Crisis

In 1982, Congress passed the nuclear waste policy act that said the Department of Energy (DOE) was to build and operate a repository for used nuclear fuel and other highly radioactive waste (NEI). The DOE had until 1998 to find a location and build a site. In 1987, the nuclear waste policy act was amended and the DOE was told to study the Yucca Mountains only because it was a remote desert location (NEI). Even thought it is a desert location it still affects the nearby civilizations. The federal government in 2008 filed a construction license application to

For years, the State of Nevada has found the Yucca Mountain project unacceptable because of the obvious logical and scientific issues that make the site itself unsafe. Additional support for their argument is that other than being far from the nuclear waste, the repository cannot really separate itself and its dangers from the environment and humans. Even though Nevada started with just being upset about the state having the political finger pointed at them to hold the whole nation’s nuclear waste but now their argument is stronger (Adams, 2010). Not only is Yucca Mountains’ size not big enough for the entire countries nuclear waste, but geologic factors could make the waste

Earlier this year the Havasupai Tribe and a coalition of conservation groups sued the United States Forest Service for allowing Energy Fuel Resources Inc. to operate a mine under a 1986 federal environmental review without tribal consultation. The Canyon mine was previously in non-operational status due to low uranium stock prices in 1992. Opponents of the uranium mining operation want the federal environmental review updated and

Justin Worland reports in TIME, since 2010, 3,300 incidents of leaks and ruptures have been reported on oil pipelines and even the smallest spill could damage the tribes water supply. This can be very controversial, but with over 10,000 Native Americans living on the Standing Rock Reservation, many lives may be affected. In fact, the pipeline would travel directly under the Missouri River which is the tribes primary drinking water source. Also, Native Americans received specific rights they have obtained since 1898. The Lakota tribe signed the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1898 that protects hunting, fishing and water rights in the surrounding area(Ward). As a result of signing this treaty, officials cannot threaten their water by installing a pipeline. Furthermore, the 1972 Clean Water Act declares it is unlawful to discharge any pollutant from an identifiable source into bodies of water without a permit(Brodwin). The problem found within the pipeline is that is causes potential harm to drinking water. Therefore, the significance of Native Americans relying on this drinking water overpowers the installation of the Dakota Access

The tribe says that the project will cut through land that is sacred and that the construction will destroy burial sites, prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts. Standing Rock has the right to their land.

Army Corps of Engineers during its environmental assessment” (1). The claim is made that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were never able to assess the new plan and so this can’t be called environmentally racist. However, after the fact that thousands of people are protesting this new plan and saying that this plan will contaminate drinking water and destroy ancient burial grounds, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are still going through with the plan. Coming up with an excuse of “they didn’t have permits at the time to assess the environment” is invalid since they are operating on the land that they said they had no permits too. The Standing Rock area is not to be touched as per treaties signed with the United States, but once again we see that the United States is not honoring their treaties just like they didn’t honor their treaties hundreds of years

For the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, water is sacred, and if an oil pipeline is built it will damage sites that have great historical, religious, and cultural significance to the tribe. Aside from the desecration of sacred sites, the environmental hazards caused by the pipelines and the possibility of a spill will be catastrophic. The US does not need another oil pipeline robbing innocent people of their culture, and threatening a source that keeps us alive.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe claims that the pipeline goes against their culture and history on the reservation. As Worland puts it, it “transverses a historic burial ground and continues a legacy of

The Keystone XL Pipeline has divided North America because it is an enormous environmental issue. It has divided us due to our opinions. Many Americans see the potential it could bring to our country and economy, but there are several environmental problems to consider and health issues to think about before deciding which side to take. Not only do those factors matter but also how it could affect the lives of many Americans. There are two sides to this issue, to either approve or disapprove the Keystone Pipeline project, and by researching I will form an opinion.

Protect the native’s land and the planet! The Dakota Pipeline project is not going to be as beneficial as it’s made out to be. “It’s a 3.7 billion dollar project that would cross four states. The results could be an economic boon that makes the country more self-sufficient or an environmental disaster that destroys sacred Native American sites” (Yan). Construction of the Dakota pipeline does not only violate the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, but implementing this pipeline will release more pollution, risk contamination of the water supply, and provide temporary jobs.

The construction of this pipeline has raised a lot of controversy regarding its necessity, but also in the potential impact on the environment. On the list of controversies, it is facing the established route for the pipeline because it runs half-mile near of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, crossing beneath the Missouri River. The concern is the huge impact this would cause if the pipeline breaks near to the river spilling the crude oil into the river contaminating the drinking water. The other concern is that as this pipe passes very close to the Indian reservation, it also disturbs sacred land. In addition to all this, there is the controversy of the use of eminent domain by the government, to get the land for the construction of the pipeline.

While the mainstream media has its attention focused on North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux tribe in their fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, there are many other tribes also struggling to protect their native ancestral sites and cultural resources throughout the United States that are going unnoticed. One such tribe is the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. This tribe is attempting to stop Aquila Resources’ Back Forty Project which would create a mine alongside and under the treasured Menominee River. This open pit gold, zinc, and copper mine would destroy burial grounds, former raised garden beds, ancient village sites, dance rings, and more. Thus, it is clear that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not the only tribe fighting to protect its culture and environment. In fact, the only unique thing about the Dakota Access Pipeline is the national coverage it has received (Thompson). Therefore, in this paper, I aim to do justice to the Menominee Tribe who has not been so fortunate to find its plights in the public’s view. The Menominee Tribe’s concerns have not been fully taken into account and valued in the mining permit approval process and news coverage of their fight has been severely lacking. This paper will support this claim by utilizing data and information from numerous sources to include data from Aquila Resources about the Project, testimony and stories from the Menominee Tribe, and

(Sills) Therefore, the pipeline would create further problems in the future involving enviromental issues which is why it shouldn’t be built at all. Another piece of evidence from an article provided by CNN claiming how the pipeline endangers wildlife habitat. The Dakota Access pipeline would carry 450,000 barrels of dirty oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois and cut through fragile wildlife habitat, enviromentally sensitive areas and sovereign tribal property. (Yan) The pipeline not only endangers people’s land but animals habitat and potentially their lives. It shows the ignorance of damaging wildlife and adding on to the enviromental problems we as a community already have to be concerned over. These evidentail pieces provide the ways the Dakota Access pipeline could potentially endanger are enviroment now and in the upcoming months ahead. While thousands of protesters contribute to refusing the Dakota Access pipeline construction to continue because of enviromental issues as well as invading the Sioux tribes land, the Army Corps of Engineers claims that not only will it benefit more oil but the route is a safer and more enviromentally friendly way of moving oil to other transportations such as railroads and

The pipeline not only poses a threat to one of only 326 Native American reservations left in this country, but also to the environment as a whole. Regardless of where you stand, the wrongdoing on the part of the United States Government is undeniable. The Dakota Access Pipeline is corrupt at its core and the dangers surrounding its construction have the potential to be catastrophic to the dwindling Native population by threatening their only source of water. A significant saying within the Sioux tribe, especially in times of protest, is a simple one, but one that is clearly not understood by some, and that is “water is

To list a few of them is that it may disrupt Native American sacred land and could contaminate their water, there is always a chance it could have problems and leak, pollution to the environment around it, and it is owned by a company that has a record of oil spills. The Native American tribe (The Standing Rock Sioux) have been protesting this pipeline since April 2016 and it has come up in the news time and again but as one knows the news doesn’t tell the whole truth or both sides. The tribe is protesting because they say the pipeline will disrupt their ancestors ancient burial ground that used to be a part of their reservation but is no longer. The Natural History Museum