Recently, the new president of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, passed a bill to finish the construction of that Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline is to be built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners and is designed to transport as many as 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to Illinois (Worland). The pipeline also goes under Lake Oahe. Lake Oahe is very vile to the Standing Rock tribe as they use this lake for water supply and other resources such as bathing and fishing. The construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline was temporarily stopped due to protest and the Obama Administration putting a pause on the construction. This issue first came to my attention when finding out a pipeline holding crude oil had spilled over 176,000 gallons of oil into a creek which many people who lived around the area used for water supply and resources. My attention was grabbed when the spill happened in North Dakota, which is one of the states the Dakota Access Pipeline runs through. This event is very familiar to the Dakota Access Pipeline situation and should have been a warning to government officials about the dangers of a major pipeline when a minor pipeline caused lots of damage on its own. Imagine the amount of damage an oil spill from a major pipeline to Lake Oahe and the land around it. This event happened before President Trump signed the bill to continue the construction of the pipeline. With government officials being aware of the spill in North Dakota, it would be assumed that one would end the construction or attempt to direct it a different direction. Instead, a bill is signed to resume the construction without a bit of concern what could happen to some of our nation’s historical land. The real question here is why? Money. That appears to be the only thing our government is concerned with, how to make more money. The Trump Administration administered the progression of the Dakota Access Pipeline to make more money and better themselves rather than protect sacred land from Native Americans, possibly destroy their water supply, and hurt our environment. 

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has reported more than 3,300 incidents of leaks and ruptures at oil and gas pipelines since 2010. And even the smallest spill could damage the tribe's water supply (Worland). The Obama Administration had periodically stopped towards the end of his term due to multiple protestors trying to protect the Standing Rock sacred land and water supply of the tribe. Protesting started small, but then continued to grow as the issue became more public. The supporters of this project, which are mostly federal and state government officials, have shown little interest in the critics from the protestors and the tribe as their main concern is how they are going to benefit from this project. This pipeline cons outweigh the pros. It would hurt the water supply of the Native Americans, disrespect sacred grounds, and would be pollute our energy. 

The first major concern with this pipeline is the amount of damage it could cause to the Native Americans water supply. As environmentalist Bill McKibben noted in the New Yorker, the pipeline was originally slated to cross the Missouri River not far from North Dakota's capital city of Bismarck, but the route was changed partly due to concerns about the potential contamination of the capitol's drinking water in the event of a leak or spill (Latour). This pipeline is presumed to go half a mile under Lake Oahe, the main water source for the Standing Rock tribe. Surprisingly, the route was changed due to it effecting a big capital city, but not a tiny Native American tribe. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluated the Bismarck route and concluded it was not a viable option for many reasons. One reason mentioned in the agency’s environmental assessment is the proximity to wellhead source water protection areas that are avoided to protect municipal water supply wells. They are all Americans, just one appears to be more important than another. The government also knows that if an oil spill were to occur in the water supply of a larger city, that is more money they would have to pour out to fix the water and be quick about it. But if a little lake that a small tribe uses for water become contaminated, it will not be a major concern and more the likely will not even make the news. This is just another example of how the government is only concerned about how certain events will affect them, not the people of this country who they are supposed to protect and take care of. 

By building this pipeline, the government is disrespecting their sacred land which is also a part of our American history. The Standing Rock Tribe and their allies are also resisting the construction of the pipeline because it is expected to disrupt burial grounds and other sites the Tribe considers sacred. The tribe has even brought this to the federal court’s attention. In their official complaint filed with the Washington D.C. district court, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe argued the Army Corps of Engineers of violating the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which requires them to consider whether construction would disrupt sites of cultural or historical significance before issuing federal permits for projects (Latour). The NHPA was passed into law in 1966. During this time, America was expanding rapidly and destroying ancient sites and historical landmarks. Then, the NPHA was born and declared preservation of America’s shared heritage (Colwell). Actually, the construction itself has already destroyed some of the Standing Rock’s sacred ground. Tim Mentz Sr., a former tribal historic prevention officer of the Standing Rock Sioux, had testified to the DC District Court to report the area that lay in the path of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) corridor holds 82 cultural features and 27 graves (Colwell). Members of the Sioux tribe feel as if their worries and concerns are not being taken seriously nor are they being heard. Unfortunately, they are far too familiar with these types of situations. “It's like a perpetrator committing a crime on an innocent individual,” Sioux tribe chairman Dave Archambault II told ABC News. “If you do it once, you should be stopped; if you do it again, you should be stopped; if you’re not, you become a serial perpetrator time and time and time again, and today we are saying, 'No, don’t put this pipeline here, enough is enough,” (Latour). 

Some supporters have argued that a pipeline would be good for our environmental as it is safer and better for our environment versus transporting via railroad. The argument that the pipeline would benefit the environment by requiring fewer emissions in the transportation of the oil falls flat for environmental activists for whom more oil is not part of the rational response to climate change. By beefing up the oil infrastructure, the pipeline would only add to the problem, argue critics (Latour). Environmental activists say the pipeline would contribute man-made climate change by building up the country's oil infrastructure. They insist that fossil fuels—including the vast reserves in the Bakken Shale—need to be kept in the ground to protect the world from the worst effects of climate change (Worland). The pipeline itself can pollute not only the lakes and rivers, but the clean energy as well. It can fuel climate change and damage to all parts of our environment. The Dakota Access Pipeline could ruin the water supply for the Native Americans, continue to destroy their scared land, and pollute our environment even more. The economic boost of this pipeline just is not worth it, as the cons outweigh the pros. 

Protestors and tribal leaders have accused officials of rough treatment during protest. Police have used pepper spray, rubber bullets and concussion cannons, among other tactics, according to the tribe. Amy Goodman, a journalist with the Democracy Now! program, was arrested while covering the protest for allegedly trespassing. Footage she captured showed police officers allowing their dogs to charge protesters (Worland). Not only are the Native Americans being treated unfairly, their land is being taken without consent and not gaining any of the profit for it. Energy Transfer Partners said it has tried to steer the pipeline away from residential areas and has tried to reach voluntary deals with property owners "at a fair price."

 One acre of Van Buren Country land, another area in Iowa that will be effected by the pipeline, equals only 3,432 dollars while one acre of Sioux County land equals 16,072 dollars (Yan) and the Native Americans are currently receiving none of it. Their land counts as a residential area as that is where the live and work. Why are they not receiving their fair share of funds? Is it because they are choosing not to cooperate or does the government not consider them residents of the United States? Either way, this is another way the government has continued to get away with disrespecting our nation’s sacred land and our people. 

While still in office, The Obama administration—including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior—temporarily blocked construction on the project in September in hopes of conducting a review, but a federal court intervened to allow the project to proceed (Worland). The federal government has power and is in charge of the project’s permits, which meant that the next administration in office, which now we know is the Trump Administration, has power to cancel the whole project itself and save the land of Standing Rock. As mentioned early, Donald Trump passed a bill allowing the construction to presume regardless of protestors and the damage that the pipeline could do. To my surprise, Donald Trump own stock in Energy Transfer Partners, the company that is in charge of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Once again, the federal government does what is best for them and not what is best for the company. Trump saw this as a business opportunity, not the well-being of American citizen or historical land.  They focus on how the unearthing and sale of oil will generate revenue along with increasing American energy independence. Money appears to be the only concern from our federal government and it will continue to be that way. 

The Dakota Access Pipeline would be a key conduit connecting oil wells in the state's Bakken Shale, where the development of fracking has opened billions of gallons of new oil to recovery, to other valuable consumer markets, including the Gulf Coast, Midwest and East Coast. The nearly $4 billion project was first proposed in 2014 with an anticipated completion of this year (Worland). While the pipeline would be an economic boost for our country, it is not worth the cost of some beloved sacred ground where loved ones and ancestors are buried in the land, destroying the only water supply the Native Americans have, or polluting our environment and energy. The federal government are not concerned about any of the problems mentioned. They are only concerned about how they are going to be effected and how their money is going to be effected. Donald Trump is allowing the pipeline to continue because he currently owns a huge stock in the Texas company Energy Transfer Partners and this would be a good investment for him. As stated before, what about the well-being of others? The minor spill in a local creek in North Dakota was a warning sign of what could happen with a pipeline. The Dakota Access Pipeline will be transporting 570,000 gallons of crude oil daily. If it were to spill, it would spill almost three times as much than what spilled in a local creek in North Dakota. This pipeline is a disgrace to American culture and it will only be hurting everyone in the end. 
