The Kaʻū Calendar News Briefs, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016

Jami Beck, a graduate of Kaʻū High School and Youth Ranger, teaches keiki about the rainforest at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The scholar athlete is also a candidate for Miss Teen Hawaiʻi in Honolulu on Dec. 17. An on-line vote for for Miss Photogenic takes place through Dec. 12. See story below.

CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD is planning to join hundreds to thousands of veterans, many of them Native Americans, this Sunday, Dec. 4 at Standing Rock, North Dakota to protect clean water and historic sites from the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 1,172 mile-long pipeline would transport about half the fracked oil produced at Bakken, North Dakota, taking it past Sioux tribal lands and their freshwater sources, under the Missouri River into South Dakota and Missouri to Illinois, hooking up with other pipelines to refineries.
     Gabbard is scheduled to join the water protectors on the day before the deadline that Army Corp of Engineers set for everyone to leave the pipeline construction area. Calling themselves “Native Water Protectors” rather than protesters, the large group that is camped near the Missouri River grew from about three dozen in April to 5,000 on Labor Day. Comprised of some 300 tribes, including Native Hawaiians, the protectors and their supporters have held their ground for more than six months in hot to frigid weather. Some have been arrested. Their slogan in the Sioux language is “Mni Waconi.” In English, it is “Water is Life.”
      Once completed, the pipeline would carry daily as much as 570,000 barrels of fracked crude oil  past the Sioux lands. Standing Rock Sioux tribal leaders contend that they could lose clean water security, saying the pipeline operator is known for many oil spills. They also claim that construction of the pipeline desecrates sacred burial sites.
     A statement from Gabbard's staff says, “Next weekend, the congresswoman will be joining thousands of veterans from across the country to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota who are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through their tribal lands, with grave concerns about the contamination of their major water source.”
     A GoFundMe has raised more than $500,000 to support the cost of veterans traveling to Standing Rock.

Sone 300 tribes, including Native Hawaiian groups, have supported the Standing Rock Sioux. Photo by Tony Webster

     In an online petition soliciting names to oppose the pipeline, Gabbard writes, “We cannot remain silent while so many of our brothers and sisters continue to stand up against a greedy oil company and an Army Corp of Engineers that have failed to properly follow the law or actually address the important issues of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and neighboring communities.”
     In September, Gabbard and 18 Democrats in the Native American Caucus of the U.S House of Representatives wrote to Pres. Barack Obama saying “The federal government has a moral and legal trust responsibility to ensure that federally permitted projects do not threaten historically or culturally significant tribal places, the trust lands of tribal nations, or the waters that run through them. We stand with tribal leaders in asking you to uphold our federal trust responsibility and protect tribal interests in this and future permitting decisions by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.”

A segment of the Dakota Access Pipeline already constructed in North Dakota. Photo by Tony Webster

     The lawmakers also wrote. “In the instance of the Dakota Access Pipeline, despite its location within a mile of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, the United States Army Corps of Engineers failed in its responsibility to engage in meaningful consultation and collaboration with potentially impacted tribal nations. The lack of proper consultation on the Dakota Access Pipeline has been detrimental to the interests of all stakeholders in this issue, from the tribal governments whose heritage and lands are at risk to the workers hired to construct this pipeline who now face uncertain conditions.”
     On its website the pipeline company states the following: “The pipeline will translate into millions in state and local revenues during the construction phase and an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes. The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is a $3.7 billion investment into the United States directly impacting the local and national labor force by creating 8,000–12,000 construction jobs and up to 40 permanent operating jobs. The committed volume rates of the pipeline project have already created historically high shipment ratios, with the pipeline projected to carry half of the Bakken’s current daily crude oil production. The pipeline will meet or exceed state and federal safety requirements and at a minimum will be designed in accordance with 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 195.”
     President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly an investor in the stock of the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners and was provided with campaign funding by its CEO Kelcy Warren. See more from the company at www.dakotaaccessfacts.com
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