{"id":33744,"date":"2022-02-03T01:40:46","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T06:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/standing-rock-withdraws-as-a-dakota-access-pipeline-cooperating-agency-amid-serious-safety-concerns\/"},"modified":"2022-02-03T01:40:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T06:40:46","slug":"standing-rock-withdraws-as-a-dakota-access-pipeline-cooperating-agency-amid-serious-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/standing-rock-withdraws-as-a-dakota-access-pipeline-cooperating-agency-amid-serious-safety-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Standing Rock withdraws as a Dakota Access Pipeline Cooperating Agency amid serious safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Standing Rock withdraws as a Dakota Access Pipeline Cooperating Agency amid serious safety concerns<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Water released into the Missouri River compromises emergency plans for Dakota Access Pipeline and puts Reservation at risk<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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FORT YATES, N. D. \u2013 Newly elected Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairperson Janet Alkire is calling upon the Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate measures to prevent disaster, should the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) leak under Lake Oahe, the Tribe\u2019s sole source of fresh drinking water.<\/p>\n

Low water levels at the lake, caused by what Alkire calls \u201cmisplaced priorities in the operation of Oahe and the other dams on the Missouri River\u201d could render DAPL\u2019s emergency plans for spill cleanup infeasible. \u201cIf an oil spill were to occur today, the plans submitted for remediation at Lake Oahe probably couldn\u2019t be implemented,\u201d she says. \u201cEquipment required for the containment of a spill, even if deployed in a timely manner, could not reach the response zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doug Crow Ghost, Administrator of the Tribe\u2019s Water Resources Department, says that emergency plans he\u2019s seen to address a potential spill by Dakota access fail to take into account the lake\u2019s significantly fluctuating water levels. \u201cLake Oahe\u2019s elevation is 12 feet below what it was two years ago today, but the Corps continues to release water at Oahe as if it is business as usual,\u201d Crow Ghost says.<\/p>\n

The response zone for an oil spill is almost entirely within the Standing Rock Reservation.\u00a0 Tribal leaders expressed concern that DAPL\u2019s operator, Energy Transfer, would not be able to get the equipment needed to contain such a spill onto the ice and into the water at Lake Oahe at the designated location. \u201cRoads leading to the river and most access points on the reservation in the vicinity of the pipeline are not usable at the present time,\u201d says Crow Ghost.<\/p>\n

Don Holmstrom is a retired Director of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board\u2019s Denver office, now serving as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe\u2019s emergency planning consultant. According to Holmstrom, Energy Transfer\u2019s existing oil spill response plans are woefully inadequate. \u201cAs the Tribe\u2019s technical reports have detailed, existing plans are inconsistent with Energy Transfer\u2019s own spill model, which seriously impairs effective oil spill mitigation,\u201d Holmstrom says. \u201cSpill response under adverse conditions such as a low Lake Oahe water level or the harsh winter environment of North Dakota, including an oil spill under ice, are seriously lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing Rock leaders say that a failure to cooperate with the Tribe by Energy Transfer has only exacerbated the danger. According to Holmstrom, Standing Rock\u2019s Tribal Emergency Response Commission (TERC) has never seen a full copy of the pipeline\u2019s current emergency plan. \u201cThe Corps has failed to provide the Standing Rock TERC the most recent, unredacted response plans. Coordination and transparency with the TERC have been non-existent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

That lack of transparency prompted the Tribe to recently withdraw as a cooperating agency in the process to produce DAPL\u2019s new court-ordered Environmental Impact Study (EIS). \u201cAll these flaws weaken an effective oil spill response and place emergency responders and tribal members in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Holmstrom says.<\/p>\n

According to Tribal leadership, with water levels this low, a leak from DAPL could also threaten tribal cultural sites along the Missouri River \u2014 a concern that Standing Rock raised early on in its legal filings against DAPL.<\/p>\n

But it is the low water level at Lake Oahe, and the inability to clean up an oil spill if it occurs, that most concerns Tribal leaders. \u201cThe prospect of an oil spill during such low water is truly scary,\u201d Crow Ghost says.<\/p>\n

Holmstrom emphasized the need for an accurate estimate of the amount of oil that could spill into the Missouri River. \u201cEnergy Transfer\u2019s worst case discharge calculations are grossly understated,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The consideration of the worst case scenario for pipeline discharge into Lake Oahe and the Missouri River has been a point of major contention throughout Standing Rock\u2019s legal battle to shut DAPL down. In April 2020, Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg cited the dispute over DAPL\u2019s worst case discharge as part of his decision to require the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a new EIS for the pipeline.<\/p>\n

The EIS, currently underway, also takes into account a significant increase in DAPL\u2019s capacity, approved by the North Dakota Public Service Commission in February of 2020. That decision, however, has recently been the subject of other legal challenges. A ruling two weeks ago by the Illinois Court of Appeals reversed that state\u2019s approval<\/a> of the increased capacity expansion.<\/p>\n

Holmstrom also cites the Corps\u2019 failure to address the elevated hazards of the Bakken crude DAPL carries, as described by the U.S. National Response Team from recent spill incidents. \u201cThere are many unresolved issues, but the oil continues to flow,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Alkire contends that it\u2019s down to two options to ensure the safety of Standing Rock\u2019s Tribal members. \u201cThe Army Corps must raise Lake Oahe to safe levels or shut down the Dakota Access pipeline immediately\u201d she says. \u201cOur way of life at Standing Rock relies on our water, and we have to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Standing Rock withdraws as a Dakota Access Pipeline Cooperating Agency amid serious safety concerns<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Standing Rock withdraws as a Dakota Access Pipeline Cooperating Agency amid serious safety concerns Water released into the Missouri River compromises emergency plans for Dakota Access Pipeline and puts Reservation at risk \u00a0 \u00a0 FORT YATES, N. D. \u2013 Newly elected Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairperson Janet Alkire is calling <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> February 3, 2022<\/p>\n

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