Earlier this year, the Keystone pipeline leaked 1,800 gallons of oil less than half a mile from the Mississippi River. Fort Belknap has a Cultural Property Act that applies to the pipeline. TransCanada failed to comply with Rosebud and Fort Belknap law. So this is a complete win for the tribes on the motions to dismiss. The second segment was the hotly contested 1,209-mile northern lega shortcut of sortsthat would have run from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska. They have laws protecting their water and those laws must be respected. An influx of itinerant workers, like those required for pipeline man-camps, correlates with increased sexual assaults, domestic violence, and sexual trafficking. 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 Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been one of the most vocal groups in working to oppose the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The US did not adequately review the pipelines proposed route and whether it crosses tribal territory. And the President and TC Energy would like to run a pipeline of highly toxic, cancer-causing sludge called tar sands right through it. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will take any and all necessary steps, up to and including litigation, to protect our people, our land and water, and our cultural and historic resources., As we have seen, spills from such projects can be catastrophic, said NARF Staff Attorney Matt Campbell. This pipeline was proposed in 2008 and has been referred to as either the Keystone XL pipeline or KXL. They contain a form of petroleum called bitumen, a relatively sludgy substance that can be turned into fuel. Watch President Bordeauxs full State of the Tribe address. After the District Courts decision, President Trump took the extraordinary step of revoking the original KXL permit issued by the State Department and issuing a new permit himself. The pipeline threat is gone, but the damage to their property and lives is already done. Paramount Network just released a new mini-documentary entitled Take Action: Protect Our Land. The documentary explores the potential impact of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline on our client, the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana. They are also solemn promises between the citizens of those nations. Of course, TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. It was proposed to be an extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been in operation since 2010. Additionally, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe operates its own water delivery system, which is part of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project. The KXL order was issued on Wednesday as part of the first wave of Biden's promised environmental justice and climate action policies, which include rejoining the Paris agreement and halting. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Fort Belknap has declared a state of emergency on the reservation because of the extremely dangerous COVID-19 pandemic and its threat to the health and well-being of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribal members, said President Werk of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, We are very concerned about TransCanada bringing in outside construction workers from all over to build this pipeline within an hour from our reservation., Rosebud has issued a curfew, closed businesses, and asked all to shelter in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the groundswell of public protest was up against a formidable opponenthundreds of millions spent on lobbying by the fossil fuel industry. Elections turn control of the U.S. Congress over to Republicans, who pledge to move forward on Keystone XL. Police arrest approximately one thousand people. See the open letter from President Kindle for more information on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes position. (AP) The Trump administration on Wednesday approved a right-of-way allowing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across U.S. land, pushing the controversial $8 . 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. In fact, the treaties were created specifically for this sort of violation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially stated that, on a wells-to-wheels basis, tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other types of crude, but several years later, the State Department revised this number upward, stating that the emissions could be 5 percent to 20 percent higher than previously indicated. That means burdening the planet with an extra 178.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the same impact as 38.5 million passenger vehicles or 45.8 coal-fired power plants. The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planets dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to marketand fast. On June 6, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a case that sought to revoke the permit for TC Energys (TransCanada) Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline. To that end, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utility Commission will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019, to address the Keystone XL pipeline and its impacts on our territory and people. Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. In that case, brought by a coalition of environmental organizations, the District Court had decided that the federal government did not follow the law when it issued its 2017 permit for the pipeline. Any project that crosses tribal lands must be in compliance with tribal laws and regulations. Take action today. The new complaint in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump responds to President Trumps March 29 presidential permit. In granting a permit for the pipeline, the President has ignored his obligation to protect the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in direct violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868, ignored federal right of way and mineral statutes, and ignored basic principles of federal Indian law. Keystone XL would have crossed agriculturally important and environmentally sensitive areas, including hundreds of rivers, streams, aquifers, and water bodies. It is a project that has moved forward without regard to legality or safety. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. TransCanada estimated South Dakota spills at no more than once every 41 years. 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. On his fourth day in office, Trump signed an executive order to allow Keystone XL to move forward. We would score a victory, and it would have huge ramifications for holding off construction at critical times, says NRDC attorney Cecilia Segal, who has worked on KXL litigation since 2017. 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. But the path to victory wasnt always clear. The "replacement" pipeline runs mostly on a completely new route through Minnesota, barreling through hundreds of lakes, rivers, aqueducts and wetlands. the desecration and destruction of cultural, historic, and sacred sites; the endangerment of tribal members, especially women and children; damage to hunting and fishing resources, as well as the tribal health and economies associated with these activities; the impairment of federally reserved tribal water rights and resources; harm to tribal territory and natural resources in the inevitable event of Pipeline ruptures and spills; and. Its route intercepted Native American land and posed a threat to their water supply. (a) On March 29, 2019, the President granted to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. a Presidential permit (the "Permit") to . They prohibited any construction until the Trump Administration and TransCanada conduct the necessary review. TransCanada ignores the threat that this influx of people creates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tribes asked the court to rescind the illegal issuance of the Keystone XL pipeline presidential permit. As you know, our natural resources are finite. Since its construction in 1977, the Trans Alaska Pipeline has transported almost 17 billion barrels of oil, and currently transports about 527,323 barrels a day. 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. 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.This map is a free and public tool designed to support . We look forward to holding the Trump Administration and TransCanada accountable to the Tribes and the applicable laws that must be followed., NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell also reacted to the news, Of course, the treaties were agreed to by the president of the United States and ratified by the Senate, so the treaties clearly apply. June: TransCanada announces it will buy ConocoPhillips stake in Keystone. While the tar sands industry was once seen as an unbeatable opponent in a David-and-Goliath fight, the victory against Keystone XL shows that the tables have begun to turnand that more power now lies with the advocates for climate justice than ever before. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order revoking the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline permit issued by the Trump administration. sued the Trump Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. In the two years leading up to the November 2014 midterm elections, the fossil fuel industry spent more than $721 million to court allies in Congress. It runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to Patoka, Illinois. 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. It has also been determined that tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other forms of crude oil. Phase 3b is added later, connecting the pipeline from Port Arthur to Houston, Texas. The Tribes argue that the 2019 permit, which would allow a Canadian company (TransCanada) to build another dirty tar sand crude pipeline across American soil, also creates a substantial risk of. Even its maps do not give enough detail to show impacts on Indian lands. The Native American Rights Fund represents the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community in this case. When that failedthanks to a lawsuit brought by NRDC and other groupsTrump reissued the cross-border permit himself. 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. Keystone XL Maps Map Terminated pipeline route The following map details the route of the terminated Keystone XL Pipeline and the current Keystone Pipeline System. Jessica Ravitz, CNN. State Disclosures. Nevertheless, in the mid-2000s, with gas prices on the rise, oil companies ramped up production and sought additional ways to move their product from Canadas remote tar sands fields to midwestern and Gulf Coast refineries. The 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie and other federal laws requires Rosebud consent to cross Rosebud territory. But the case against . Even as Trump and TC Energy tried to revive the pipeline, polls showed that a majority of Americans opposed it. With President Trumps illegal permit revoked, the Tribes plan to continue their efforts to ensure that TransCanada, and its proposed Keystone XL project, follows all applicable laws that are in place to protect tribal people and ancestral lands. NARF has two important updates regarding our defense of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community against the Keystone XL pipeline. Nebraska appeals. 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. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. Dave Heineman approves the proposed route for Keystone XL, sending the project back to the State Department for review. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. We must ensure our people are safe, and that the economic security, health, welfare, and general well-being of Rosebud and our members are protected. 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. In return, they asked that the United States protect their lands from trespass and their resources from destruction. Opposition emerges in Nebraska. With this construction, workers will descend on the communities along the pipelines proposed path. When the Tribes negotiated their treaties, they gave millions of acres of land to the United Statesincluding, ironically, the land on which the courthouse now stands. On October 16, 2020, the judge ruled against the Tribes on some claims, finding that the Presidents permit only applied to the border and not the entire pipeline. Of course, they can then use this ongoing construction as justification for allowing the project to proceed whether or not the project is legal. 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. 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. To that end, the government must examine the potential impact of pipeline construction and man-camps on Native people, especially women and children. 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. People must understand that the Ogalalla Aquifer that this pipeline will cross covers 8 states and waters 30 percent of American crops. 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 following are quotes from the project partners: We are joined in a fight against an invisible enemy that we now know is highly contagious before its hosts even show symptoms, said President Bordeaux of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Based on these extraordinary circumstances, we ask that TransCanada halt any construction during this pandemic.. Dealing in tar sands oil is an expensive endeavor. Only until November 18, 2019, you can comment on the KXL Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). Upon entering office, President Trumpwith his pro-polluter cabinet of fossil fuel advocates, billionaires, and bankersquickly demonstrated that his priorities differed. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The company behind the controversial Keystone XL project that President Joe Biden effectively killed on his first day of office had an oil spill record "worse than the national average" over a. It has been determined that the pervasive violence against indigenous women amounts to genocide. At the hearings, the US government argued that the treaties that the United States signed with tribal nations are not relevant to the Keystone pipeline. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. ), It would also have led to greater greenhouse gas emissionswhich, the latest scientific reports makes clear, we simply cant afford if were to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts. Until 2016,Canadaofficially objected to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The pipeline would cross less than 100 miles from the headquarters of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and run directly through sacred and historic sites as well as the ancestral lands of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes. Tribes and the United States government sign Treaties of Fort Laramie establishing respective territories. Share. 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 and ghosts of the past. In the meantime, the court issued an injunction pursuant to the Clean Water Act in another case that prevents TransCanada from crossing any rivers. Based on the current status of indigenous peoples within the United States, it is evident that these treaties and those that followed were either never fulfilled or were manipulated to provide leverage for the United States government. NARF will not allow the US government to ignore or forget the agreements made with tribal nations. 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. All information was gathered from public documents. There did occur a series of protests for many months, in opposition of the creation of the pipeline. All facets of the tar sands industry pose a threat to the environment. He also signs an order requiring pipelines in the United States to be built with U.S. steel. The reversal came as no surprise. Goldtooth called Bidens decision a vindication of the hard work and struggle many indigenous communities have put forth in protest of the pipeline. The court rightly found that today.. A two-week delay in the face of a pandemic would seem like the obvious course of action. 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. We are thrilled that the project has been canceled.. We look forward to working with the new administration to ensure that, going forward, Native peoples are included in decision-making discussions and policy development that affect their land, people, and treaty rights.. 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. Thats up nearly threefold from a decade ago, and an amount equal to 42 percent of our consumption.