The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is proposed to carry oil from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota 1,172 miles to Pakota, Illinois (just 7 miles shorter than the rejected Keystone XL pipeline). Currently under construction, it is sited to cross the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Nation in North Dakota. It was initially proposed to cross the Missouri River north of the capital city of Bismarck, ND, but that plan was rejected out of concern for the water supply of Bismarck residents. Pipelines eventually leak; a leak in the pipeline under the Missouri River would poison the water supply of not just Standing Rock, but residents of six states downstream. 

DAPL was fast-tracked with minimal environmental oversight and minimal consultation with Standing Rock tribal officials. The process undermines the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and contradicts the federal government’s doctrine of trust responsibility to protect tribes.

We respectfully request that President Barack Obama instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement to better evaluate the potential effects of the pipeline.