Drone Footage Shows Dakota Access Pipeline Company Ignored Request to Halt Construction on Disputed Land
By Steve Horn
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has confirmed to DeSmog that Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline, has ignored the Obama administration's Sept. 9 request to voluntarily halt construction in a disputed area, 20 miles east and west of Lake Oahe and the Missouri River.
The confirmation came in the aftermath of a video published by drone pilot Shiyé Bidziil on the news website Indian Country Today. The video was featured on Nov. 2 and offers an airborne view of pipeline construction—coupled with heavily guarded concrete fortresses around key construction locales—in close proximity to the Missouri River.
"The Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other federal laws," reads the initial Sept. 9 statement disseminated by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Interior and Army Corps.
"Therefore, construction of the pipeline on Army Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe will not go forward at this time. In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe."
After showing the video to Curry Graham, director of public affairs for the Army Corps, Graham confirmed to DeSmog that Energy Transfer Partners has proceeded with construction inside of the administration's requested zone. Graham also said construction has halted just short of the federal property bordering Lake Oahe.
"After the DC courts ruled in favor of the federal government, federal agencies asked the Dakota Access pipeline company to voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe," Graham told DeSmog. "The key word is 'voluntary,' and the company chose to proceed with construction. As to why they did this, you will have to contact Energy Transfer Partners to ask that question."
Which DeSmog did. Energy Transfer Partners spokesperson Vicki Granado responded, "We are constructing along the four-state route in accordance with applicable laws, and in areas where we have the necessary local, state, and federal permits and approvals," Granado told DeSmog.
The Department of Justice and Department of Interior did not respond to a request for comment.
On Oct. 31, President Obama said the Army Corps is considering a reroute of the Dakota Access pipeline in this area and will let federal agency regulatory processes "play out" in the next several weeks. It remains unclear how the pipeline could be rerouted if construction is already occurring up to the Missouri River and Lake Oahe.
No-Fly Zone
Drone videographer Bidziil secured the footage after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR), which was supposed to be in place from Oct. 26 through Nov. 5, but ended after coming under public criticism.*
The no-fly zone was initially put in place because protestors at the Standing Rock encampment in North Dakota had allegedly fired arrows at a law enforcement helicopter and used their own drone to scan the area which was shot down by law enforcement. Donnell Hushka, the Public Information Officer for Morton County, North Dakota, did not respond to a request for comment about whether the Morton County Sheriff's Department or another law enforcement agency had issued an incident report pertaining to the alleged incident involving arrows.
In 2014, another restricted flight zone was also put in place in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of protests erupting after the shooting of Michael Brown by law enforcement. The Associated Press obtained audio documentation demonstrating that the FAA had issued the restriction, in that case, in the attempt to shoe away airborne media.
Lee Rowland, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, pointed to the Ferguson example as a reason to be wary of initial explanations for the necessity of such temporary no-fly zones.
"Because the FAA now has a history of being caught on tape implementing a no-fly zone for the specific purpose of censoring media flights, I'm not sure they're entitled to an assumption of good faith that this no-fly zone had been put in place for valid reasons," Rowland told DeSmog.
"Everyone Feels Broken"
Explaining how he felt about the footage his drone captured, Bidziil expressed a sense of consternation.
"Everybody's mad. Everyone feels hurt. Everyone feels broken, but we can't let them break us," he told Indian Country Today. "We just have to stand here and do what we can."
Greenpeace USA spokesperson Lilian Molina also responded to the news, pointing to Energy Transfer Partner's recent sordid history of environmental regulatory violations.
"To think Energy Transfer Partners would respect a voluntary request to be decent, even one by the President of the United States, was wishful thinking. If the Obama administration really wants to pause construction, as the President suggested he does, it needs to continue to suspend ETP's permits to build under the Missouri River," said Molina.
"This debacle also shows the need to make the Army Corps of Engineers' permitting process much more transparent, with a full environmental review and thorough, participatory tribal consultation."
The Obama administration currently is conducting formal, government-to-government consultations with Native American tribes across the U.S. in order to obtain tribal input on how federal decisions are made about major infrastructure projects. The final consultation is set for November 21 via teleconference, with four more sessions slated between now and then, including the November 17 consultation in Rapid City, a few hours drive from Standing Rock.
*FAA's website now shows the TFR back in place, starting back on the day we began working on this story on Nov. 4 and running through Nov. 15.
Humans Have Created 9 Billion Tons of Plastic in the last 67 Years
By Tim Radford
Scientists have calculated yet another item on the human shopping list that makes up the modern world: plastics. They have estimated the mass of all the plastic bottles, bags, cups, toys, instruments and fabrics ever produced and tracked its whereabouts, as yet another index of the phenomenal change to the face of the planet made by recent human advance.
Altogether, since about 1950, with the birth of a new industry, more than 8.3 billion tonnes (or 9.1 tons) of synthetic organic polymers have been generated, distributed and discarded. Of that total, 6.3 billion tonnes are classified as waste.
Senators Urged to Join Bernie Sanders in Opposing Dirty Energy Bill
By Jessica Corbett
As Senate Democrats stay silent on an energy bill that environmental groups call "a pro-fracking giveaway to oil and gas interests that would commit America to decades more of dangerous fossil fuel dependence," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is receiving applause for speaking out against it.
"As a nation, our job is to move away from fossil fuels toward sustainable energy and energy efficiency. This bill does the opposite," Sanders said in a statement.
Exxon Sues Feds Over $2 Million Fine
ExxonMobil filed suit against the federal government last week, claiming that a $2 million fine levied against the company by the Treasury Department is "unlawful" and "capricious."
The Treasury Department fined Exxon Thursday morning, alleging that the oil giant displayed "reckless disregard" of U.S.-Russian sanctions in its dealings with Russian company Rosneft in 2014 under CEO Rex Tillerson.
Big Oil Forecast: Entering the Age of Stranded Assets
By Andy Rowell
For years, environmentalists have warned that due to climate change, there will be billions of barrels of oil that we will never be able to burn. These reserves will become what has increasingly been called "stranded assets."
To give you one example: In a new report, Friends of the Earth argued that "The coal, oil and gas in reserves already in production and development globally is more than we can afford to burn. There is no room for any new coal, oil or gas exploration and production.
Is America Ready for a Nation of Tiny Houses?
Late last year, the tiny house community celebrated a watershed moment—an official appendix in the 2018 version of the International Residential Code, the model building code used by most jurisdictions in the U.S.
"There are many things that are monumental in the adoption of tiny house construction codes by the IRC," cheered Thom Stanton, the CEO of small space developer, Timber Trails. "Among them, that architects, designers, builders, community developers and (maybe most importantly) zoning officials have a means of recognizing tiny houses as an official form of permissible dwelling."
Wow! Shocking Video Shows Astonishing Amount of Plastic Polluting Our Planet
The colossal mass of throwaway plastic—from straws to bags to bottles—has grown much faster than recycling and disposal efforts can contain it. You might even say this is obvious, no matter where you look.
As a result, places that were once considered pristine—such as Antarctica and the ocean floors of Australia—have become inundated with plastic waste.
Check out this video from National Geographic to watch underwater photographer Huai Su film a diver collecting an endless amount of plastic bottles that litter the seafloor off Xiaoliuqiu Island, Taiwan.
Coral Reef in Cancún Becomes World's First to Have Its Own Insurance Policy
A reef off the coast of Cancún will become the first in the world with its own insurance policy, testing a new strategy meant to encourage local investment in the wellbeing of the reef.
Under the policy, created by insurance company Swiss Re and the Nature Conservancy, local hotels and other organizations dependent on tourism will pay into the policy, receiving reimbursements to repair the reef and local beaches after natural disasters.
Organic Farmers Fight Release of GMO Moths
The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) denounced the USDA's permit for the world's first open-air trials of the Genetically Engineered (GE) Diamondback moth to be released in Geneva, New York.
This announcement came concurrently with the availability of a final environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for the field release of the GE Diamondback moths. NOFA-NY considers the Environmental Assessment lacking comprehensive health and environmental details.
