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As you know, our natural resources are finite. Bulldozers were seen this week grading the land in Tripp County, South Dakota, adjacent to Rosebud lands. The Tribes are asking the court to declare the review process in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and to rescind the illegal issuance of the Keystone XL pipeline presidential permit. Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney M. Bordeaux responded to the announcement, This is great news for the Tribes who have been fighting to protect our people and our lands. In granting the right-of-way, the BLM failed to analyze and uphold the United States treaty obligations to protect the Tribes lands and natural resources. NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell responded to the action, The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community have both poured tremendous effort and resources to defend their treaty rights and the safety of their tribal communities during the last few years. How a single pipeline project became the epicenter of an enormous environmental, public health, and civil rights battle. People must understand that the Ogalalla Aquifer that this pipeline will cross covers 8 states and waters 30 percent of American crops. In the United States, there live over 5.2 million indigenous peoples and among them, 573 federally recognized tribes, numerous unrecognized nations, and many communities scattered across the North American continent, displaced by a long history of western oppression and forced assimilation. The first, a southern leg, had already been completed and now runs between Cushing, Oklahoma, and Port Arthur, Texas. (That effort failed.) The court rightly found that today.. The era of building fossil fuel pipelines without scrutiny of their potential impact on climate change and on local communities is over, Swift says. Trespassing into Rosebuds mineral estates, held in trust, without Rosebuds consent is a violation of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties. Phase 2 and 3 did not require Presidential Permits and were built over several years starting in 2010. The presidential permit comes nearly a decade after Calgary-based TransCanada applied to . The U.S. Senate approves a bill to build Keystone XL. Earlier this week, NARF filed a motion to intervene at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Indigenous Environmental Network v. U.S. Department of State case regarding the federal permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. As such, they are protected by treaties as well as tribal and federal laws. This map felt particularly timely as construction crews break ground on initial sections of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. This is great news for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline. When the Tribes negotiated their treaties, they gave millions of acres of land to the United Statesincluding, ironically, the land on which the courthouse now stands. 6210 Bristol Pkwy. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. 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The online map can be found here: https://climatealliancemap.org/kxl-map Later, fossil fuel companies funnelled millions into Trumps 2017 inauguration ceremony, days after which he brought the Keystone XL project back from the dead, and ramped up federal lobbying efforts in the first months of his administration. The tribes filed a response to TransCanadas motion for summary judgment and a memorandum in support of their own motion for partial summary judgment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially stated that, on a wells-to-wheels basis, tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other types of crude, but several years later, the State Department revised this number upward, stating that the emissions could be 5 percent to 20 percent higher than previously indicated. That means burdening the planet with an extra 178.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the same impact as 38.5 million passenger vehicles or 45.8 coal-fired power plants. In addition to extensive violations of law outlined in the original complaint, the new complaint raises the following issues: Maps released by TransCanada show the pipeline corridor and access roads crossing Rosebud territory, some of which is held in trust, as well as Rosebuds Mni Wiconi Water system. And the risk that Keystone XL would have spilled was heightened because of the extended time the pipe segments were left sitting outside in stockpiles. The Rosebud Sioux Tribejust like South Dakota, Nebraska, and Montanahas a duty to protect the health and welfare, of its citizens. Despite all of these facts, throughout the permitting process, there was no analysis of trust obligations, no analysis of treaty rights, no analysis of the potential impact on hunting and fishing rights, no analysis of potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, no analysis of the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, and no analysis of the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline, which is in violation of the NEPA and the NHPA. It also endangers the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water for Native and non-Native users residential and agricultural needs on the High Plains in eight states. April: TransCanada submits a new route to officials in Nebraska for approval. The case is now up to the Tribes, and they will not allow a foreign company to break American law, take land that does not belong to them, ignore the voices and laws of the tribal citizens, and destroy an aquifer that feeds millions of Americans. The pipeline, designed to run from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, had faced opposition from environmental groups, land use groups and Native American tribal entities for years. The goal was to transport 830,000 barrels of crude, tar sand oil to refineries on the American Gulf Coast each day. On October 16, 2020, the judge ruled against the Tribes on some claims, finding that the Presidents permit only applied to the border and not the entire pipeline. Exactly how much was released will not be clear until it's all recovered, TC Energy said. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. The pipeline faced more than a decade of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based technology that combines geographic data and relevant information about specific locations. In the meantime, the court issued an injunction pursuant to the Clean Water Act in another case that prevents TransCanada from crossing any rivers. Rosebud Sioux Tribes President Rodney Bordeaux delivered the South Dakota State of the Tribes address in January. By the time President Biden took office in 2021, ready to fulfill his campaign promise to revoke the cross-border permit, the dirty energy pipeline had become one of the foremost climate controversies of our time. Early in his presidency, President Trump made it a priority to issue permits for the questionable KXL project without the required tribal consultation, environmental review, or consideration for treaty rights. September: Canadas National Energy Board approves the Canadian section. President Trump did not like these decisions. But the case against . May: TransCanada files a new application with the State Department for the northern part of Keystone XL. The Tribes are taking a stand for their people, their culture, their water and their future, but they also are taking a stand for YOU, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. It is the largest underground water source in the United States. The agencies have not considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on either health and safety or the global oil markets. Today, the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, heard arguments in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump. Treaties are more than solemn promises between nations. The most recent leak, large enough to partially fill a swimming pool, was not big enough to trigger the leak detection system. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and also to oil tank farms and an oil pipeline distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma. The injunction blocking KXL construction has now been lifted. The promises made to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, as well as the Oceti Sakowin, were broken before the ink on Fort Laramie treaties dried. This hearing will focus on the United States motion to dismiss. President Trump tried to go around the courts, the laws, and the will of the American people, in order to put a foreign-owned pipeline on tribal lands, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. And when tar sands oil does spill, its more difficult to clean up than conventional crude because it immediately sinks to the bottom of the waterway. This has proved to be untrue. They are proposing to do so without the tribal consent required under the treaty law. Therefore, on Monday March 2, 2020, the Fort Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a motion for preliminary injunction and asked the court to not allow TransCanada to begin construction of the pipeline while the case is under review. The following are quotes from the project partners: the desecration and destruction of cultural, historic, and sacred sites; the endangerment of tribal members, especially women and children; damage to hunting and fishing resources, as well as the tribal health and economies associated with these activities; the impairment of federally reserved tribal water rights and resources; harm to tribal territory and natural resources in the inevitable event of Pipeline ruptures and spills; and. Nebraska appeals. Our land, water, and people are under direct threat from the KXL pipeline. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. There did occur a series of protests for many months, in opposition of the creation of the pipeline. However, for the Tribes, the KXL fight is just beginning. And TC Energy still must abide by federal and tribal law. In 2015, the U.S. State Department, under President Barack Obama, declined to grant the northern leg of the Keystone XL project the permit required to construct, maintain, and operate the pipeline across the U.S.Canada bordera permit that President Trump later granted and President Biden once again revoked. The second segment was the hotly contested 1,209-mile northern lega shortcut of sortsthat would have run from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska. When industry-friendly politicians took charge of both congressional houses in January 2015, their first order of business was to pass a bill to speed up approval of Keystone XL. It poured 407, 000 gallonsalmost 3,000,000 poundsof crude oil into the ground. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been one of the most vocal groups in working to oppose the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline. TC Energy must follow the law, and that includes our laws and regulations with respect to the construction of this pipeline. These lands are well within the area of impact for even a small rupture and spill. The mining depletes and pollutes freshwater resources, creates massive ponds of toxic waste, and threatens the health and livelihood of the First Nations people who live near them. The water delivery system for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is called the Mni Wiconi, which translates to Water is Life. On February 11, 2019, an 1,800-gallon spill was detected in Missouri on the main Keystone line, and last year more than 400,000 gallons were spilled from the main Keystone line in South Dakota near a tribal community. Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline was permitted in March 2008. Some of the current concerns are rooted in our responsibility to take care of Unci Maka, which is grandmother earth. The State Department provided no explanation in the 2017 decision for its contradictory factual finding; instead, it simply disregarded its previous factual findings and replaced them with a new one. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments and ghosts of the past. The lands, water, and promises made in those treaties were paid for, literally, with the blood of our ancestors and relatives. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. In the two years leading up to the November 2014 midterm elections, the fossil fuel industry spent more than $721 million to court allies in Congress. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community successfully stood strong for years to protect their people, water, and sacred lands from the threat of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has retained the NARF to represent its interests with regard to the Keystone XL pipeline. Pipelines like the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines as well as other fossil fuel projects actively pollute native land and water resources as well as consistently contribute to global warming due to their high greenhouse gas emissions. Canada is considered one of the most water-rich countries in the world and yet many indigenous communities continue to be provided with inadequate access to safe drinking water which provides a large public health concern for these communities. With the original permit revoked, the Ninth Circuit yesterday decided to dismiss as moot the case based on that original permit. The "replacement" pipeline runs mostly on a completely new route through Minnesota, barreling through hundreds of lakes, rivers, aqueducts and wetlands. It would increase mining by accelerating the production and transportation of crude oil. On November 17, 2020, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community, represented by the Native American Rights Fund and co-counsel, filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over their issuing of the KXL permit. The pipelines proposed route crosses through traditional Lakota homelands and treaty territories, and will affect not only the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, but also Native Nations in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Of course, TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. Without Keystone XL, the tar sands industry has been forced to cancel projects rather than shift to rail, subsequently leaving more of the earths dirtiest fuel in the ground where it belongs.