BeaverFever BeaverFever:
From what I understand, they have a long-standing land claim for that territory as it had been granted by treaty and then the feds nibbled away at it over the years with a series of unilateral expropriations and white settlement.
Two things. This land was apparently "taken" in the 1800s. They sued the government in the 1900s and were awarded what they would have been owed plus interest. They refused the money and it's apparently been gaining interest ever since. About 1 billion at this point. So they were paid for the land, whether they like it or not.
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Moreover, the USACE is apparently obligated to perform a detailed archaeological and environmental impact assessment before allowing development or sale, which the protesters claim was rushed through and rubber-stamped to accommodate the oil interests.
The protesters are pretty much flat out wrong. The following from the court documents in which it was ruled against the Tribe.
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Dakota Access nevertheless also prominently considered another factor in crafting its route: the potential presence of historic properties. Id. Using past cultural surveys, the company devised DAPL’s route to account for and avoid sites that had already been identified as potentially eligible for or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Id., ¶¶ 2-4. With that path in hand, in July 2014, the company purchased rights to a 400-foot corridor along its preliminary route to conduct extensive new cultural surveys of its own. Id., ¶ 3. These surveys eventually covered the entire length of the pipeline in North and South Dakota, and much of 14 Iowa and Illinois. Id., ¶ 8. Professionally licensed archaeologists conducted Class II cultural surveys, which are “focused on visual reconnaissance of the ground surface in settings with high ground visibility.” Id. In some places, however, the same archaeologists carried out more intensive Class III cultural surveys, which involve a “comprehensive archaeological survey program” requiring both surface visual inspection and shovel-test probes of fixed grids to “inventory, delineate, and assess” historic sites. Id. These latter surveys required coordination with and approval by State Historic Preservation Officers.
Where this surveying revealed previously unidentified historic or cultural resources that
might be affected, the company mostly chose to reroute. Id., ¶¶ 4-6. In North Dakota, for
example, the cultural surveys found 149 potentially eligible sites, 91 of which had stone features. Id., ¶ 5. The pipeline workspace and route was modified to avoid all 91 of these stone features and all but 9 of the other potentially eligible sites. Id. By the time the company finally settled on a construction path, then, the pipeline route had been modified 140 times in North Dakota alone to avoid potential cultural resources. Id., ¶ 6. Plans had also been put in place to mitigate any effects on the other 9 sites through coordination with the North Dakota SHPO. Id., ¶ 13. All told, the company surveyed nearly twice as many miles in North Dakota as the 357 miles that would eventually be used for the pipeline. Id., ¶ 12.
https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/sh ... 6cv1534-39In short, there was an extraordinary amount of archaeological work done just in that area. The tribe *repeatedly* dodged meetings and ignored requests for input over the course of about a year and a half. Other tribes did, but not the Sioux. The tried from September 2014 until January 2016 when they finally got the tribe to consult with them properly. If you read through that court document, you can plainly see the extent that the Corps and the Company went through to avoid culturally significant sites.
As for environmental impact, they're putting the pipeline basically right next to another one. Not to mention they have been releasing drafts of the EA since the beginning of this year. It's not like it happened over night.
CKA Uber 
