard-earned jobs of thousands of American men and women.

The release highlights the opportunity both supporters and opponents of the pipeline had to voice their opinions before the North Dakota Public Service Commission three times last year and calls attention to the actions of protestors that have endangered the safety of both construction workers and law enforcement.

According to the release, “Our men and women who earn a living on important and vital construction infrastructure projects such as Dakota Access have been asked to leave the job site while the local law enforcement contains the illegal protesters… While they may have a right to protest, we also have a right to do our jobs in a safe environment.”

Media Questions Sincerity of Tribal Leader’s Call for Peace

In a new opinion piece, Rob Port, editor of SayAnythingBlog.com, argues that anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protesters have done little to change their tactics and that it still remains unclear if Archambault even stands behind what he said.

“Over the last days, I have spent a great deal of time, meeting and speaking with participants in the demonstration, tribal government and spiritual leaders, state and local law enforcement officials and others,” Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault said in a statement released to the media this last week. “In all of these meetings, my message has been consistent — we need to work together in peace.”

That stands at odds with the dozens of arrests made by law enforcement officers for infractions like trespassing and disorderly conduct. In fact, Archambault himself was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly shoving law enforcement officers on the protest line.

If Archambault’s goal is peace, can we say that he has pursued that goal through his own actions?

Port goes on to highlight recent comments by law enforcement officers that have been continuously intimidated, threatened, and even assaulted by protestors.

“Pipeline construction has been halted in the area of the protest as law enforcement officers have encountered weapons, threats of pipe bombs and assaults on private security,” Forum News Service reporter Amy Dalrymple wrote earlier this week.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier told the Bismarck Tribune that “his officers have been threatened.”

“This is really dangerous down here,” Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, whose department has been assisting Kirchmeier’s during the protests, told Fargo Forum reporter Robin Huebner.

Archambault had ample opportunity to present his concerns last fall during the three North Dakota Public Service Commission hearings on the pipeline, but neglected to do so. “These groups didn’t come to our hearings,” said Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk in an interview with the Bismarck Tribune.

As a coalition we agree with Port that everyone has a right to be heard and all viewpoints deserve equal consideration. That said, the Standing Rock’s failure to participate in the formal regulatory review process does not grant them the right to trample the voices of others who chose to be involved in the project’s evaluation.

Dakota Access Isn’t The First Pipeline To Cross A River

Based on the actions of the protesters in North Dakota, you would think that the Dakota Access Pipeline is a groundbreaking engineering achievement and will be the first time a pipeline has ever crossed a body of water, ever.

But as the popular North Dakota SayAnythingBlog pointed out earlier today, this is hardly the case.

Here is a map that shows all of the liquid and gas pipelines criss-crossing the country today. As it shows, quite a few of them cross bodies of water including rivers, lakes, and even the ocean.

 

map

 

As Chairwoman Fedorchak said, nobody wants to contaminate the water supply. It isn’t the goal of a pipeline company to build a bad piece of infrastructure that will have problems. In fact, safety is the utmost priority when it comes to building pipeline infrastructure, which is why Dakota Access is such a thoroughly engineered project that used state-of-the-art technology to construct and maintain the pipeline. But this pipeline is not groundbreaking when it comes to engineering a water crossing. Many have come before it, and undoubtedly many will come after it.

This is about a bigger issue, these groups advocate a radical “keep it in the ground” approach to American energy production which is not a feasible strategy when it comes to our energy independence. Our economy requires the resources of the Bakken and the Midwest will be served well by lower costs of energy, valuable manufacturing inputs, and thousands of jobs that this pipeline will provide.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Didn’t Show Up At Regulatory Hearings

For over a week the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has protested the Dakota Access Pipeline by attempting to physically block access to the construction site. But when it came to the state review of the project which began almost two years ago, the tribe was nowhere to be found.

The tribe has argued that the project would threaten their water, land, and heritage, but as the SayAnything Blog notes, none of these concerns were ever raised before the North Dakota Public Services Commission. There were three public sessions including one in Mandan, less than 30 miles from the protest site. Neither Chairman Dave Archambault nor any official representative of his tribe bothered to attend any of the regulatory hearings reviewing the Dakota Access Pipeline project before approval deliberations began.

Even North Dakota Public Services Commissioner Brian Kalk highlighted their absence in a comment to the Bismarck Tribune, “These groups didn’t come to our hearings,’ said Kalk, expressing disappointment that tribal leaders didn’t appear at that time to voice their concerns.”

It doesn’t add up. There was ample opportunity to protest the pipeline through civil discussion, and yet there was no participation by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Now when the project is well on its way through construction do they resort to occupying private property, interfering with lawful construction, or riding horses within feet of the faces of the many state troopers who are trying to keep them safe.

Wiederstein: Corps of Engineers green lights pipeline

A recent opinion piece by the MAIN Coalition’s chairman, Ed Wiederstein, in South Dakota’s Argus Leader, highlighted the great news of the Corps of Engineers decision to release the permits for the Dakota Access project.

As Wiederstein states,

All systems are (finally) go.

That is the significance of the recent decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release the final permits needed for full construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to begin.

For the first time in this over two year process, all segments of the pipeline are now free to begin construction, and that is very good news for communities stretching from the Bakken in North Dakota, across the fields of Eastern South Dakota, throughout Iowa, and into Illinois.

This development is certainly good news for the thousands of men and women who are currently constructing the project, but also for our entire region and country as we find ways to become more energy independent.

For over two years, this project has been closely debated and analyzed. All four states, and now the federal government have agreed – the benefits will be great and the impacts minimal. The recent news of the opposition’s last ditch efforts against the project are only detracting from what so many already know – this project will be good for all of us.

We need to support Dakota Access and say “YES” to our future and it starts with this important piece of national energy infrastructure.

North Dakota Regulators Speak Out on Pipeline Protest

In an article in the Bismarck Tribune, North Dakota’s Public Service Commission regulators defended their permit approval for the Dakota Access Pipeline and said they hope tensions between protesters and law enforcement at a site near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation would cool off in the days ahead while work continues.

A few quotes from the commissioners:

  • “I really regret that there’s this much conflict,” – PSC Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak
  • “They have a right to disagree, they don’t have the right to threaten. They don’t have the right to obstruct.” – PSC Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak
  • “This was very carefully reviewed by the PSC,” – PSC Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak
  • “These groups didn’t come to our hearings,” said Commissioner Brian Kalk, expressing disappointment that tribal leaders didn’t appear at that time to voice their concerns.