The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is promising a legal battle after the Army Corps of Engineers’ announcement Tues. It’s clearing the way for completion of the Dakota Access pipeline.
With that, about 100 people turned out at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Peoria last night for a vigil in solidarity with the tribe. Rev. Lynnda White went to Standing Rock in November. She says the vigil brought local environmental and Native American groups together in the shared cause. She says in times of difficulty standing together as one always makes the cause stronger.
“If we think that something negative happened in North Dakota and that does not affect us we are so wrong. Because there is one water,” White said. “There is one earth, so whatever harms it in one place, harms it down stream also.”
The Army Corp is clearing the way for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota. It’s the final link that will move oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.
The Standing Rock Sioux say a pipeline leak could pollute the drinking water and other routes should be considered. Dallas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline is safe.