Bluestem Prairie's editor and publisher recently moved to Summit, South Dakota, a small town located in Roberts County on the large Lake Traverse Indian Reservation.
Part of the reservation is located in neighboring Marshall County, where TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline leaked 210,000 gallons of oil just west of the indigenous nation's border.
CBC Radio Canada Indigenous Jorge Barrera reports in Native American tribe bracing for Keystone pipeline leak impact:
A Native American tribe in South Dakota is on edge following a large oil leak from TransCanada's Keystone pipeline.
TransCanada said in a statement Thursday 795,000 litres of oil leaked from an underground section of its Keystone pipeline near Amherst, S.D., about 64 kilometres west from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation.
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal chairman David Flute said his community is concerned the leak, the largest by the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota to date, could pollute the area's aquifer and waterways.
"We are keeping a watchful eye and an open ear," said Flute.
"The concern is at a high level, but there is really nothing we can do." . . .
CNN reported a slightly differently take by the tribal chairman in Keystone Pipeline leaks 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota:
The spill occurred in the same county as part of the Lake Traverse Reservation.
"We are concerned that the oil spill is close to our treaty land, but we are trying to stay positive that they are getting the spill contained and that they will share any environmental assessments with the tribal agency," said Dave Flute, tribal chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.. . .
We'll be keeping an eye out for news about the spill.
Images: Top: The oil "release" area. Aerial view tweeted by TransCanada. Lovely. Bottom: Where the spill is on the map. Via TransCanada.
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