Attorneys for the Trump administration want a U.S. judge to throw out a lawsuit from Native American tribes trying to block the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Nebraska.
Tribes in Montana and South Dakota say President Donald Trump approved the pipeline without considering the potential damage to cultural sites from spills and construction.
The administration counters that Trump’s approval applies only to a one-mile (1.6-kilometer) section of pipeline along the U.S.-Canada border and not the rest of the line.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris will preside over a Sept. 12 hearing on the government’s attempt to dismiss the case. The judge blocked the line in November 2018, saying more environmental studies were needed.
But Trump circumvented that ruling in March by issuing a new permit for the $8 billion, 1,184-mile (1,900-kilometer) project.
The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana and South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux tribe say Trump’s action violated their rights under treaties from the mid-1800s.
“They’re saying we can’t sue the president, and the tribes’ treaties essentially mean nothing. We completely disagree,” said Matthew Campbell, a Native American Rights Fund attorney representing the tribes. “The treaties were agreed to by the president of the United States and ratified by the Senate, so the treaties clearly apply.”
Morris is overseeing a separate lawsuit against Keystone XL from several environmental groups. He has signaled he may consolidate the two cases.
Pipeline sponsor TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, is also seeking dismissal of the tribes’ lawsuit.
The company backed the administration’s contention that Trump’s March permit applies only to the border crossing—”far from any land where Rosebud or its members are alleged to hold any interest.”
Other federal agencies will review the rest of the pipeline before the project can proceed, according to court filings from the company and government.
The tribes argue that Trump’s permit applies to the entire pipeline. They say a spill could damage a South Dakota water supply system that serves more than 51,000 people, including residents of the Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Lower Brule Indian reservations.
An existing TC Energy pipeline, also called Keystone, had a 2017 spill that released almost 10,000 barrels (407,000 gallons) of oil near Amherst, South Dakota.
Keystone XL was first proposed in 2008 and rejected under former President Barack Obama. It was revived by Trump as part of the Republican’s efforts to boost fossil fuel industries.
Read more at Epoch Times
As has become customary, a pipeline permit that is subject to NEPA environmental review and full public scoping is once again, turned into a transgression against indigenous peoples. Bravo! What drama & theater as the U.S government follows it’s historic path of ignoring tribal interests in the pursuit of pure corporate GREED!
EXCEPT…Basic facts about Keystone XL proposal are completely left out of the equation. Like 1.) Most of the XL line as I appreciate it parallels the existing Keystone pipeline route, so minimal (new) disturbance. 2.) This same federal judge (Morris) is the same one who sent back the original permit for supposed deficiencies in the EA, so I’d assume the Tribes will get more than favorable treatment. 3.) Like several other projects, the opponents are concentrating on water quality certifications as the means to stop the pipeline approval. 4.) LITTLE (if any) of the acreage (actually) along the route falls within tribal lands. 5.) The lawsuit in Nebraska has been dismissed over issues raised in the Sand Hills.
This idea that the tribal interests are not being consulted is a complete MIRAGE and an outright falsehood. I highly doubt that if you go out on the DOI ePlanning website and examine the permit details that you can find any REAL deficiencies on the archeological or cultural analysis that would be required in the Environmental Assessment (EA). The media (in general) and most activists (really) have little understanding of the public process and the level of detailed analysis that goes into one of these projects. In reality, I see it as little more than a SHAMELESS publicity “stunt” with little substance..
Right on…. Randy