Fireworks may have lit up the sky above the Oceti Sakowin Camp, which is located on unceded Sioux land near the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, but Energy Transfer Partners refuses to recognize any defeat. Similarly, the water protectors at the Oceti Sakowin Camp, including veterans who continue to arrive, say that while they are happy that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refused to grant the easement to Dakota Access Pipeline, they are taking their victory with a grain of salt.
Oceti Sakowin Camp Impasse: Energy Transfer Partners Plans To Complete DAPL, Water Protectors And Veterans Say They Will Stay As Long As The Pipeline Stays
Even though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided not to grant the easement for the final portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline that would go beneath Lake Oahe and across unceded Sioux land, the pipeline still stands committed to building the pipeline without any rerouting.
"As stated all along, ETP and SXL are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way."
A spokesman for Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now wrote in a statement that the pro-pipeline organization members are hopeful that the Dakota Access Pipeline construction will be completed as planned with only a temporary delay, according to The Des Moines Register.
Channel 3 News reported that Veterans Stand for Standing Rock organizers predict that 3,000 veterans are still expected to end up at the Oceti Sakowin Camp shortly, despite the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' latest announcement.
It seems that neither side at or near the Oceti Sakowin Camp actually plans on backing down.
[Featured Image by Nesky Hernandez/AP Photo]
