Energy

Tribe Tells Dakota Pipeline Opponents To Leave Campsites, Wait For Trump

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Chris White Tech Reporter
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The Indian American tribe at the heart of the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy is urging demonstrators to disband and wait for President-elect Donald Trump to review the project’s route.

Standing Rock Sioux, the tribe opposing the project, is lobbying to speak with Trump about the so-called DAPL to prevent him from approving the final phase of construction, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault told reporters Tuesday.

“The current administration did the right thing and we need to educate the incoming administration and help them understand the right decision was made,” he said.

Archambault told the coalition of environmentalists, American Indian members, and Hollywood liberals camped out near the pipeline to leave because no other action is needed.

“We’re thankful for everyone who joined this cause and stood with us,” he said. “The people who are supporting us … they can return home and enjoy this winter with their families. Same with law enforcement. I am asking them to go.”

Trump’s transition team meanwhile said on Monday it would review the decision once the president-elect takes office in January.

“That’s something that we support construction of and we’ll review the full situation when we’re in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said at a news conference.

Archambault’s requests come after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected the previously approved DAPL easement, which is needed to cross the Missouri River, despite the project being nearly complete.

The Army Corps estimates the project will create up to 12,000 construction jobs and provide millions in state and local revenues during the construction phase.

DAPL’s opponents are worried Trump’s previous investments in the project could influence his decision on the matter.

The reality TV star turned president-elect sold his shares in Energy Transfer Partners, the company working to construct the multi-billion dollar project, the president-elect’s spokeswoman Hope Hicks told reporters in November. ETP recently agreed to a $20 billion merger with Sunoco in an all-stock transaction.

The financial disclosure form filed in May of 2015 shows Trump dumped between $500,000 and $1 million into the company. The information was disclosed in Trump’s filing to the Federal Election Commission.

Protesters at the campsite celebrated the decision, but expressed concerns the victory will be short-lived once President Barack Obama hands the White House keys to Trump.

“I think this is just a rest,” Charlotte Bad Cob of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, said on Sunday, according to Fortune. “With a new government, it could turn and we could be at it again.”

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