The US Army Corps of Engineers has decided to delay an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline project to cross Lake Oahe, south of Mandan.
In a statement, the Corps said additional discussion and analysis are necessary “in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation’s dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property.”
The Corps has invited the Standing Rock Tribe to discuss conditions to potentially allow the pipeline to be built under the lake bed.
Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said while the decision was not – as he put it – “100 percent of what the tribe had hoped for” – he’s encouraged that the “prayers and demonstrations” have brought this issue to light.
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), meanwhile, has urged the Corps to grant the easement and allow the pipeline to be built. Hoeven said a federal judge has already ruled the Corps did its due diligence in siting the pipeline, and further said this will just prolong the disruption in the region.
A group of around 500 people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline project brought that protest to the state Capitol in Bismarck Monday.
The protestors arrived shortly before noon. It prompted a “soft lockdown” of the Capitol. Some of the protestors tried unsuccessfully to get into the building.
Later, protestors marched to the Federal Building in downtown Bismarck. They blocked streets for almost two hours, before heading back to the Capitol grounds.
The Highway Patrol says while it was an unlawful protest, no one was arrested.
Earlier, about 50 protestors stopped at the pipeline construction site four miles south of St. Anthony. They were confronted by security personnel, who ordered them off private property. There were no arrests at that site.