Native Americans say Dakota Access pipeline threatens water supply
Oct 27 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned aircraft from flying over an area in North Dakota where protesters are demonstrating against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Temporary Flight Restriction, issued by the FAA on Wednesday, bars any aircraft other than those belonging to law enforcement from flying within a 4-nautical-mile radius of the town of Cannon Ball, North Dakota. The town is located near a site where a section of the Dakota Access pipeline would be buried underneath the Missouri River.
The restriction is effective until Nov. 5 because of “hazards,” which were not specified in the advisory.
A spokesman for the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmental activists have been protesting construction of the 1,172-mile (1,886 km) pipeline for several months, saying it threatens the water supply and historical tribal sacred sites. Dozens of protesters have been arrested near the pipeline.
Native American protesters on Monday occupied privately owned land in the path of the proposed pipeline, claiming they were the land’s rightful owners under an 1851 treaty with the U.S. government.
The group of protesters refused to move after being asked to do so by law enforcement on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
A spokeswoman for the Morton County Sheriff also did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Mark Ruffalo this week joined the demonstrations that have already drawn considerable celebrity support.
The pipeline, being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would offer the fastest and most direct route available so far to bring Bakken shale oil from North Dakota to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Supporters say it would also be safer and more cost-effective than transporting the oil by road or rail.
(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Tom Brown)
