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 will lie under Lake Oahe, a source of water, food, land, and other resources to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline was temporarily stopped by the Obama administration due to protests. 

         Another smaller pipeline holding crude oil spilled over 176,000 gallons of oil into a creek in North Dakota.  Like the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, many people who lived around the area used the creek for their water and as a food source. The devastating effects on this community brought the issue to the forefront for me. This event should have served as a warning to government officials about the dangers of pipelines carrying oil.  If a small pipeline could ravage a community, imagine the amount of damage an oil spill from a major pipeline could cause to Lake Oahe and the land around it, not to mention the animals and ecosystem. 

      Although President Trump was aware of this potential danger, he signed the bill to continue the construction of the pipeline. After this incident, construction of the Dakota Pipeline should have been rerouted, stopped altogether and other options considered. Instead, a bill was signed to resume the construction without regard for the nation’s historical land, its people, or the environment. 

What is the motivation behind the bill and construction of the pipeline? It all centers around money and power. Our government’s desire to make money and gain power supersedes that of the well-being of Native Americans and our country’s historic land as well as our environment. The Trump Administration has allowed the progression of the Dakota Access Pipeline to promote their own agenda rather than protect the Native Americans’ sacred land, the resources that sustain them, and the 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. These incidents were the basis for the multiple protests that led to the Obama Administration halting construction to protect the Sioux Standing Rocks Tribe’s land and the water supply of the tribe. Protests started small, but then they grew as the issue became more public. The supporters of this project, which are primarily federal and state government officials, have shown little interest in the concerns of the protestors and the tribe.  Their main concern has been for their own personal gain and for their wealthy supporters who stand to benefit from the construction of the pipeline. Whatever potential benefits the pipeline may bring, the risks outweigh them.  Even the smallest spill could damage the tribe's water supply and way of life (Worland). Ultimately, the Dakota Access Pipeline is a risk to the water supply and lifeline of the Native Americans of the Standing Rock Tribe, disrespects sacred grounds, and could lead to increased pollution. 

The first major concern with this pipeline is the amount of damage it could cause to the Native American’s 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.  The route, however, was changed in part 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 nearly half of a mile under Lake Oahe, the main water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Interestingly, the route was changed because of the potential impact to a large metropolitan area, but the same consideration was not shown to a Native American tribe such as the Standing Rock Tribe. The United States Army Corps of Engineers evaluated the Bismarck route and concluded it was not a viable option for a significant number of reasons. One of the most prominent reasons discussed in the agency’s environmental assessment is the proximity to wellhead source water protection areas that should be avoided to protect municipal water supply wells. The health and well-being of one group of Americans appears to be more important than other Americans to our government.  Yet another influence on the government’s decision is the cost they would have to incur to quickly fix the water supply of a larger city as opposed to a primarily rural area.  If a small lake that a small group of people uses for water became contaminated, it will not be a major concern across the country and would not likely become a news story.  The government is willing to sacrifice the future of a small group of people for their own gain. 

In addition to risking the water supply, the government has shown no regard for the fact the tribe considers the land to be sacred. If the pipeline were to burst or leak, burial grounds and other sites the tribe reveres would be disrupted. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has even brought this to the United States Federal Court in an attempt to gain protection for the land. In their official complaint filed with the Washington, D.C. District Court, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe argued the Army Corps of Engineers violated 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, the United States was expanding rapidly and destroying ancient sites and historical landmarks. As a result, the NPHA was put into place to preserve America’s shared heritage (Colwell). 

In reality, however, the construction itself has already destroyed some of the Standing Rock Tribe’s sacred ground. Tim Mentz, Sr., a former tribal historic prevention officer of the Standing Rock Sioux, testified to the Washington, D.C. District Court to report the area that lay in the path of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline corridor holds eighty-two cultural features and twenty-seven graves (Colwell). Members of the Sioux tribe feel as if their worries and concerns are not being taken seriously. Unfortunately, they are far too familiar with these types of situations. “It's like a perpetrator committing a crime on an innocent individual,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribe chairman Dave Arcahmbault 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). 

In addition to showing no regard for formal requests, 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). 

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. 

Not only are the Native Americans being treated unfairly, their land is being taken without consent at a price well below its value. 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 affected 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, the government has continued to disrespect our nation’s sacred land and its native 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 over the project’s permits, which has resulted in the current administration in office, the Trump Administration, having the ability to cancel the whole project itself and save the land of Standing Rock Tribe. As mentioned early, President Trump passed a bill allowing the construction to resume regardless of protestors and the damage that the pipeline could do. To my surprise, Mr. Trump owns stock in Energy Transfer Partners, the company in charge of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Once again, personal interests have become more important than what is best for the country. Mr. Trump saw this as a business opportunity that was worth more than the lives of Native Americans or our environment.  They have deceived the American public by telling them that the unearthing and sale of oil will generate revenue along with increasing American energy independence. They have conveniently left out many facts that Americans may find go against our values as a country.

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 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 current officials in the federal government have shown a blatant disregard for this group of people and their land. They are only concerned about how they are going to be affected and how their money is going to be affected. President Donald Trump is allowing the pipeline to continue because he currently owns a huge stock in the Texas company Energy Transfer Partners, and he stands to gain financially. The well-being of others must take precedence. Despite the warning the minor spill in a local creek in North Dakota provided, our government is moving forward. The Dakota Access Pipeline will be transporting 570,000 gallons of crude oil daily. If it were to spill, almost three times as much than what spilled in a local creek in North Dakota. This Dakota Access Pipeline is a disgrace to America and demonstrates clearly that the current Trump administration values money and power more than protecting minorities, their land, or the environment of our country. 
