“The water protectors have done it. This is a monumental victory in the fight to protect indigenous rights and sovereignty,” said Lilian Molina, a Greenpeace spokeswoman, after the Army called off the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) construction through the Missouri river on Sunday.
According to CNN, the DAPL is “ … a $3.7 billion project that would cross four states and change the landscape of the US crude oil supply.” Moreover, the same source explains the pipeline would transfer, “An estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered oil … believed to be in its U.S. portion.”
This raised the question: would the DAPL lead to an economic boom, or the destruction of nature and cultural respect?
Up until Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, the “water protectors,” as the activists had been calling themselves, were protesting the 1,172 mile oil pipeline that runs through four different states and the Missouri River, but specifically the section that ran through sacred burial ground of a Native American tribe located in North Dakota.
According to Business Insider, the DAPL was initially planned to pass near the capital of Bismarck, North Dakota; however, it’s course has been routed through the sacred land of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe instead.
However, as the New York Times reports, as of Sunday, “the Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River.” Alternative routes will be considered instead for the DAPL.
But the fight is not over for the protestors.
Donald Trump, who owns a share in the company that is constructing the pipeline, is claiming to be in support of finishing the pipeline by the original plan.
It is the Obama Administration that called for the halt of the construction, yet the Trump Administration will be taking over in 47 days. Thus, the victorious protesters can only count down the days until a new president will step up and possibly undo all that the protests and Obama Administration have done to preserve the sacred land of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
If Trump restores the DAPL route through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s land and the Missouri river, not only would the pipeline destroy sacred burial land of a Native American tribe, but it would also put the health of those inhabiting the land in grave danger. If the pipe were to break, many citizens would be at risk of health problems due to the contamination of water sources.
Likewise, the contamination of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s water source is not unlikely, as the DAPL passes through the Missouri River, the tribe’s only water source.
That being said, it is important to note that no matter where the pipeline is constructed there will be the environment, wildlife and citizens who could suffer from health problems if something were to happen with the oil carrying pipe.
For example, health issues linked to contaminated water could occur not only through directly drinking the toxic water but also by consuming produce or livestock that ingest the water, as well as bathing and washing clothes with it.
However, one may argue that the pipeline has passed many safety reviews so it is not likely that the pipeline will cause any harm.
Yet, the Business Insider points out, “Since 1995, more than 2,000 significant accidents involving oil and petroleum pipelines have occurred, adding up to roughly $3 billion in property damage … ” This may seem insignificant to some, but to those affected or potentially affected, the risk of oil contamination is a serious fear and it should be more scrupulously considered by those that support the DAPL.
What’s more, the DAPL protests also exemplified the overbearing power and force the police hold over innocent citizens practicing their American and human rights.
For instance, as a part of the protests, activists blocked traffic on Highway 1806 for several hours on Oct. 23, 2016. This resulted in the arrest of more than 127 activists, which CNN describes as “ … the latest examples of an escalating pattern of abuse of power on the part of law enforcement … ”
The latter also shows how Trump could use his own power, as well as that of local police, to mute the DAPL protesters’ cries for cultural and environmental justice, if he so chooses to reinstate the original pathway of the pipeline.
Therefore, “several campers said they were not going anywhere.” They are committed to fighting for what is right no matter the forces against them, including those Trump may impose once he becomes president.
All in all, the DAPL protesters have been fighting for human and environmental safety. What is also rooted in the protests is a continuation of the struggle among the Native American community for the respect of their culture and history. The land that they have saved but Trump still threatens to destroy holds the bodies and traditions of their ancestors.
These activists have been standing up for our dying earth and the fading, overlooked cultures of America. Shame on those that refuse to hear their cries.