US congresswoman to join massive pipeline protest

NEW YORK (AA) – Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday she will join thousands of veterans Sunday to stage a nonviolent protest against an oil pipeline near North Dakota’s Standing Rock Indian reservation.

“If my participation in this protest helps send one message, it is this: We must protect our fragile water resources for current and future generations,” the Democrat from Hawaii said and separately demanded the government halt the project in a speech from the floor of the House of Representatives.

More than 2,000 veterans from across the U.S. have pledged to participate in a four-day protest beginning Dec. 4 in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other groups that oppose the construction of the pipeline.

The tribe says the ongoing construction infringes upon its rights as a sovereign government, will desecrate sacred land and poses environmental risks, including contaminating the water supply, for the native population.

The construction for the 1,172-mile (1,886-km), $3.7 billion pipeline began in May after much bureaucratic wrangling, and is 86 percent complete.

Protests that have intensified since summer and at times turned violent, have attracted national attention in the form of support from environmentalists -- including celebrities and public figures -- and frustration for local authorities.

North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Monday ordered a mandatory evacuation of protesters camping near the construction site.

“Any person who chooses to enter, re-enter or stay in the evacuation does so at their own risk,” he said in a statement.

Dalrymple then backtracked Wednesday, saying he never intended to forcibly remove protesters and would seek an audience with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council to mend fences.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday it would block delivery of supplies to protesters at the Oceti Sakowin camp.

The increasing publicity over the months surrounding the pipeline project, which originated in 2014, has laid bare the underlying politicking along party lines.

The Barack Obama administration withheld a permit in September to build beneath the Lake Oahe portion of the Missouri River, putting a damper on construction efforts as they were approaching fruition.

North Dakota’s Republican Sen. John Hoeven, blamed the administration for the demonstrations.

“The ongoing protest activities, which at times have been violent, are being prolonged and intensified by the Obama administration’s refusal to approve the final remaining easement at Lake Oahe,” Hoeven said in a speech in the Senate.

The lawmaker said the pipeline is 98 percent complete in North Dakota.

Thousands of miles of pipelines already crisscross the U.S., he said, arguing pipelines remain a safe method for transporting oil.