Construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline has been temporarily halted as protests against the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project continued this week at the North Dakota state capitol building as well as at a “spirit camp” at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers.
According to the Associated Press, pipeline developers on Thursday agreed to pause construction until a federal court hearing next week in Washington, D.C.—but a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners vowed the work would still be completed by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Indigenous and environmental activists continue to gather in opposition to the pipeline, with between 1500 and 2000 people currently engaged in active resistance.
“What happens to the Missouri River happens to all of us, all human beings,” said actress Shailene Woodley at the Thursday night protest in the capital of Bismarck. “Water is not limited to Indigenous people, water is limited to everyone. Indigenous people right now are the only ones protecting it.”
And in Minneapolis on Friday, Indigenous community members and council member Alondra Cano presented a resolution calling on the city to support native resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. According to the state chapter of climate group 350.org, “The resolution was referred to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee where we will have the opportunity to further educate council members on the issue before it is brought back to the full council and passed.”
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