Standing Rock protesters celebrate 'big victory' as pipeline construction halted

Feds block Dakota Access Pipeline's route, say alternatives must be explored

Protesters shouted 'water is life' upon learning Dakota Access Pipeline construction had been halted nearing the Standing Rock reservation. (Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

Standing Rock protesters celebrated Sunday as news broke that construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline near their territory has been halted.

Moira Kelley, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency, said in a news release Sunday that the administration will not allow the four-state, $3.8-billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The decision came a day before the government's deadline for the several hundred people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment to leave the federal land. But demonstrators say they're prepared to stay, and authorities say they won't forcibly remove them.

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Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing.

"Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."

The 1,885-kilometre pipeline — owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP — is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe just outside the reservation near Cannon Ball, N.D. The Dallas-based company did not immediately comment on the news.

"People are breathing a sigh of relief today and the sun is shining bright and there's blue skies here in Cannonball," protester Clayton Thomas-Muller, a member of the Colomb Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, told CBC News.

"There's certainly an atmosphere of celebration at this show of power and influence of the climate Indigenous rights movement here in the United States."

'Water is life'
For months, thousands of people have descended upon a handful of camps in the area to voice opposition to the pipeline, which they said threatened drinking water and would harm sacred sites.

The largest is the Oceti Sakowin Camp north of Cannonball River, land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency operated under the U.S. Department of Defense.

The protest has garnered support from thousands who have flocked to North Dakota to protest against the completion of the line.

Hundreds of demonstrators near the Dakota Access pipeline protest camp broke into cheers and chanted "water is life" in the Lakota Sioux language as news spread constructed was halted.

"This is a big victory for water protectors that have been here for months and months and months," Thomas-Muller said.

The tribe issued a statement thanking protesters, supporters and U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.

"With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and our loved ones, many of whom have sacrificed as well," the statement reads.

However, some of the protesters, who call themselves water protectors, say they are staying put.

Miles Allard of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said he was pleased by the decision but remained cautious, saying opponents of the pipeline "don't know what [president-elect Donald] Trump is going to do."

Allard says he's been telling his people "to stand up and not to leave until this is over."

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Department of Justice will "continue to monitor the situation" and stands "ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions."

'A chilling signal'
Not everyone is pleased with the outcome.

North Dakota Congressmen Kevin Cramer said the decision from the feds "sends a very chilling signal" for those who want to build infrastructure in the U.S.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple called it a "serious mistake" that "prolongs the dangerous situation" of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the protests, said that "local law enforcement does not have an opinion" on the easement and that his department will continue to "enforce the law."

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