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In a supportive opinion piece that both corrected false claims made by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and highlighted the benefits of the Dakota Access Pipeline project was published today in the Grand Forks Herald.

 In the op-ed, MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens writes, “Protests of the long overdue and nearly completed Dakota Access Pipeline are growing despite the mountains of evidence showing that the wrongs alleged by angry demonstrators simply never happened.”

In fact, project leaders and regulators participated over 550 meetings with community leaders, elected officials, and organizations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. Members of the public had ample opportunity to comment for public record, and in many cases opponents of the project were never present.

Now as claims emerge that the pipeline was “fast-tracked,” Mr. Stevens contends “Furthermore, the records show that the Corps did not “fast track” the pipeline’s approval. On the contrary, the court concluded that the Corps properly approved all construction projects over which it had jurisdiction and at times went the extra mile (again) to address tribal concerns. The Corps’ handing of Dakota Access Pipeline permits has now been upheld by two federal courts. After sifting through years’ worth of federal and tribal records, four federal judges found no evidence to support any of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s claims.”

In a column featured on Medium by MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens, a clear pattern of ignored realities by the Obama Administration becomes readily apparent as future construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline remains halted by the federal government.

Mr. Stevens writes, “During the eight weeks since the Obama Administration put a freeze on issuing the final easement for the Dakota Access pipeline — a 1,000 foot portion of the 1,172 mile project — the emotionally charged situation on the ground in North Dakota has been fueled by rampant mischaracterizations of law enforcement activities and gross errors of fact on the pipeline itself.”

We’ve documented these mischaracterizations before, but what stands out in the Medium post is that through the vast majority of the nearly two years of review, hundreds of consultations were held with the tribes now constituting the majority of anti-pipeline protesters, and both the federal and state governments approved construction of the project.

To indicate, as the protesters do, that there was no consultation, that there was no process, and that there was no representation is a bold faced lie. The facts are out there, though they have often gone unreported. But as violence in North Dakota continues to escalate, we can only continue to urge that cooler heads prevail, that law and order is restored, and that the legal process that permitted construction is affirmed after two years of review and construction is finally completed.

It has become evident that the situation in Morton County has created a stress on public safety officers and financial resources greater than anyone could have anticipated three months ago.

In this situation, the local community has come together to support the men and women who are protecting private property as well as those working on the lawful construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In support, residents have started a GoFundMe account called the “Morton County Heroes Fund,” designed to support law enforcement and ranchers affected by the protests. Wayne Papke of Mandan, who started the account, has begun to receive funds from donors around the country, and is working with farming organizations to help ranchers with the cost of livestock that has been lost, slaughtered, or gone missing in the midst of the protest chaos.

Local residents aren’t the only ones who are thankful, in an open-letter from the labor community pipeline workers thanked members of law enforcement who are protecting their right to a safe workplace. In the letter Cory Bryson of Bismarck wrote, “Every North Dakotan deserves the right to feel safe at home, at work, and in the communities where we live.”

In a column published in Red State, Seton Motley characterizes the troubling comments President Obama made on the future of the Dakota Access Pipeline as part of a larger pall of uncertainty often cast by this administration on private sector investments.

For that reason, he contends, America’s economy has yet to fully recover from the massive recession which occurred nearly 8 years ago at the onset of the Obama presidency.

The critical component of his argument, as it relates to Dakota Access, is that despite the fact that the government is set up for orderly process and legal review throughout the regulatory process, the Obama Administration has bypassed all of this. Instead the past 8 years have been “governed by a massive flood of regulatory fiats – issued by unelected bureaucrats. Whom we can’t lobby. Of whom we can’t rid ourselves in the next election. (In fact, we can’t get rid of them just about ever.)”

What that leads to is uncertainty on important future investments like Dakota Access. Without certainty in the marketplace, investors will be hard pressed to expend massive amounts of capital necessary to update America’s critical energy infrastructure. Coupled with the administration’s refusal to back law enforcement, the climate of uncertainty for the future in North Dakota becomes all the more troubling.

The MAIN Coalition has shared previously that for nearly three months now, the protest activity has ranged from violent interactions with law enforcement to millions of dollars’ worth of destruction of property and equipment. This is, of course, contrary to what the “peaceful” protesters in Cannon Ball would like you to believe, and what some media outlets have reported.

Inforum published a letter-to-the-editor this week highlighting the misinformed reality of the protests and noted that “[d]espite facts, some media outlets  [have] spun the narrative once again into the realm of make believe: That the peaceful protesters were simply praying and were then violently attacked.”

We’ve known now for months the protests are anything but peaceful. From the illegally blocked public roads, assaulted journalists, charred bridges, slaughtered animals, and yes, even attempted murder charges of one protester who fired shots aimed at law enforcement – the situation and unrest is unacceptable.

The protesters must adhere to the law – they have a right to protest – but as President Obama stated, they must do so peacefully. There is nothing peaceful about their actions to date.