U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), the new chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), made national news on January 31 when he released a statement indicating that Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer had informed him that he had directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) to proceed with the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Hoeven reportedly spoke with Vice President Mike Pence as well before making his statement.
This was especially important news to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, for if the easement had indeed been approved as Hoeven indicated, that would mean a new legal battle would immediately begin to get the Army Corps to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) study that it had vowed to conduct before any more DAPL development could proceed.
The Army Corps started the EIS on January 18 after already saying on December 4 that no easement would be granted for DAPL at Lake Oahe, which is a chief water source and sacred site for the Standing Rock Tribe. But then on January 24, President Donald Trump added an already legendary twist to the mix by signing a Presidential Memorandum that called for DAPL to be completed as originally planned, sans EIS and without any tribal consultation before signing his memo.
By the afternoon of February 1, it was clear that something was wrong with Hoeven’s statement, however. Major General Malcolm Frost, Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army, said at that time that the easement, in fact, had not been approved.
“The Army has initiated the steps outlined in the January 24th Presidential Directive which directs the Acting Secretary of the Army to expeditiously review requests for approvals to construct and operate the Dakota Access Pipeline in compliance with the law,” Frost said in a statement. “These initial steps do not mean the easement has been approved. The Assistant Secretary for the Army Civil Works will make a decision on the pipeline once a full review and analysis is completed in accordance with the directive.”
Democratic senators focused on Indian affairs were alarmed by Hoeven’s statement, as this was not their understanding of where the process was at, according to Senate officials knowledgeable about the situation.
One Senate official, familiar with the Democratic concerns and speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the situation, wondered whether Hoeven was purposely “muddying the waters” on behalf of the Trump administration to get the tribe to stand down on its push for people to support public comment on the EIS. The tribe has asked on its Facebook page for people to “help us fight for land that is rightfully ours by emailing Mr. Gib Owen, the Assistant Secretary for the Army of Civil Works at: gib.a.owen.civ@mail.mil. Please include in the subject line: ‘NOI Comments, Dakota Access Pipeline Crossing’ and in the body of the email, please say: ‘I am concerned about the vast and dire consequences that potential leaks at the proposed Lake Oahe crossing will have on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s treaty rights and urge the Army Corps to look at routing alternatives. I will not be silenced.’ ” Public comment is open until February 20.
Hoeven and his staffers have not responded to requests for comment from ICMN on whether he was purposely misleading regarding the easement, or whether he was misled himself, by Pence or by Army officials. Don Canton, a spokesman for Hoeven, did clarify the situation a bit for the Associated Press, saying that the easement “isn’t quite issued yet, but they plan to approve it.”
Bryan Watt, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), pointed to Frost’s statement when asked whether Hoeven’s previous statement was incorrect.
Watt also noted that Cantwell, a former chair of SCIA, along with Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM), the current vice chair of SCIA, and Jon Tester (D-MT), also a former SCIA chair, sent a letter on February 1 directly to Trump calling for the EIS process already underway to be completed, including notice and comment, as well as for appropriate consultation to be conducted with the impacted parties.
“The senators also urged ‘meaningful consultation’ with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe before any further action on the Dakota Access Pipeline is taken,” Watt noted.
The full text of the letter is online here.
“It appears that your memorandum and the reported decision to grant the easement, seeks to truncate and override the EIS process and predetermine an outcome,” the senators wrote to the president. “This causes us a great deal of concern. Longstanding legal precedent requires the United States to uphold its trust responsibility to tribes and protect the land and resources that were granted to them by treaty.
“By ‘expediting’ this process and proceeding without appropriate consultation and pushing for a predetermined outcome, the United States would be turning its back on its most solemn trust responsibility to the Tribe,” they continued. “We are deeply concerned and believe the United States must uphold its trust and treaty obligations to the tribe and respect the self-determination and wishes of all tribal nations.”
The senators concluded by saying they look forward to Trump’s response. ICMN has tried to reach the White House regarding a number of Indian affairs issues since January 20 with no response to date.