Native Americans Continue Fight Against Keystone Pipeline in light of another spill

Last month, a Keystone Pipeline spill released more than 383,000 gallons of oil in North Dakota - equivalent to filling half of an Olympic swimming pool. The spill affected 200,000 square feet of wetlands, which could take years to recover, with many experts saying it may not.

Earlier this year, the Keystone pipeline leaked 1,800 gallons of oil less than half a mile from the Mississippi River. Workers had to excavate sections of the affected pipeline to find and repair the leak.

That leak was nothing compared to the 2017 Keystone spill in South Dakota. It poured 407, 000 gallons, almost 3,000,000 pounds of crude oil into the ground. That spill, not far from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate’s reservation, was the second Keystone spill in South Dakota in seven years. This rate of toxic spills is much more frequent than TransCanada predicted and reported to the federal government. TransCanada estimated South Dakota spills at no more than once every 41 years.

Now TransCanada (TC Energy) has plans to add more miles to their leaky Keystone Pipeline. The proposed Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline would cross Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota, including tribal lands. TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. However, according to media, the KXL pipeline design would only detect 13,000 barrels (535,000 gallons) of tar sands crude leaked in a 24-hour period. The most recent leak, large enough to nearly fill a swimming pool but not big enough to trigger the leak detection system. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. The pipeline is certain to leak (it already has). Those leaks will be undetected unless/until they are huge.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) in coordination with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, on September 10, 2018, sued the Trump Administration for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. The Tribes are asking the court to rescind the illegal issuance of the Keystone XL pipeline presidential permit.

The lawsuit asserts the pipeline crosses tribal lands, the treaties must be honored, and the U.S. must engage in meaningful tribal consultation and obtain tribal consent.

KXL Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) were taking comments up to November 18, 2019. The comment line is now closed. The SEIS describes adverse environmental impacts from building the Keystone XL Pipeline, which supports not building the KXL Pipeline. The existing Keystone pipeline leaks at a much higher rate than company estimates. Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. The dire climate change findings in the SEIS support the argument against the XL pipeline.

Native American Rights Funds state, “This pipeline will benefit a Canadian company and its shareholders. It’s a threat to our climate, our drinking water, and our safety. It has willfully ignored the pipeline’s impacts on tribal communities. Our health and safety should take priority over companies’ profits. Do not allow TC Energy and the Trump Administration to ignore their legal and corporate responsibilities to the American people”.