Dealing in tar sands oil is an expensive endeavor. As the elected President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, I write regarding a critical issue affecting not only our Tribe, but all of the United States. With this construction, workers will descend on the communities along the pipelines proposed path. Trump OKs Keystone pipeline, calling it 'great day' for jobs The founder of Bold Nebraska has led the Cornhusker States years-long rallying cry against TransCanadas tar sands pipeline. President Bordeaux had this to say about the KXL pipeline: There are a great many things that trouble us about this project. In exchange for measures like safe passage of emigrants and peaceful construction of the railroads, the US government and tribal nations signed treaties to prevent intrusion on or destruction of tribal nations lands and natural resources. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The spill affected 200,000 square feet of wetlands, which could take years to recoverif it ever does. We are ensuring that TC Energy (TransCanada) follows and respects our law. a new mini-documentary entitled Take Action: Protect Our Land., their response to the defendants motions to dismiss. The briefest look at American and Canadian history clearly shows that the pipeline situations are most certainly not the first instance of the government refusing to respect the lands, waters, and even peoples of indigenous groups. It runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to Patoka, Illinois. This lines up with an industry trend: Oil and gas companies are exporting 8.4 million barrels of crude oil and refined fuels every single day. March: Canadas National Energy Board approves the Canadian section of the Keystone XL. Heres everything you need to know about the historic KXL fightand why the pipelines cancellation has had no impact on current oil prices. Tracey Osborne, Climate Alliance Mapping Project Since it first went into operation in 2010, TC Energys original Keystone Pipeline System has leaked more than a dozen times; one incident in North Dakota sent a 60-foot, 21,000-gallon geyser of tar sands oil spewing into the air. Low oil prices and increasing public concern over the climate led Shell, Exxon, Equinor (then Statoil), and Total to either sell their tar sands assets or whittle them down. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. The court asked for supplemental briefing on whether the President had the constitutional authority to issue the permit in the first place, which the Tribes are working on now. June 25, 2020 (Bemidji, MN) The Indigenous Environmental Network, in collaboration with the Climate Alliance Mapping Project and the Keystone XL Mapping Project, have just launched the KXL Pipeline Map, an interactive tool that highlights the route of the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, a tar sands project of the TC Energy corporation. Watch President Bordeauxs full State of the Tribe address. Take action today. Frighteningly, the KXL pipeline design would only detect 13,000 barrels (535,000 gallons) of tar sands crude leaked in a 24-hour period. February: TransCanada Corporation proposes the Keystone Pipeline project. It has been determined that the pervasive violence against indigenous women amounts to genocide. On November 17, 2020, the Tribes filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Interior and the BLM over their January 2020 issuing of the KXL permit. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. The Rosebud Sioux Tribealso known as the Siangu Lakota Oyateis one of the seven tribes that make up the Oeti Sakowin (the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota people). The Fort Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, continued their fight against the illegal permitting of the Keystone XL Pipeline with two filings in the US District Court of Montana. Native American Lands and the Keystone Pipeline Expansion: A Legal The 2019 supplemental environmental impact statement has numerous issues and shortcomings. The Native American Rights Fund and our clients will continue to fight to ensure our treaties are upheld and that the health and welfare of our people is protected. Like that of the United States, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe also has laws that require us to ensure that any company seeking to build a pipeline in our territory must obtain our consent. Any project that crosses tribal lands must be in compliance with tribal laws and regulations. Keystone XL Pipeline: 4 Animals and 3 Habitats in Its Path Until 2016,Canadaofficially objected to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The spill, more than 400,000 gallons of unprocessed crude, is the seventh largest on-shore spill since 2002. The pipeline, which had severe environmental and human rights implications, has been on a long road towards failure. All facets of the tar sands industry pose a threat to the environment. Though she lives on the Yankton Sioux Reservation of South Dakota, Spotted . It was first initiated in 2010, and Indigenous activists protested for a decade against its construction. Police arrest approximately one thousand people. Keystone XL- Myths and Facts - South Dakota Oil and Gas Association A study set between the years 2007 and 2010 found that pipelines carrying tar sands oil spilled three times more per mile than pipelines carrying conventional crude oil. The pipeline path skirts federal tribal land boundaries in South Dakota, Baker said, yet will still cut "almost through the heart" of a large protion of the land set aside for exclusive use by tribal nations, as recognized by the 1851 and 1868 Laramie Treaties.The pipe would cross native spiritual sites, burial grounds, hunting lands and sources of drinking water, including the Mni Wiconi . The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been one of the most vocal groups in working to oppose the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In short, tar sands oil represents no small threat to our environment, and our best stance against it, as the rallying cry goes, is to keep it in the ground.. One was Nebraskas Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of Americas irrigation water. The one filed by Rosebud Sioux last week cites the fact that the Trump Administration has not undertaken any analysis of: trust obligations, the potential impact on tribal hunting and fishing rights, the potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, or the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline. Its a pipeline through America, and it threatens to be a disaster for us if it leaks poisons on the way. Leading scientists and economists came out in opposition to the project, in addition to unions and world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter (together, these and other Nobel laureates have written letters against the project). June: Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline goes online. Therefore, on Monday March 2, 2020, the Fort Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a motion for preliminary injunction and asked the court to not allow TransCanada to begin construction of the pipeline while the case is under review. There are countless historical, cultural, and religious sites in the planned path of the pipeline that are at risk of destruction, both by the pipelines construction and by the threat of inevitable ruptures and spills if the pipeline becomes operational. It was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Thanks for signing up. In addition, the possibility of damaging community water supplies, valuable agricultural lands, and wildlife habitats is not a cost our clients are willing to bear on behalf of a foreign extractive company propping up a dying energy industry. It connects Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas. All information was gathered from public documents. Many had hoped that the disastrous project was finally done for in November 2015, when the Obama administration vetoed the pipelineacknowledging its pervasive threats to climate, ecosystems, drinking water sources, and public health. Complicating matters, leaks can be difficult to detect. It connects Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing, Oklahoma. Good Luck Persuading These Nebraskans, The Dirty Fight Over Canadian Tar Sands Oil, 10 Threats from the Canadian Tar Sands Industry, The Dakota Access Pipeline Fight Fuels Battles Across the Country, Still No Approved Route for KXL in Nebraska, Meet Jane Kleeb: One of Nebraskas First and Fiercest KXL Opponents, Why We Must Stop the Flow of Tar Sands Oil, Win! harm to the political integrity, economic stability, and health and welfare of the Tribes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Over the years, the United States government willingly made very specific promises to tribal nations. NARF and our clients are confident in our claims against the construction of the pipeline, and we are optimistic the court will not allow this case to be dismissed. This has proved to be untrue. Frighteningly, the KXL pipeline design would only detect 13,000 barrels (535,000 gallons) of tar sands crude leaked in a 24-hour period. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments. amended complaint in what will now be known as, an amended complaint against TransCanada and President Trump. Today, as in the past, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community drink the water that comes from the rivers and the ground sources to provide for their communities. This pipeline was proposed in 2008 and has been referred to as either the Keystone XL pipeline or KXL. They begin by displaying a map of the proposed pipeline that shows that the pipeline will not cross Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and in fact, it is located entirely on privately owned land except for a 1,094 ft portion . TransCanada estimated South Dakota spills at no more than once every 41 years. NARF is honored to represent the Rosebud Sioux and Fort Belknap Tribes to fully enforce the laws and fight this illegal pipeline.. The first, a southern leg, had already been completed and now runs between Cushing, Oklahoma, and Port Arthur, Texas. Keystone XL will need permission from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, so this is not over.. If the Keystone XL pipeline is built, about 830,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day will flow from Alberta, Canada, to the refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which are built to handle. The first, a southern leg, had already been completed and now runs between Cushing, Oklahoma,. Rhetorical Analysis Of Why Dakota Is The New Keystone As an expansion of the companys existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2010 (and continues to send Canadian tar sands crude oil from Alberta to various processing hubs in the middle of the United States), the pipeline promised to dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up under Canadas boreal forest. Since the approval, the Trump administration has been sued twice by environmental organizations and lost each time. Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. From the refineries, the oil would be sent chiefly overseasnot to gasoline pumps in the United States. A spill would have been devastating to the farms, ranches, and communities that depend on these crucial ecosystems. August-September: Keystone XL protesters organize two weeks of civil disobedience at the White House. These lands are well within the area of impact for even a small rupture and spill. On the map users will be able to locate the pipeline route, pumping stations, pipe storage yards, and man camp locations (also known as construction camps). The Keystone XL Pipeline: Everything You Need To Know | NRDC In a huge success for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline, TransCanada (TC Energy) announced in June 2021 that it is terminating its Keystone XL pipeline project. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native opposition, resentments and ghosts of the . We cannot allow another pipeline to be constructed, dangerously close to yet another tribal community, for the benefit of a foreign energy company.. Tribes and the United States government sign Treaties of Fort Laramie establishing respective territories. For tribal lands, the treaties absolutely require this sort of review. The court also noted that the Tribes could file a new suit against the Bureau of Land Management given it has approved the pipeline in the remainder of the United States. But immediately after taking office, President Donald Trump brought the zombie project back to life, along with the legal battles against it. President Bidens executive order ending the construction of the Keystone XL is a very hopeful step forward, however it needs to serve as a pushing off point for the administration to continue furthering both environmental and indigenous rights. A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energys own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on the projects pipes was damaged from being stored outside and exposed to the elements for the last decade, notes NRDC senior attorney Jaclyn Prange, who spent years working on KXL litigation. Last month, a Keystone Pipeline spill released more than 383,000 gallons of oilhalf of an Olympic swimming pool. It's derived from a sludgy, sticky deposit found beneath the wilds of northern Albertas boreal forest. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, TC Energy must follow the law, and that includes our laws and regulations with respect to the construction of this pipeline. The federal government argues that the treaties dont matter. Even worse, building Keystone XL would have meant enduring those risks just to send the fuel to our overseas rivalsand the profits to Big Oil. If the Presidents goal was to avoid complying with the District Courts decision in that case, it worked. This is great news for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline. Therefore, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utiity Commission held public hearings on the proposed TransCanada KXL Pipeline on Tuesday, May 28, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the St. Francis Indian School Gym, 502 Warrior Dr, St Francis, SD 57572. (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as an essential ingredient in the oil industrys plans to triple tar sands production by 2030. Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney M. Bordeaux responded to the announcement, This is great news for the Tribes who have been fighting to protect our people and our lands. However, for the Tribes, the KXL fight is just beginning. For more than a decade, we've fought to keep this filthy fossil fuel from being dredged up and piped through the United States. A two-week delay in the face of a pandemic would seem like the obvious course of action. One of the central arguments made by pipeline pushers was that tar sands expansion will move forward with or without Keystone XL. New climate change information requires a new environmental impact analysis. The governments analysis does not meaningfully address how an influx of out-of-state construction workers will affect the health, welfare, and safety of tribal members, and in particular Native women and children. Severe oil leaks worsened Keystone pipeline's spill record - POLITICO Those treaties are binding to this day, and we expect them to be honored. In South Dakota, the pipeline would cross through Tripp County, just miles from the boundaries of the Rosebud Indian Reservation and within yards of Rosebuds trust lands and tribal members allotments. Revoking the Trump administrations illegal permit is a necessary first step towards fixing this situation, Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk Jr. explained. They prohibited any construction until the Trump Administration and TransCanada conduct the necessary review. For companies considering whether to invest in a long-lived tar sands project (which could last for 50 years), access to cheap pipeline capacity plays a major role in the decision to move forward or not. January: Trump signs a presidential memorandum inviting TransCanada to resubmit their application for a Presidential Permit and directing the Secretary of State, Department of the Interior, and Department of the Army to fast-track the decision. On November 17, 2020, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community, represented by the Native American Rights Fund and co-counsel, filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over their issuing of the KXL permit. City Maps - City of Culver City When industry-friendly politicians took charge of both congressional houses in January 2015, their first order of business was to pass a bill to speed up approval of Keystone XL. Browse our map catalog downloadable PDFs and our interactive maps. The Keystone XL pipeline is dead. But the fight against similar - Vox Construction has begun despite the fact that there are three lawsuits currently going on. The proposed Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline would cross Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota, including tribal lands. The Keystone XL Developer's Position TransCanada, a Canadian corporation, owns or has interests in $48 billion of long-life assets primarily pipelines and power-generation facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico and is expected to see $38 billion in new projects completed by the end of this decade 18. Our land, water, and people are under direct threat from the KXL pipeline. The pipeline, designed to run from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, had faced opposition from environmental groups, land use groups and Native American tribal entities for years. NARF will not allow the US government to ignore or forget the agreements made with tribal nations. Pipelines like the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines as well as other fossil fuel projects actively pollute native land and water resources as well as consistently contribute to global warming due to their high greenhouse gas emissions. March: The U.S. Department of State issues a Presidential Permit authorizing Keystone facilities at the U.S.-Canada border. TC Energy Says $15B Keystone Claim Can Proceed - Law360 Keystone pipeline's path cuts across Native American land, history On his fourth day in office, Trump signed an executive order to allow Keystone XL to move forward. February: TransCanada announces it will build Phase 3 of the Keystone Pipeline as a separate project that is not subject to presidential permission, since it does not cross an international border. This mapping tool hopes to bridge that gap by giving communities the ability to see how close this deadly tar sands snake comes to their homes, communities and lands. The treaties and laws guarantee us protections, and we are committed to see that those laws are upheld., Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andy Werk also commented, The TransCanada announcement is a relief to those of us who stood in the pipelines path. The pipelines proposed route crosses through traditional Lakota homelands and treaty territories, and will affect not only the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, but also Native Nations in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Despite all of these facts, throughout the permitting process, there was no analysis of trust obligations, no analysis of treaty rights, no analysis of the potential impact on hunting and fishing rights, no analysis of potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, no analysis of the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, and no analysis of the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline, which is in violation of the NEPA and the NHPA. Canada is considered one of the most water-rich countries in the world and yet many indigenous communities continue to be provided with inadequate access to safe drinking water which provides a large public health concern for these communities. We will not dishonor our relatives and unnecessarily endanger our health, safety, and wellbeing. January: ConocoPhillips acquires a 50% stake in the project. On the same day the Trump Administration announced that up to 240,000 people may succumb to the COVID-19 virus, TransCanada announced it is proceeding with KXL pipeline construction. The Keystone XL pipeline would cross the United States border into Montana, then cut through the Great Sioux Reservation, as set forth in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, in South Dakota and finally Nebraska to Steele City where the crude would mix with US crude reserves and continue to Texas for export. Exactly how much was released will not be clear until it's all recovered, TC Energy said. Keystone XL Pipeline Map The proposed Keystone XL extension actually comprised two segments. This pipeline will benefit a Canadian company and its shareholders. Thats up nearly threefold from a decade ago, and an amount equal to 42 percent of our consumption. The Tribes are asking the court to put a short hold on construction until a hearing scheduled later this month. How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline. They contain a form of petroleum called bitumen, a relatively sludgy substance that can be turned into fuel. Many indigenous populations have fought for over a decade to defend their water and land rights against fossil fuel companies. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. 840 miles (1,351 km) in the United States (Phillips County, Mont. This undisputed fact, that the pipeline would cross Rosebud mineral estates held in trust, has several legal implications: The publicly available maps that the Tribes have seen show that the pipeline corridor also would cross Rosebud surface and mineral estates. TransCanada agreed to abide by tribal law. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order revoking the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline permit issued by the Trump administration. Goldtooth called Bidens decision a vindication of the hard work and struggle many indigenous communities have put forth in protest of the pipeline. The online map can be found here: https://climatealliancemap.org/kxl-map Refining the sticky black gunk produces piles of petroleum coke, a hazardous, coal-like by-product. Although, TransCanada, now known as TC Energy, has said that it has lost the 2019 construction season for the KXL pipeline, the company has asked the courts to lift the current injunction so that they can immediately begin to build their man-camps and pipe-yards. Later, fossil fuel companies funnelled millions into Trumps 2017 inauguration ceremony, days after which he brought the Keystone XL project back from the dead, and ramped up federal lobbying efforts in the first months of his administration. The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline | ipl.org They are proposing to do so without the tribal consent required under the treaty law. In January, TransCanada reported that it would begin Keystone XL pipeline construction in April despite ongoing questions about the projects permitting. So, in March he withdrew the State Departments permit and issued his own presidential permit as an attempt to avoid any environmental or regulatory oversight and to circumvent the court decisions. The judge found that the US State Department had not fulfilled its duties to the American people when it issued TransCanada a 2017 permit for the Keystone XL pipeline without the required environmental and safety review.