NRDC and its partners also found the majority of Keystone XL oil would have been sent to markets overseasaided by a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports. It is a project that has moved forward without regard to legality or safety. US President Joe Biden has cancelled permits for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. Thanks for signing up. Despite a court order to reassess the Dakota Access Pipelines environmental impact, the agency wont share the results of its new study. Importantly, the new complaint also calls on President Trump to protect Native American people. The U.S. Senate approves a bill to build Keystone XL. During this time of uncertainty and crisis, NARF is committed to protecting the health, safety, and rights of Native Americans. Revoking the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline would have stretched 1,179 . The federal government violated the 1851 Treaty of Ft Laramie and 1855 Lame Bull Treaty, in which the US committed to protect against future harm to the tribes natural resources. Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy It was first initiated in 2010, and Indigenous activists protested for a decade against its construction. The US did not adequately review the pipelines proposed route and whether it crosses tribal territory. 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. The decision echoed a seven-year State Department review process with EPA input that concluded the pipeline would fail to serve national interests. Those leaks will be undetected unless/until they are huge. January: The Nebraska Supreme Court narrowly strikes down the lower-court decision, ruling that the governors actions were constitutional. Also in the filings, the Tribes point out that, contrary to defendants arguments, neither the presidents foreign affairs power, nor his role as commander in chief provide him authority to permit the pipeline. Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog post are the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the official position of UAB or the Institute for Human Rights. 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. Goldtooth called Bidens decision a vindication of the hard work and struggle many indigenous communities have put forth in protest of the pipeline. Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. Its route intercepted Native American land and posed a threat to their water supply. People must understand that the Ogalalla Aquifer that this pipeline will cross covers 8 states and waters 30 percent of American crops. The water delivery system for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is called the Mni Wiconi, which translates to Water is Life. On February 11, 2019, an 1,800-gallon spill was detected in Missouri on the main Keystone line, and last year more than 400,000 gallons were spilled from the main Keystone line in South Dakota near a tribal community. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. Many indigenous populations have fought for over a decade to defend their water and land rights against fossil fuel companies. They have laws protecting their water and those laws must be respected. The biggest concern with the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a spill in an environmentally sensitive area, such as the . Although TC Energy had twice been denied a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, on January 24, 2017, President Trump invited TC Energy to resubmit its application. And the risk that Keystone XL would have spilled was heightened because of the extended time the pipe segments were left sitting outside in stockpiles. NRDC.org stories are available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you cant resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you cant republish our material wholesale or automaticallyyou need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when youve used one of our stories. This hearing will focus on the United States motion to dismiss. Share. NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth said, We believe its imperative for the voices of our tribal clients to be heard regarding the impacts of the proposed pipeline. We will It is the largest underground water source in the United States. With the original permit revoked, the Ninth Circuit yesterday decided to dismiss as moot the case based on that original permit. Because of the highly corrosive and acidic nature of the tar sands oil, there contains a higher likelihood that the pipeline will leak. This is in violation of federal law.The United States is allowing TransCanada to begin construction even though there has been no review of our treaty rights, hunting and fishing rights, or the impacts to our people, our water, or our environment. The Tribes are taking a stand for their people, their culture, their water and their future, but they also are taking a stand for YOU, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. In 2015, when the Keystone XL pipeline was being debated, numerous Native American tribes and the Indigenous Environmental Network organized against it. For over a decade, Indigenous nations and communities have continuously denied consent to the KXL pipeline from crossing their territories, citing environmental concerns, the desecration of sacred sites, treaty rights violations, and the risks of sexual violence connected with man camps. To that end, the government must examine the potential impact of pipeline construction and man-camps on Native people, especially women and children. It was a political step, having nothing to do with what the law actually requires. This new permit is a blatant attempt to avoid any environmental analysis for the pipeline that United States law and courts have required. This decision reversed two previous administrative decisions and was done without any public comment or environmental analysis. Our land, water, and people are under direct threat from the KXL pipeline. So this is a complete win for the tribes on the motions to dismiss. The Pros And Cons Of Trans Alaska Pipeline. Dirty energy lobbyists claimed developing tar sands would protect our national energy security and bring U.S. fuel prices down. Until 2016,Canadaofficially objected to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Treaties are more than solemn promises between nations. 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. The activities described in the projects Environmental Impact Statement, namely rock ripping, blasting, trenching, top soil removal, and replacement of removed materials as backfill would adversely affect Rosebuds mineral estate. Regardless of the new permit and political maneuvering, the President is required to honor the treaties and the Constitution. For those of you that will not be able to attend, I ask that you submit a letter about your concerns and in support of our lawsuit. 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 mineral estates qualify as Indian lands and the Tribe has jurisdiction over them. The court rightly found that today.. View detailed information and reviews for 5855 Green Valley Cir in Culver City, CA and get driving directions with road conditions and live traffic updates along the way. Those treaties are binding to this day, and we expect them to be honored. June: TransCanada announces it will buy ConocoPhillips stake in Keystone. For more than a decade, we've fought to keep this filthy fossil fuel from being dredged up and piped through the United States. The Keystone XL pipeline, briefly explained The Keystone XL pipeline became an almost perfect example of the various stakeholders Native communities, climate activists, scientists,. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The projects corporate backerthe Canadian energy infrastructure company TC Energyofficially abandoned the project in June 2021 following President Joe Bidens denial of a key permit on his first day in office. Rosebud Sioux Tribes President Rodney Bordeaux delivered the South Dakota State of the Tribes address in January. 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. The agencies have not considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on either health and safety or the global oil markets. See our request for intervention. The pipeline, which had severe environmental and human rights implications, has been on a long road towards failure. 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. 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. These lands are Indian lands. We invite anyone interested in providing testimony to attend. The new complaint in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump responds to President Trumps March 29 presidential permit. However, maps now reveal that the pipeline will cross tribal lands and water suppliesso the pipeline and the president MUST comply with tribal laws and treaties. Some of the current concerns are rooted in our responsibility to take care of Unci Maka, which is grandmother earth. 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). The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community intend to move ahead with their claims against the United States and to demand that the United States honor its legal obligations. That leak was nothing compared to the 2017 Keystone spill in South Dakota. The construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline would strengthen the United States economy, provide energy security and have minimal environmental impact. The spill affected 200,000 square feet of wetlands, which could take years to recoverif it ever does. Opposition outside the courts was swift and strong as well. Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, where mining operations dig up and flatten forests to access the oil below, destroying wildlife habitat and one of the worlds largest carbon sinks. The Keystone XL Pipeline was an oil pipeline system planned to run throughout the northern United States and southern Canada. 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. Only until November 18, 2019, you can comment on the KXL Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The protests were primarily peaceful, with camps and prayer circles set up on the land where construction was to take place. The permitting process was completed only 56 days after TransCanada submitted its application for the third time. 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. In return, they asked that the United States protect their lands from trespass and their resources from destruction. Tracey Osborne, Climate Alliance Mapping Project (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as an essential ingredient in the oil industrys plans to triple tar sands production by 2030. 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. The injunction blocking KXL construction has now been lifted. 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. 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! Exactly how much was released will not be clear until it's all recovered, TC Energy said. The Tribes are asking the court to put a short hold on construction until a hearing scheduled later this month. Like the US Constitution, treaties are the law of the land, and no one is above that law, said NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell. Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. 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. January: The Cushing MarketLink Phase 3a pipeline goes online. TransCanada must comply with Rosebud law. update email soon. For tribal lands, the treaties absolutely require this sort of review. Its nasty stuff., A fully realized Keystone XL would have led to more mining of that nasty stuff by accelerating the pace at which its produced and transported. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been one of the most vocal groups in working to oppose the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Indeed, moving crude by rail to the Gulf costs substantially more than moving it by pipe. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. 840 miles (1,351 km) in the United States (Phillips County, Mont. at a much higher rate than company estimates. The KXL phase of the pipeline cuts directly through the traditional homelands of our client tribes. One of the central arguments made by pipeline pushers was that tar sands expansion will move forward with or without Keystone XL. Oil trains wont get better brakes, air conditioners wont get safer chemicals, and children lose their EPA advocate. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump greenlighted the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring it a "great day for American jobs" and siding with energy advocates over environmental groups in a heated debate over climate change. The pipeline is certain to leak (it already has). Thats up nearly threefold from a decade ago, and an amount equal to 42 percent of our consumption. 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. NRDC advocates were part of a broad coalition that helped stop Keystone XLfor good. 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. 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. Hearings on the motion to dismiss were held Thursday, September 12, 2019, in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. The pipeline continually threatens the sanctity of indigenous sacred lands and the purity and safety of the local water supply. Additionally, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe operates its own water delivery system, which is part of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project. Of course, TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. Since the approval, the Trump administration has been sued twice by environmental organizations and lost each time. Dealing in tar sands oil is an expensive endeavor. Phase 2 and 3 did not require Presidential Permits and were built over several years starting in 2010. The pipeline would consist of 875 miles of 36-inch pipe with the capacity to transport 830,000 barrels per day" (Parfomak, Pirog, Luther and Vann 4). We hope the Keystone XL Map will add a visual resource that supports the education and advocacy efforts of social movements working for Indigenous sovereignty and a just transition to renewable energy.. It's derived from a sludgy, sticky deposit found beneath the wilds of northern Albertas boreal forest. But, the President must comply with the Treaties, and TC Energy must comply with Rosebud law. TransCanada ignores the threat that this influx of people creates during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Bidens executive order was a landmark achievement and a sigh of relief for indigenous and environmental activists alike. Our water sources are threatened by the dirty tar sand crude, our ancestral homelands are in the direct path of the pipeline, and our people already are suffering the effects of nearby construction worker man camps. 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 pipeline faced more than a decade of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. President Trump tried to go around the courts, the laws, and the will of the American people, in order to put a foreign-owned pipeline on tribal lands, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. 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 . ), 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. June: Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline goes online. 6210 Bristol Pkwy Culver City CA 90230-6924. Heres everything you need to know about the historic KXL fightand why the pipelines cancellation has had no impact on current oil prices. The promises made to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, as well as the Oceti Sakowin, were broken before the ink on Fort Laramie treaties dried. Now, after the courts have told the United States it must follow the law, President Trump has attempted to circumvent the courts by issuing a new permit. Between the years of 1778 and 1871 alone, the United States government has signed over 370 treaties with different indigenous nations, nearly all of which promised peace, defined land boundaries, and protection of land, water, and hunting rights. 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. The 2019 supplemental environmental impact statement has numerous issues and shortcomings. Leading climate scientist and former NASA researcher James Hansen has warned that fully exploiting Canadas tar sands reserves by moving forward with these projects would mean game over for our climate. On March 28, 2017, his State Department illegally approved a cross-border permit for the pipeline, reversing the Obama administrations prior determination that KXL would not serve the national interest. Some three million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country, but KXL wasnt your average pipeline, and tar sands oil isnt your average crude. In the United States, there live over 5.2 million indigenous peoples and among them, 573 federally recognized tribes, numerous unrecognized nations, and many communities scattered across the North American continent, displaced by a long history of western oppression and forced assimilation. 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. Today, the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, heard arguments in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump. Seated in a camping chair, Faith Spotted Eagle, 68, pulls a blanket around her to ward off the cold. 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. 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. This map felt particularly timely as construction crews break ground on initial sections of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. 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. All facets of the tar sands industry pose a threat to the environment. Public documents about extractive projects are often difficult to find and hard to read. 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. 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. The takedown of the notorious Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline will go down as one of this generations most monumental environmental victories. 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. Several indigenous leaders, including Dallas Goldtooth of the Mdewakanton Dakota and Dine nations and Faith Spotted Eagle of the Ihanktonwan Dakota nation, have seen Bidens executive order as a sign of the administration keeping its campaign promise to work against climate change and work with indigenous communities. Joye Braun, IEN Community Organizer, An influx of itinerant workers, like those required for pipeline man-camps, correlates with increased sexual assaults, domestic violence, and sexual trafficking. In addition to extensive violations of law outlined in the original complaint, the new complaint raises the following issues: Maps released by TransCanada show the pipeline corridor and access roads crossing Rosebud territory, some of which is held in trust, as well as Rosebuds Mni Wiconi Water system. If and when TransCanada provides sufficient maps of the pipelines route, we expect that we will see even more affected tribal lands. 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. April: The State Department suspends the regulatory process indefinitely, citing uncertainty about the court case in Nebraska. February: TransCanada Corporation proposes the Keystone Pipeline project. Construction has begun despite the fact that there are three lawsuits currently going on. 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). We are thrilled that the project has been canceled.. A timeline of the Keystone Pipeline project is below. Opponents of this projectnow called the Gulf Coast Pipelinesay that TC Energy took advantage of legal loopholes to push the pipeline through, obtaining authorization under a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nationwide permit and dodging the more rigorous vetting process for individual permits, which requires public input. 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. The obligation of the United States to uphold those treaties is paramount, and Keystone XLs current path cannot be approved without the Siangu Lakotas consent.