It's the environmental issue gripping to the upper Midwest and gaining steam on a national level. The Bold Alliance is joining forces with groups across the country in a nationwide #NoDAPL Day of Action."
A rally is planned in front of Omaha's Army Corps of Engineers office tomorrow evening - where demonstrators say they'll show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe through song, dance and prayer.
Around one hundred similar protests planned in front of Army Corps' buildings across the country.
The grassroots movement against the 3.8 billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline is gaining traction as construction continues despite requests from federal agencies to voluntarily stop.
"It's not just about the pipeline itself but is about a larger issue of fossil fuels and their interactions with tribes to make sure they're following their treaty obligations," said Marisa Cummings, Bold Alliance.
Activists say the project puts the Missouri River at risk for contamination. They say the Army Corp of Engineers fast-tracked the project across treaty lands without consulting tribal nations, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, maintains that the route parallels existing pipeline and crosses private land upstream from the reservation.
Those against the pipeline say they are taking a bold stand with peaceful demonstrations of civil disobedience.
"I had never been arrested before any of this. In the last 2 1/2 months, I've been arrested three times while participating in peaceful civil disobedience," said Heather Pearson, Bold Alliance. "Because unfortunately, that's all we have up our sleeve at this point. We've tried every other avenue to stop this pipeline."
The pipeline is nearly complete except for a portion running underneath the Missouri River. Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline is one of the safest. with pipeline placed three feet or more underground and monitored 24 hours a day.
On Friday, Energy Transfer Partners CEO, Kelcy Warren, said he believes the pipeline will be backed by a Trump presidency.
In response to Tuesdays demonstration, the Omaha office of the Army Corp of Engineers released this statement: "We respect the public's right to peaceful protest."
The Army Corp of Engineers released a separate statement late Monday announcing they've completed a review launched on September 9th into the Dakota Access Pipeline.
They say:" Today, the Army informed the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Energy Transfer Partners, and Dakota Access, LLC, that it has completed the review that it launched on September 9, 2016. The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation's dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property."
The full report can be found here.
