Dane County Opposed to Dakota Access Pipeline Project

December 01, 2016
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive

                             Resolution To Oppose Will Be Introduced Tonight at the Dane County Board

                                                            

Dane County would go on record officially opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline project under a resolution being introduced at this evening’s County Board meeting. County Executive Joe Parisi worked with Supervisor Al Matano on the resolution that supports the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and others to protect their cultural heritage, their lands and the nation’s natural resources.  The resolution calls for revocation of the permit to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline.

 

“The Dakota Access Pipeline project poses unnecessary harm to sacred burial grounds of the Standing Rock Sioux in spite of federal treaty agreements,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “Thousands of individuals from all walks of life, including most recently thousands of American military veterans, have gathered to stand in solidarity opposed to the project despite adverse cold and snow and in the face of threats of arrests or forcible removal. I agree with the demonstrators that the permit allowing the pipeline crossing should be revoked.”

 

“We stand together today to raise our voices in opposition to the oppression at Standing Rock in North Dakota,” said Dane County Supervisor Al Matano. “Law enforcement have escalated their actions to support the Dakota Access Pipeline, inflicting serious injuries to the native peoples and their supporters who are there to protect sacred lands and the waters.”

 

The Dakota Access Pipeline project is designed to transport 470,000 barrels of crude oil nearly 1,200 miles each day, from North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa and into Illinois at a cost of over $3.7 billion. The proposed route for the pipeline would cross the Missouri River a mile away from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, posing dangers to both water quality and lands of cultural significance. Those trying to bring basic life supplies to those who are demonstrating have faced additional threats, including being prevented from the site.

 

Dane County has been a leader in preserving and protecting the burial sites of this region’s indigenous people and in partnership with the Ho-Chunk Nation completed a countywide inventory of burial sites in 1992.

 

County Board committees will consider the resolution in the coming weeks before final review and approval occurs by the County Board, most likely in January.