THE SWASH ZONE

STANDING TALL AT CANNON BALL

Right now there is an organized protest happening in Cannon Ball, ND. The indigenous people of Standing Rock Reservation

began a small protest against the installation of a part of the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River upstream of the reservation.

This is one of the poorest communities in the US and they depend heavily on the water from the Missouri for drinking, fishing and irrigation.

They have since been joined by other tribes wishing to show solidarity and their ranks have swelled to 1200 or more protesters. They have established a second camp, Sacred Stone Camp about 1 1/2 miles from the construction site. 

Despite claims by law enforcement that they have been shooting guns and that the protesters have pipe bombs, no evidence has been produced to back these claims and organizers insist that they are staging a peaceful protest and that their security team is doing everything possible to ensure that.

The Standing Rock community delivered a petition with 150,000 signatures to the Army Corp of Engineers in July which, in typical Washington tradition was completely ignored and the Corps signed the pipeline permits on July 25th. The permits were obtained by Dakota Access LLC, a subsidiary of the industry giant, Energy Transfer Partners who have their fingers in many pipeline projects and are also in partnership with Sunoco Logistics. All told, there are over a dozen pipelines and projects currently in their possession.

The Sioux tribe of Standing Rock have sued the pipeline company and are scheduled to be heard in federal court on Aug 24th. So, for now, construction on the pipeline has halted. There is also separate lawsuits being filed by ranchers along the pipeline route questioning the legality of taking their property by eminent domain by ETP. And, as it turns out there is a long history of ETP strong-arming reluctant landowners into either accepting any "fair" offer they deem to make or facing seizure of their lands by eminent domain once FERC permits are obtained.  Which is how they treated landowners along the Commanche Trail Pipeline, Rover Pipeline and Trans-Pecos Pipeline as well as along others 

they operate.

And what of the threat to the lives and natural resources along the pipeline? There is a list HERE of pipeline spills, leaks and explosions and associated incidents. Already in 2016 there have been 15 incidents across the country, including the creek spill at Rozet, Wyoming. And THIS incident along the Eastern Panhandle Pipeline, another ETP owned pipeline.

In 2015, there were 41 incidents. The most frequent cause is decaying pipes and joints and deficient maintenance. Not too surprisingly, Koch Industries which has a pipeline division, settled a huge lawsuit in 2000 where it was determined that there were multiple leaks and that there was thousands of miles of pipe in disrepair from lack of maintenance.

For the folks at Standing Rock, an incident like any of these would be catastrophic. And how much more damage can these folks along the Dakota Access pipeline expect when the company that ultimately owns the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, owned and operated by GOP megadonor, Kelcy Warren (who also has strong ties to former TX Gov Rick Perry), is in financial trouble and being touted as NOT a good investment risk (HERE). If they fold, who will maintain the pipeline and equally conversely, if they don't fold, how capable will they be to ensure safety along the pipeline? Shouldn't these questions been asked and answered BEFORE Dakota Access LLC received federal permits?

These issues are designed to be localized just the way the big oil companies want it. If it is not happening in our own backyard,

we tend to be removed from the events which only encourages these companies to take even greater liberties in destroying the democratic fabric of our country. Sooner or later we all pay for corporate greed and government mismanagement as evidenced by the ongoing battles in my own state of North Carolina over the dangerous coal ash dump sites owned by Duke Energy, puppetmasters of the current governor who has a long history with Duke Energy. 

My personal opinions aside in regards to pipelines and what we really should be doing, like researching viable alternative energies, 

shouldn't we, at the very least, expect our government to ensure that fair and equitable negotiations are afforded to affected landowners

and surrounding communities and that regular inspections are conducted and effective plans in place to deal with accidents AND a fund set up for compensating individuals and communities if disaster strikes? And shouldn't there be transparency and better communication with the people? These pipeline companies are using land that isn't theirs and getting incentives and other provisions from the federal government that is paid for by our tax dollars. Should we not have assurances that OUR fellow citizens and OUR natural resources are being rigorously protected?

To those who wish to participate, a petition has been started HERE.

 I stand with the community of Standing Rock Reservation and North Carolina communities and all the other people within our borders being unfairly treated and illegally put upon by our government and the mega corporations that take advantage of such controversial devices as eminent domain to further their own agendas without regard for human and animal denizens or their environment. 

This land is your land, this land is my land but only for as long as we keep raising our voices and taking measures to protect it and preserve it.