Indian Country Today's headline on an Associated Press story doesn't mince words: 'Of course' the treaties apply in Keystone XL pipeline dispute. The AP reports:
Environmentalists and Native Americans can proceed with lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump's approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, a federal judge in Montana ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris expressed skepticism over government arguments that Trump has unilateral authority to approve the $8 billion pipeline. In a separate ruling, the judge said the Rosebud Sioux and Fort Belknap Indian tribes had valid claims that approval of the line violated their treaty rights.
But Morris denied a request from environmentalists to impose a court injunction blocking preliminary work on the pipeline, since no such work is planned until spring 2020.
Morris had blocked work on the line in 2018, prompting Trump to issue a new permit in March in an attempt to circumvent the courts.
“Of course, the treaties were agreed to by the president of the United States and ratified by the Senate, so the treaties clearly apply. The court rightly found that today," said Matthew Campbell, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund.
The 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude daily from western Canada to terminals on the Gulf Coast.
Opponents worry burning the tar sands oil that will be carried by the line will make climate change worse, and that it could break and spill into water bodies such as Montana's Missouri River.
TC Energy of Canada first proposed the project more than a decade ago but has been unable to get past the numerous lawsuits against it. Trump has been a strong supporter and revived Keystone XL after it was rejected under President Barack Obama.
Natalie Landreth, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, praised the decision, “The court’s decision means that ALL of the tribes’ claims on the current permits will proceed. The only claims dismissed are the ones that the Tribes conceded should be dismissed because they were based on an old permit. So this is a complete win for the tribes on the motions to dismiss. We look forward to holding the Trump Administration and TransCanada accountable to the Tribes and the applicable laws that must be followed.”
Meanwhile, in sunny South Dakota, the Rapid City Journal and other venues carried the AP article,Tribes: Oil companies should pay for pipeline spills:
South Dakota lawmakers are proposing legislation that would require oil companies to pay for cleaning up any pipeline spills or leaks as plans are being made to construct the Keystone XL pipeline in the state.
The State-Tribal Relations Committee on Wednesday agreed to sponsor the bill in the 2020 legislative session at the request of South Dakota Native American tribes.
Crow Creek Tribal Chairman Lester Thompson Jr. said the bill would hold pipeline companies accountable.
"As a citizen of South Dakota, I really hate to see our local farmers, ranchers, tribal members, just the common citizen who doesn't make that big dollar like that company does, be hung with a bill for clean up that isn't their fault," Thompson said.
The bill would require companies to contribute to a state fund based on the pipeline's length with a cap of $100 million, the Argus Leader reported.
Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline point to a recent spill in northeastern North Dakota in raising concerns about management of the pipeline.
Readers may recall that not only did that earlier TransCanada/TC Energy pipeline spill in North Dakota this fall, but near the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in 2017, as we reported in Keystone pipeline leaks again--this time in ND:
Within a week of South Dakota, ACLU settling a lawsuit over ‘riot-boosting’ laws (the ACLU and plaintiffs got much of what they wanted), TC Energy's existing Keystone pipeline sprang a leak in northeast North Dakota.
James McPherson of the Assoociated Press reports in Keystone oil pipeline leaks 383,000 gallons in North Dakota:
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil in northeastern North Dakota, state regulators said Thursday.
Crews on Tuesday shut down the pipeline that carries tar sands oil from Canada through seven states after the leak was discovered said Karl Rockeman, North Dakota’s water quality division director. It remained closed Thursday.
The Calgary, Alberta-based company formerly known as TransCanada said in a statement the leak affected about 22,500 square feet (2090.3 sq. meters) of land near Edinburg, in Walsh County.
The company and regulators said the cause was being investigated.
“Our emergency response team contained the impacted area and oil has not migrated beyond the immediately affected area,” the company said in a statement.
North Dakota regulators were notified late Tuesday night of the leak. Rockeman said some wetlands were affected, but not any sources of drinking water.
Regulators have been at the site since Wednesday afternoon monitoring the spill and cleanup, he said.
Crude began flowing through the [existing] $5.2 billion pipeline in 2011. It’s designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois and Cushing, Oklahoma.
It can handle about 23 million gallons daily.
The pipeline spill and shutdown comes as the company seeks to build the $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has drawn opposition from people who fear it will harm the environment.
Since TC Energy's first pipeline has leaked multiple times, it's reasonable to be concerned about the shiny new thing, Keystone XL. As we noted in 2017, TransCanada's risk assessment estimated tiny spills "no more than once every 41 years” in SD. Oops.
Also in South Dakota? The governor is planning to revive the riot-boosting laws smacked down by a federal judge. In New York Magazine, Zak Cheney-Rice reported on Thursday, South Dakota Gears Up to Crack Down on Keystone XL Protesters in 2020.
There's another wrinkle in Rapid City Journal's Arielle Zionts' State-Tribal Relations group scolds Noem administration for not attending meeting.
Photo: An anti-Keystone XL protest, via Indian Country Today.
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