Last weekend, a pipeline in North Dakota owned by a Houston-based company, Oasis Petroleum, ruptured. Currently, nearly 70,000 gallons of crude oil has leaked out from this pipeline into the White Earth River, a stream that flows into the Missouri River and alsothe same river that the standing rock sioux are trying to protect by protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Recap of the Dakota Access Pipeline
On October 10, Indigenous People’s Day, a series of well-known protests beganafter the U.S. Court of Appeals denied the ruling to halt the building of theDakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
This pipeline, also being built by a Houston-based company, is planned to be constructed under the Missouri River for carrying thousands of barrels of crude oil. With the Missouri River being the largest river in the United States, there are possibilities that the pipeline will bust ending inextreme pollution to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s only source of water and water throughout America. In addition to this, the pipeline isbeing builtthrough the ancient burial grounds of theSioux Tribe.
Oil leak in North Dakota
As mentioned above, last weekend a major oil leak occurred. The ruptureof the pipeline occurred around 11 p.m. on Saturday night and it’s cause is unknown. So far, Oasis Petroleum has not been successful in capping the pipeline tostop the flow of oiloutwards.
Because the oil has made its way into the White Earth River which isa forerunner ofthe Missouri River, multiple oil absorbent booms have been installed in efforts to stop its flow downstream.
It is sad to say that the public is notified of very few pipeline spillsthat occur in the United States. This is not the first Oasis pipeline spill in North Dakota; they were responsible for spills in both 2014 and 2015.This occurrenceonly justifies the concerns that the Native American and non-Native American protestors have portrayed through #NoDAPL.It is in great hopes that Oasis Petroleum can put a halt to the oil spill as soon as possible.
