Last month, in a move applauded by consumers like myself who like their fuel to be affordable, President Trump signed executive actions to advance construction on both Keystone XL and the Dakota Access oil pipelines ~
The order directed “the acting secretary of the Army to expeditiously review requests for approvals to construct and operate the Dakota Access Pipeline in compliance with the law.”
Soon after, the US Army Corps granted a final easement. The move was enthusiastically greeted two weeks ago by Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s developer. The company has said it’s ready to proceed.
Government officials then notified the anti-DAPL activists who have been protesting at the Standing Rock site since late summer of last year that it was time to move on. Unfortunately for the protestors, Mr. Obama is no longer around to ignore the fact that they’ve been trespassing on federal land all this time.
The encampment, once occupied by hundreds of protestors was finally emptied today ~
CANNON BALL, North Dakota (CNN) – The main Standing Rock protest camp near the Dakota Access Pipeline was cleared Thursday, a day after a deadline to leave the area expired, authorities said.
Early Thursday, officials entered the closed Oceti Sakowin camp after the arrest of 10 people following Wednesday’s deadline. At least 23 people holding out in the camp were arrested Thursday morning after they refused to leave, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.
At one point on Wednesday, a handful of tents were set ablaze by the activists.
Tribe member Kaooplus Enimkla Thunder and Lightning said some of the tents were frozen into the ground and had to be burned to be removed. Other tribe members said the fires are part of a tribal tradition.
Hmmm… From a bunch of folks who call themselves “water protectors,” one might expect a bit more respect for the environment ~
Last week, (North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum) signed the emergency evacuation order of the property to allow private contractors to remove waste from the Oceti Sakowin camp area, which officials say is in a flood plain […]
More than 230 truckloads of debris have been hauled out as of Monday, according to the governor’s office.
As my December post explained, this DAPL issue has been politicized all out of proportion, Energy Transfer and U.S. Corps of Engineers went out of their way to get input from the Standing Rock Sioux ahead of time and oil and gas pipelines are actually safer than ‘safe sex’ ~
Whether transported by pipeline or by rail, a barrel of crude oil or petroleum products reaches its destination safely over 99.999 percent of the time. By contrast, the effectiveness of condoms is 98 percent, meaning transporting oil through pipelines is safer than having safe sex.
Let’s hope this is the final chapter in the DAPL protest drama, and the pipeline can finally be completed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Progressives impede progress; DAPL blocked again
Deadline Looms for Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Camp
The Daily Caller is reporting ~ North Dakota Taxpayers Footing The Bill For DAPL Protesters’ Bus Tickets, Hotel Rooms ~
North Dakota officials plan on using taxpayer dollars to house and feed Dakota Access Pipeline opponents while their makeshift campsites are cleaned to avoid an ecological disaster.
State agencies in charge of cleaning up anti-DAPL campsites are offering transportation services, food vouchers, and paid hotel stays to the pipeline’s opponents while officials clean up the makeshift sites.
[As usual, the law-abiding have to clean-up and pay for the scofflaws.]
A Lesson in Self-Deceit from a DAPL Protester ~ Exposing the clueless naiveté of most water protectors.
Pipeline 101 ~ I suppose you can write this site off as industry propaganda but it’s worth a visit just to see the maps of the millions of miles of pipelines that are already in place. You’ll realize that comparatively speaking, given the low incidence of spills, this method of transportation is actually pretty darn safe. And it’s obviously in the oil and gas industries best interest to keep them that way.
