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| Ritual fire set by protesters burns in background as militant proponents of Dakota Access pipeline shut down main protest camp near Cannon Ball, N.D. Federal judge will hear arguments Feb. 28th on whether to stop the final bit of construction on the disputed line, perhaps just days before it could start moving oil (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune/AP). |
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| "We stand with Standing Rock"; ergo, we stand against Wells Fargo Bank (AP). |
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No immediate ruling made on Dakota Access pipeline work
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| "We stand with Standing Rock" (AP) |
WASHINGTON, DC - A federal
judge said today (Feb. 28, 2017) that he'll decide within a week whether to
temporarily halt construction of the final section of the Dakota Access
pipeline over claims that it violates the religious rights of two Indian
tribes.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg told lawyers at a
hearing that he wants to issue a ruling before oil begins flowing in
the pipeline, which could be weeks away.
Judge Boasberg is considering a
request by the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to order
the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw permission to lay pipe under
Lake Oahe in North Dakota.
The pipeline has prompted months of protests [from peacefully demonstrating Water Protectors engaged in legal civil disobedience while bankers break the law]
and [led lawbreaking bankers to push violent police to make] hundreds of arrests.
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| Oceti Sakowin Camp, resisting North Dakota Access pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners |
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The stretch under the Missouri River reservoir is
the last piece of construction for the $3.8 billion pipeline, which
would move oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in
Illinois.
Tribal attorney Nicole Ducheneaux argued during the 1½ hour
hearing that the mere existence of an oil pipeline under the reservoir
that provides water to neighboring reservations violates their right to
practice their religion, which relies on clean water.
Boasberg asked Ducheneaux how there could be a
contamination issue if "the pipeline itself doesn't even touch the
water." "Can you claim a property interest in the land as well as the
water?" he asked. More
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