This rate of toxic spills is much more frequent than TransCanada predicted and reported to the federal government. The Tribes are asking the court to put a short hold on construction until a hearing scheduled later this month. As an expansion of the companys existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2010 (and continues to send Canadian tar sands crude oil from Alberta to various processing hubs in the middle of the United States), the pipeline promised to dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up under Canadas boreal forest. Federal agencies have a duty to prevent mineral trespass and protect Indian lands and tribal mineral estates. This story was originally published on April 7, 2017, and has been updated with new information and links. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially stated that, on a wells-to-wheels basis, tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other types of crude, but several years later, the State Department revised this number upward, stating that the emissions could be 5 percent to 20 percent higher than previously indicated. That means burdening the planet with an extra 178.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the same impact as 38.5 million passenger vehicles or 45.8 coal-fired power plants. When industry-friendly politicians took charge of both congressional houses in January 2015, their first order of business was to pass a bill to speed up approval of Keystone XL. On October 16, 2020, the court held that the Presidents permit only applied to the border and not the entire pipeline, but that the tribes could sue the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its KXL permitting. A similar crude oil project, the Dakota Access Pipeline has received media attention in previous years due to the police and state reactions to the protests over its creation. Last month, the Keystone base pipeline spilled in Missouri; while the spill was caught early and a small amount of crude was lost, the fact that it spilled speaks volumes to the safety of such projects going forward. Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, where mining operations dig up and flatten forests to access the oil below, destroying wildlife habitat and one of the worlds largest carbon sinks. In January, TransCanada reported that it would begin Keystone XL pipeline construction in April despite ongoing questions about the projects permitting. The Native American Rights Fund is prepared to fight to ensure those treaties are honored and the water is protected.. The pipeline path skirts federal tribal land boundaries in South Dakota, Baker said, yet will still cut "almost through the heart" of a large protion of the land set aside for exclusive use by tribal nations, as recognized by the 1851 and 1868 Laramie Treaties.The pipe would cross native spiritual sites, burial grounds, hunting lands and sources of drinking water, including the Mni Wiconi . Browse our map catalog downloadable PDFs and our interactive maps. For tribal lands, the treaties absolutely require this sort of review. Nevertheless, in the mid-2000s, with gas prices on the rise, oil companies ramped up production and sought additional ways to move their product from Canadas remote tar sands fields to midwestern and Gulf Coast refineries. This pipeline transports 470,000 barrels of crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, over 1,172 miles. Because it crosses the U.S.-Canada border, Phase 4 does require a Presidential Permit; however, it has been met with opposition since its initial proposal. This undisputed fact, that the pipeline would cross Rosebud mineral estates held in trust, has several legal implications: The publicly available maps that the Tribes have seen show that the pipeline corridor also would cross Rosebud surface and mineral estates. Joye Braun, IEN Community Organizer, The spill, more than 400,000 gallons of unprocessed crude, is the seventh largest on-shore spill since 2002. This has proved to be untrue. The judge found that the US State Department had not fulfilled its duties to the American people when it issued TransCanada a 2017 permit for the Keystone XL pipeline without the required environmental and safety review. a new mini-documentary entitled Take Action: Protect Our Land., their response to the defendants motions to dismiss. The biggest concern with the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a spill in an environmentally sensitive area, such as the . Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. View detailed information and reviews for 5855 Green Valley Cir in Culver City, CA and get driving directions with road conditions and live traffic updates along the way. Our Land Use, Environmental Protection, and Public Utilities Codes directly apply, and TC Energy has failed to comply with them. Low oil prices and increasing public concern over the climate led Shell, Exxon, Equinor (then Statoil), and Total to either sell their tar sands assets or whittle them down. Pipeline representatives start visiting landowners potentially affected by Keystone XL. A timeline of the Keystone Pipeline project is below. Back in 2017, the mainline of the Keystone pipeline ruptured in South Dakota outside of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home to the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. Like that of the United States, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe also has laws that require us to ensure that any company seeking to build a pipeline in our territory must obtain our consent. And TC Energy still must abide by federal and tribal law. November: The Obama administration rejects TransCanadas application to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Rosebud has land use, environmental, and utilities codes that apply, and TransCanada must comply with Rosebud law on Rosebud land. It was a blatant attempt to prioritize corporate interests over the health and well-being of the regions citizens and tribes authority to govern their lands and protect their citizens. On June 6, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a case that sought to revoke the permit for TC Energys (TransCanada) Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline. NRDC advocates were part of a broad coalition that helped stop Keystone XLfor good. to Steele City, Neb.) These lands are Indian lands. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Boulder, CO (303) 447-8760 And the President and TC Energy would like to run a pipeline of highly toxic, cancer-causing sludge called tar sands right through it. Good Luck Persuading These Nebraskans, The Dirty Fight Over Canadian Tar Sands Oil, 10 Threats from the Canadian Tar Sands Industry, The Dakota Access Pipeline Fight Fuels Battles Across the Country, Still No Approved Route for KXL in Nebraska, Meet Jane Kleeb: One of Nebraskas First and Fiercest KXL Opponents, Why We Must Stop the Flow of Tar Sands Oil, Win! The pipeline, which had severe environmental and human rights implications, has been on a long road towards failure. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. The pipeline is certain to leak (it already has). TransCanada estimated South Dakota spills at no more than once every 41 years. Elections turn control of the U.S. Congress over to Republicans, who pledge to move forward on Keystone XL. The KXL order was issued on Wednesday as part of the first wave of Biden's promised environmental justice and climate action policies, which include rejoining the Paris agreement and halting. And when tar sands oil does spill, its more difficult to clean up than conventional crude because it immediately sinks to the bottom of the waterway. Obama says TransCanada is free to submit another application. The court also noted that the Tribes could file a new suit against the Bureau of Land Management given it has approved the pipeline in the remainder of the United States. In fact, TransCanada outlined several activities scheduled for April all along the route of the pipeline, not just at the border. The online map can be found here: https://climatealliancemap.org/kxl-map Opposition emerges in Nebraska. The US did not adequately review the pipelines proposed route and whether it crosses tribal territory. This pipeline will benefit a Canadian company and its shareholders. In addition, the possibility of damaging community water supplies, valuable agricultural lands, and wildlife habitats is not a cost our clients are willing to bear on behalf of a foreign extractive company propping up a dying energy industry. Many had hoped that the disastrous project was finally done for in November 2015, when the Obama administration vetoed the pipelineacknowledging its pervasive threats to climate, ecosystems, drinking water sources, and public health. June 25, 2020 (Bemidji, MN) - The Indigenous Environmental Network, in collaboration with the Climate Alliance Mapping Project and the Keystone XL Mapping Project, have just launched the KXL Pipeline Map, an interactive tool that highlights the route of the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, a tar sands project of the TC Energy corporation.This map is a free and public tool designed to support . You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and But then the Trump administration would do something to undercut us outside of court. The administration also attempted to issue other permits for the project, all based on flawed environmental analyses, eventually prompting more lawsuits, including two from NRDC and its allies. Upon entering office, President Trumpwith his pro-polluter cabinet of fossil fuel advocates, billionaires, and bankersquickly demonstrated that his priorities differed. On March 28, 2017, his State Department illegally approved a cross-border permit for the pipeline, reversing the Obama administrations prior determination that KXL would not serve the national interest. The pipeline faced more than a decade of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. December: U.S. legislators pass a bill with a provision saying President Barack Obama must make a decision on the pipelines future in the next 60 days. Although, TransCanada, now known as TC Energy, has said that it has lost the 2019 construction season for the KXL pipeline, the company has asked the courts to lift the current injunction so that they can immediately begin to build their man-camps and pipe-yards. President Trump tried to go around the courts, the laws, and the will of the American people, in order to put a foreign-owned pipeline on tribal lands, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. Even its maps do not give enough detail to show impacts on Indian lands. On the map users will be able to locate the pipeline route, pumping stations, pipe storage yards, and man camp locations (also known as construction camps). harm to the political integrity, economic stability, and health and welfare of the Tribes. On November 17, 2020, the Tribes filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Interior and the BLM over their January 2020 issuing of the KXL permit. When TC Energy said the pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of full-time, permanent jobs would hover around 35 after construction. Snaking its way from Alberta to Nebraska, the pipeline would cross the United States-Canada border in Philips County, Montana, directly adjacent to Blaine County and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The market case had also deteriorated. Its nasty stuff., A fully realized Keystone XL would have led to more mining of that nasty stuff by accelerating the pace at which its produced and transported. Therefore, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utiity Commission held public hearings on the proposed TransCanada KXL Pipeline on Tuesday, May 28, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the St. Francis Indian School Gym, 502 Warrior Dr, St Francis, SD 57572. Leading climate scientist and former NASA researcher James Hansen has warned that fully exploiting Canadas tar sands reserves by moving forward with these projects would mean game over for our climate.