North Dakota officials hope to quell
pipeline protests with fines
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[November 30, 2016]
By Terray Sylvester
CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - North Dakota
officials on Tuesday moved to block supplies from reaching oil pipeline
protesters at a camp near the construction site, threatening to use
hefty fines to keep demonstrators from receiving food, building
materials and even portable bathrooms.
Activists have spent months protesting plans to route the $3.8 billion
Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux
reservation, saying the project poses a threat to water resources and
sacred Native American sites.
State officials said on Tuesday they would fine anyone bringing
prohibited items into the main protest camp following Governor Jack
Dalrymple's "emergency evacuation" order on Monday. Earlier, officials
had warned of a physical blockade, but the governor's office backed away
from that.
Law enforcement would take a more "passive role" than enforcing a
blockade, said Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman for the Morton County
Sheriff's Department.
"The governor is more interested in public safety than setting up a road
block and turning people away," Herr said by telephone.
Officers will stop vehicles they believe are headed to the camp and
inform drivers they are committing an infraction and could be fined
$1,000.
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These penalties should serve as a hindrance, according to Cecily Fong, a
spokeswoman for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
"So that effectively is going to block that stuff (supplies), but there
is not going to be a hard road block," Fong said by telephone.
A spokeswoman from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe was not immediately
available for comment.
North Dakota Governor-elect Doug Burgum, a Republican, declined to
comment.
The 1,172-mile (1,885 km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy
Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete except for a segment planned to
run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.
Thousands of people are protesting at camps located on U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers land, north of the Cannonball River in Cannon Ball, North
Dakota. The main protest camp near Cannon Ball is called Oceti Sakowin,
the original name of the Sioux, meaning Seven Council Fires.
Protest leaders said state officials and local law enforcement officers
were "bullying" demonstrators with the threat of fines.
"It's bogus and I don't know about the legality of it," said Kandi
Mossett, an organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network. "We're not
afraid. We're moving in and out of the camp at will. So people shouldn't
be afraid of coming and supporting the water protectors. They've been
bullying us since day one."
'HARSH WINTER CONDITIONS'
Dalrymple's evacuation order was issued on Monday due to the "harsh
winter conditions." Snow and wind gusts up to 45 mph (73 kph) were
forecast for Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Despite the sub-freezing temperatures, law enforcement on Nov. 21 used
water cannons to disperse protesters who had blockaded a highway.
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![](../images/113016PICS/news_d7.jpg)
The Oceti Sakowin camp is seen in a snow storm during a protest
against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing
Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S.
November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith
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Demonstrators and law enforcement have clashed over the months since
protests began, with demonstrators claiming excessive use of force
by law enforcement.
On Tuesday, the National Lawyers Guild filed a class action in U.S.
District Court in North Dakota on behalf of injured protesters,
claiming local authorities in Morton and Stutsman counties used
excessive force.
The civil rights complaint said there were no orders to disperse or
warnings issued before local police turned water cannons and tear
gas on the protest. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages.
Stutsman County Auditor Casey Bradley said the county sheriff’s
office was unaware of the lawsuit and unable to comment on the
allegations.
Officers were justified in using water cannons because of the threat
posed by demonstrators, Fong and Herr said. Law enforcement gave
numerous warnings for protesters to disperse, they said.
North Dakota officials have issued several requests for additional
help from federal law enforcement in light of the demonstrators.
However, the Army Corps said Monday its order to evacuate the
primary protest camp by Dec. 5 would not include forcibly removing
people from the land.
The Obama administration in September postponed final approval of a
Army Corps' permit required to allow tunneling beneath the lake, a
move intended to give federal officials more time to consult tribal
leaders.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a Tuesday news briefing
that Obama believes law enforcement has "an obligation" to show
restraint and protesters have a "responsibility" to protest
peacefully.
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In a related protest, prosecutors suspended charges against Deia
Schlosberg, a documentary maker arrested while filming as
environmental protesters attempted to shut down the flow of oil
through pipelines carrying crude from Canada to the United States in
October.
(Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Additional reporting by
David Gaffen and Mica Rosenberg in New York, Ernest Scheyder in
Houston, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Roberta Rampton and Doina
Chiacu in Washington.; Editing by Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis and
Andrew Hay)
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