CEO of Energy Transfer Partners Kelcy Warren gave a written statement on ETP's commitment to complete the Dakota Access pipeline despite a September 9th statement from the US Departments of Justice, Army, and Interior stating the Army Corp would not approve construction of the pipeline near Lake Oahe. The statement says ETP will meet officials in Washington, D.C. This likely means that ETP will manipulate members of Congress to get what it wants.

The statement claims there is misinformation in the media regarding Dakota Access, and that ETP will communicate more clearly with the government and media. This means one can expect ETP to manipulate the mainstream media into advancing its own position, and silencing any attempted media attention on Dakota Access opposition. The statement claims that the entire pipeline route crosses only private property not subject to Native American control or ownership. This is a bald faced lie.

Dakota Access pipeline route crosses Native American treaty territory

The statement says that ETP has obtained permits from the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa.

These permits are null and void. The Dakota Access pipeline route crosses the legally recognized treaty territory of the Oceti Sakowin (Sioux Nation). The United States recognized the full extent of Sioux Nation territory in the Ft. Laramie treaty. The treaty prohibits the US from building these types of infrastructure projects through Sioux Nation territory.

In addition, as of December 2010 the United States is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP clearly states that indigenous peoples must have free, prior and informed consent to these types of projects. In a response to Warren's statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault II expressed that the Sioux Nation will exercise every legal effort to stop the pipeline.

Only the Sioux Nation can grant Warren a legally valid permit, they will not. Warren claims that the state historical preservation office did not identify any Native American sacred sites. These sites were identified by Lakota cultural expert Tim Mentz, and deliberately destroyed by Dakota Access workers to prevent their identification. Warren's statement says that ETP will continue construction within the confines of the law.

The confines of the law

The confines of the law means the existing statutory framework that the September 9th DOJ statement says that indigenous peoples must work within. US domestic Indian law and policy is racist. Federal courts are aptly described as the courts of the conqueror.

Both the courts and the existing statutory framework deliberately disadvantage indigenous nations, and benefit the US government and the powerful private interests it colludes with. The most obvious area of collusion is with local law enforcement who actively violate the civil rights of peaceful demonstrators to the benefit of a powerful private corporation.

Warren's statement falsely claims that Dakota Access workers have been threatened or attacked by the water protectors. The only people that have been attacked are water protectors, bitten by dogs from GS4 security hired by Dakota Access. Warren even has the audacity to discuss encroachment on private property. It is the pipeline that is encroaching on private property.

An oil pipeline is not a public utility within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment takings clause of the US constitution. Private property owners along the pipeline route should challenge the unconstitutional taking of their property by eminent domain. The most absurd claim of Warren's statement is that the pipeline is safe and will not leak. That's what they said about the Titanic. North Dakota has already experienced over 300 oil pipeline spills and 750 oil field incidents. Warren tells workers to ask Congress to force the pipeline through. Indigenous nations must work harder to see that it is not built.