The promises made to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, as well as the Oceti Sakowin, were broken before the ink on Fort Laramie treaties dried. 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. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Washington, DC (202) 785-4166. In June 2021, TC Energy announced that it was abandoning its plans for building the pipeline for goodputting an end to a fossil fuel project that had loomed over waterways, communities, and the climate for more than a decade. In 2015, when the Keystone XL pipeline was being debated, numerous Native American tribes and the Indigenous Environmental Network organized against it. Watch President Bordeauxs full State of the Tribe address. 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. The Fort Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, continued their fight against the illegal permitting of the Keystone XL Pipeline with two filings in the US District Court of Montana. Heres everything you need to know about the historic KXL fightand why the pipelines cancellation has had no impact on current oil prices. Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, where mining operations dig up and flatten forests to access the oil below, destroying wildlife habitat and one of the worlds largest carbon sinks. Keystone XL Pipeline, Gas Prices, and Oil Exports, Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact, Keystone XL Pipeline Controversy and False Claims, President Trump and the Keystone XL Pipeline, President Biden and the End of the Keystone XL Pipeline, officially abandoned the project in June 2021, tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Farmers, ranchers, tribes, and conservation groups, abandoning its plans for building the pipeline, Ghost Pipelines: How Landowners Suffer, Long After a Project Gets Canceled, The Future Has Spoken: Its Time to Shut Down DAPL and Stop Line 3, Battered by Floods, Nebraskans Worry About Pipeline Spills, 2018 Wasnt a Completely Horrible Year for the Environment, A Rubber Stamp on Keystone XL? These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. Take action today. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) in coordination with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, on September 10, 2018, sued the Trump Administration for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. Federal agencies have a duty to prevent mineral trespass and protect Indian lands and tribal mineral estates. The federal government must examine potential impacts on the safety and welfare of Native peopleespecially women and children. This lines up with an industry trend: Oil and gas companies are exporting 8.4 million barrels of crude oil and refined fuels every single day. But then the Trump administration would do something to undercut us outside of court. The administration also attempted to issue other permits for the project, all based on flawed environmental analyses, eventually prompting more lawsuits, including two from NRDC and its allies. For tribal lands, the treaties absolutely require this sort of review. Frighteningly, the KXL pipeline design would only detect 13,000 barrels (535,000 gallons) of tar sands crude leaked in a 24-hour period. Any project that crosses tribal lands must be in compliance with tribal laws and regulations. The Pros And Cons Of Trans Alaska Pipeline. We are thrilled that the project has been canceled.. 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. Treaties are more than solemn promises between nations. See our request for intervention. Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. The Native American Rights Fund and our clients will continue to fight to ensure our treaties are upheld and that the health and welfare of our people is protected. President Trump is now a defendant and the case is now called Rosebud et al v. Trump, et al. All information was gathered from public documents. It was a political step, having nothing to do with what the law actually requires. The projects corporate backerthe Canadian energy infrastructure company TC Energyofficially abandoned the project in June 2021 following President Joe Bidens denial of a key permit on his first day in office. That leak was nothing compared to the 2017 Keystone spill in South Dakota. NRDC and its partners also found the majority of Keystone XL oil would have been sent to markets overseasaided by a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports. However, for the Tribes, the KXL fight is just beginning. The biggest concern with the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a spill in an environmentally sensitive area, such as the . Anchorage, AK (907) 276-0680 It also traverses land that Native. EPA staff perform oil and sediment sampling near Battle Creek, Michigan, after the Kalamazoo spill. DAPL may be underway, but the water protectors at Standing Rock taught us a lot about going up against the fossil fuel industry. NARF has two important updates regarding our defense of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community against the Keystone XL pipeline. Additionally, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe operates its own water delivery system, which is part of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project. The mineral estates qualify as Indian lands and the Tribe has jurisdiction over them. The 2019 supplemental environmental impact statement has numerous issues and shortcomings. But immediately after taking office, President Donald Trump brought the zombie project back to life, along with the legal battles against it. However, despite youth and elderly leaders being in the front during the inevitable standoffs with police, Mace, tasers, and rubber bullets were used against the protestors. Revoking the illegally issued pipeline permit is a start, but we call on the Biden administration to do more, to go further, to respect the rights of Native peoples and improve the relationships between tribes and the federal government.. It would increase mining by accelerating the production and transportation of crude oil. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump greenlighted the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring it a "great day for American jobs" and siding with energy advocates over environmental groups in a heated debate over climate change. The United States formally agreed, among other things, to keep outsiders off Sioux and other tribal nations territory and protect tribal natural resources. President Bidens action today is an important first step in correcting the callous disregard for tribal sovereignty that has flourished in recent years. Earlier this year, the Keystone pipeline leaked 1,800 gallons of oil less than half a mile from the Mississippi River. Frighteningly, the KXL pipeline design would only detect 13,000 barrels (535,000 gallons) of tar sands crude leaked in a 24-hour period. ), It would also have led to greater greenhouse gas emissionswhich, the latest scientific reports makes clear, we simply cant afford if were to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts. However, maps now reveal that the pipeline will cross tribal lands and water suppliesso the pipeline and the president MUST comply with tribal laws and treaties. Bulldozers were seen this week grading the land in Tripp County, South Dakota, adjacent to Rosebud lands. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. The federal government argues that the treaties dont matter. The XL stands for export limited. If completed, KXL would add another 510,000 barrels of capacity. State Disclosures. The treaties and laws guarantee us protections, and we are committed to see that those laws are upheld., Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andy Werk also commented, The TransCanada announcement is a relief to those of us who stood in the pipelines path. The Keystone XL pipeline would cross the United States border into Montana, then cut through the Great Sioux Reservation, as set forth in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, in South Dakota and finally Nebraska to Steele City where the crude would mix with US crude reserves and continue to Texas for export. 6210 Bristol Pkwy Culver City CA 90230-6924. BILLINGS, Mont. In late 2018 and early 2019, the courts repeatedly blocked TransCanadas attempts to start construction on the Keystone XL pipeline. The US did not adequately review the pipelines proposed route and whether it crosses tribal territory. See the open letter from President Kindle for more information on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes position. November: The Obama administration rejects TransCanadas application to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Trespassing into Rosebuds mineral estates, held in trust, without Rosebuds consent is a violation of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. Five years ago, a pipeline spilled a million gallons of tar sands crude into a Michigan riverand were still cleaning it up. In fact, the treaties were created specifically for this sort of violation. Historic flooding recently inundated parts of the Cornhusker State where the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would pass through. March: The Trump White House exempts the Keystone Pipeline from the requirement to use U.S. steel. Even worse, building Keystone XL would have meant enduring those risks just to send the fuel to our overseas rivalsand the profits to Big Oil. Together with the Fort Belknap Indian Community, we brought a lawsuit to stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through our territories. The Tribes filed this amended complaint (1) to stop the President from trying to circumvent the court and (2) to add claims against TC Energy Corp. (formerly TransCanada Corp.) because maps now show the pipeline corridor crossing tribal territory and water supplies. Because of the highly corrosive and acidic nature of the tar sands oil, there contains a higher likelihood that the pipeline will leak. NARF and our clients are confident in our claims against the construction of the pipeline, and we are optimistic the court will not allow this case to be dismissed. Because it crosses the U.S.-Canada border, Phase 4 does require a Presidential Permit; however, it has been met with opposition since its initial proposal. June-July: Increased opposition to Keystone XL includes legislators and scientists speaking out against the project; the Environmental Protection Agency questions the need for the pipeline extension. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based technology that combines geographic data and relevant information about specific locations. In South Dakota, the pipeline would cross through Tripp County, just miles from the boundaries of the Rosebud Indian Reservation and within yards of Rosebuds trust lands and tribal members allotments. June: Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline goes online. The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planets dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to marketand fast. The Dakota Access Pipeline The controversial construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) gained national and international attention when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accepted an application filed by Energy Transfer Partners, a Texas-based developer behind the project. Read the memo in support of preliminary injunction. Once resubmitted, the U.S. State Department did not bother to seek any new information or public comment, but instead quickly granted TC Energy a permit. But Keystone XL . The one filed by Rosebud Sioux last week cites the fact that the Trump Administration has not undertaken any analysis of: trust obligations, the potential impact on tribal hunting and fishing rights, the potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, or the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline. On April 23, 2019, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, filed an amended complaint against TransCanada and President Trump over the handling of the Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline was proposed in 2008 and has been referred to as either the Keystone XL pipeline or KXL. Good Luck Persuading These Nebraskans, The Dirty Fight Over Canadian Tar Sands Oil, 10 Threats from the Canadian Tar Sands Industry, The Dakota Access Pipeline Fight Fuels Battles Across the Country, Still No Approved Route for KXL in Nebraska, Meet Jane Kleeb: One of Nebraskas First and Fiercest KXL Opponents, Why We Must Stop the Flow of Tar Sands Oil, Win! 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 Tribes are entitled to protect the health and welfare of their people and territory and to ensure that their treaties are upheld. Jessica Ravitz, CNN. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order revoking the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline permit issued by the Trump administration. Of course, TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. A similar crude oil project, the Dakota Access Pipeline has received media attention in previous years due to the police and state reactions to the protests over its creation. Finally, massive fossil fuel infrastructure investments like KXL undermine efforts to minimize global warming and prioritize clean energy like wind and solar. NRDC.org stories are available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you cant resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you cant republish our material wholesale or automaticallyyou need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when youve used one of our stories. Leading climate scientist and former NASA researcher James Hansen has warned that fully exploiting Canadas tar sands reserves by moving forward with these projects would mean game over for our climate. New climate change information requires a new environmental impact analysis. It's derived from a sludgy, sticky deposit found beneath the wilds of northern Albertas boreal forest. Snaking its way from Alberta to Nebraska, the pipeline would cross the United States-Canada border in Philips County, Montana, directly adjacent to Blaine County and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. In 2017, the US State Department released a study which proved that carbon emissions could be between 5 and 20 percent higher than the original 17 percent estimation. Instead, despite the danger to tribal citizens and all of the people living in the area, TransCanada is pushing to quickly build as much of the pipeline as possible. The Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline is the proposed Phase 4 of the Keystone Pipeline system, which already is online with a capacity to carry more than 500,000 barrels per day. September: Canadas National Energy Board approves the Canadian section. Listen to more voices from the community on the NARF YouTube channel. 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 . The city was named after its founder, Harry Culver. Like the US Constitution, treaties are the law of the land, and no one is above that law, said NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell. August-September: Keystone XL protesters organize two weeks of civil disobedience at the White House. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Boulder, CO (303) 447-8760 This pipeline will benefit a Canadian company and its shareholders. April: The State Department suspends the regulatory process indefinitely, citing uncertainty about the court case in Nebraska. This dirty, dangerous oil, which is almost impossible to clean and affects the health of people, is bad news for our countryand the planet. On his fourth day in office, Trump signed an executive order to allow Keystone XL to move forward. They prohibited any construction until the Trump Administration and TransCanada conduct the necessary review. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to cancel the Keystone XL cross-border permit should he win the presidencyand on his first day in office, he made good on that promise. 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. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares . For over a decade, Indigenous nations and communities have continuously denied consent to the KXL pipeline from crossing their territories, citing environmental concerns, the desecration of sacred sites, treaty rights violations, and the risks of sexual violence connected with man camps. Until 2016,Canadaofficially objected to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Opposition to Keystone XL centered on the devastating environmental consequences of the project. Digital maps are a powerful way to educate the public about connections between oil and gas extraction, climate change, social justice, and Indigenous rights. Our water sources are threatened by the dirty tar sand crude, our ancestral homelands are in the direct path of the pipeline, and our people already are suffering the effects of nearby construction worker man camps. TransCanada failed to comply with Rosebud and Fort Belknap law. The new complaint in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump responds to President Trumps March 29 presidential permit. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. In a last-ditch attempt to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, 21 states led by attorneys . NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth praised the decision, The courts decision means that ALL of the tribes claims on the current permits will proceed. As much as they would like to, TransCanada cannot ignore the laws that protect Native American people and lands.. April: TransCanada submits a new route to officials in Nebraska for approval. Low oil prices and increasing public concern over the climate led Shell, Exxon, Equinor (then Statoil), and Total to either sell their tar sands assets or whittle them down. 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. So, in March he withdrew the State Departments permit and issued his own presidential permit as an attempt to avoid any environmental or regulatory oversight and to circumvent the court decisions. A timeline of the Keystone Pipeline project is below. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. The people and the planet can claim more than a few victoriesand 2019 is looking better already. People must understand that the Ogalalla Aquifer that this pipeline will cross covers 8 states and waters 30 percent of American crops. Tar sands lie beneath the northern Alberta boreal forest. January: Obama rejects the Keystone Pipeline, saying the December bill did not allow enough time to review the new route. The 2019 pipeline approval violates both of these provisions. But activists say the water protector strategy has proven effective with the cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline. The injunction blocking KXL construction has now been lifted. With this construction, workers will descend on the communities along the pipelines proposed path. In a huge success for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline, TransCanada (TC Energy) announced in June 2021 that it is terminating its Keystone XL pipeline project. If and when TransCanada provides sufficient maps of the pipelines route, we expect that we will see even more affected tribal lands. And the President and TC Energy would like to run a pipeline of highly toxic, cancer-causing sludge called tar sands right through it. Although, TransCanada, now known as TC Energy, has said that it has lost the 2019 construction season for the KXL pipeline, the company has asked the courts to lift the current injunction so that they can immediately begin to build their man-camps and pipe-yards. Indigenous leaders are encouraging him to go even further and cancel more controversial fossil fuel projects, such as the Dakota Access pipeline. NRDC advocates were part of a broad coalition that helped stop Keystone XLfor good. You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and If the Presidents goal was to avoid complying with the District Courts decision in that case, it worked. The water has been there to support the people on their ancestral lands since time immemorial. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) in coordination with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, on September 10, 2018, sued the Trump Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. The Native American Rights Fund is prepared to fight to ensure those treaties are honored and the water is protected.. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Originally founded as a whites-only city, or sundown town, since the 1980s it has become fairly diverse with one of the most diverse school systems in the United States. The courts intervention is needed to protect the Tribes precious lands, water, natural, and cultural resources. The pipeline would have stretched 1,179 . The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, January: Trump signs a presidential memorandum inviting TransCanada to resubmit their application for a Presidential Permit and directing the Secretary of State, Department of the Interior, and Department of the Army to fast-track the decision. (For evidence, note the 2010 tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, a disaster that cost Enbridge more than a billion dollars in cleanup fees and took six years to settle in court.) February: TransCanada announces it will build Phase 3 of the Keystone Pipeline as a separate project that is not subject to presidential permission, since it does not cross an international border. It was a blatant attempt to prioritize corporate interests over the health and well-being of the regions citizens and tribes authority to govern their lands and protect their citizens. January: ConocoPhillips acquires a 50% stake in the project. Large stretches of Keystone have been shut down. Its route intercepted Native American land and posed a threat to their water supply. TC Energy has indicated it will be looking at a very ambitious 2020 construction season to make up for the lost time, as well. This pipeline transports 470,000 barrels of crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, over 1,172 miles. On the same day the Trump Administration announced that up to 240,000 people may succumb to the COVID-19 virus, TransCanada announced it is proceeding with KXL pipeline construction. When they entered into treaties with the United States, the tribal nations meant to protect their natural resources (water, grasslands, and game) and keep people from crossing their lands. They were bargained for with the blood of our ancestors. Several indigenous leaders, including Dallas Goldtooth of the Mdewakanton Dakota and Dine nations and Faith Spotted Eagle of the Ihanktonwan Dakota nation, have seen Bidens executive order as a sign of the administration keeping its campaign promise to work against climate change and work with indigenous communities. Neither the president nor wealthy foreign corporations are above the laws of our country. February : The Keystone-Cushing Phase 2 of the pipeline goes online. 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. Tribes and the United States government sign Treaties of Fort Laramie establishing respective territories. NARF will not allow the US government to ignore or forget the agreements made with tribal nations. July: The State Department extends its review of Keystone, saying they need more time for review before a final environmental impact assessment can be released. Oil trains wont get better brakes, air conditioners wont get safer chemicals, and children lose their EPA advocate. Regardless of the new permit and political maneuvering, the President is required to honor the treaties and the Constitution. Some three million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country, but KXL wasnt your average pipeline, and tar sands oil isnt your average crude. The 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie and other federal laws requires Rosebud consent to cross Rosebud territory. He also signs an order requiring pipelines in the United States to be built with U.S. steel. One was Nebraskas Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of Americas irrigation water. Construction has begun despite the fact that there are three lawsuits currently going on. The era of building fossil fuel pipelines without scrutiny of their potential impact on climate change and on local communities is over, Swift says. It connects Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas. Dave Heineman approves the proposed route for Keystone XL, sending the project back to the State Department for review.