The giant bancorporation has just amended its Environmental Responsibility Policy to ban funding oil and gas pipelines.

According to its new guidelines, “The company does not provide project financing for the construction of oil or natural gas pipelines. Relationships with clients in the oil and gas pipeline industries are subject to the Bank’s enhanced due diligence processes.”

And part of the bank’s enhanced due diligence will be to consider the projects they fund by their environmental impact on indigenous people.

The additional due diligence focuses on: “Past and present environmental compliance with laws and regulations, internal framework related to environmental risk management, and potential impact on dependent communities and indigenous people.”

Industries or sectors include coal mining, forestry, unconventional oil and gas production, hydraulic fracturing, oil sands, Arctic, Alaska, or offshore oil extraction, metals mining, electric power generation, nuclear, coal and hydroelectric.

The bank says it is not one of 17 banks that have financed DAPL directly, but admits it is part of a group of 26 banks that have funded lines of credit to Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of DAPL, “for general corporate purposes.”


It does not appear as if U.S. Bank will pull out of its current commitment, as it says in its sustainability fact sheet “We are obligated to fulfill our contract with ETF.”

According to an Energy Transfer Partners filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Bank National Association has committed $175 million to a line of credit.

The $450 billion asset bank, based in Minneapolis and the fifth largest bank in the United States, suffered considerable bad publicity when protestors unveiled a giant banner in the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis during a football game on January 1. The stadium is home to the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

The 10 foot by 40 foot banner read “U.S. Bank DIVEST #NoDAPL.”

There is at least one more item in the bank’s new environmental responsibility policy that relates to Natives.

Under the forestry section the bank states “We do not finance forestry operations that negatively impact indigenous people and/or dependent communities without the provision of culturally appropriate representation.”

The bank prides itself on its environmental awareness and says “In 2016 alone, through the U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., we committed more than $1.5 billion in renewable energy projects throughout the U.S. Those investments helped power more than 300,000 homes and employ more than 22,000 people. In addition, the carbon off-set of these investments is equal to taking more than 445,000 cars off the road or planting about 2 million acres of forest.”
Source

Leak raises fresh concerns about hazards to waterways and outrages indigenous groups, who have long warned of threat to environment

The Dakota Access pipeline has suffered its first leak, outraging indigenous groups who have long warned that the project poses a threat to the environment.

The $3.8bn oil pipeline, which sparked international protests last year and is not yet fully operational, spilled 84 gallons of crude oil at a South Dakota pump station, according to government regulators.

Although state officials said the 6 April leak was contained and quickly cleaned, critics of the project said the spill, which occurred as the pipeline is in the final stages of preparing to transport oil, raises fresh concerns about the potential hazards to waterways and Native American sites.

“They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks won’t happen, that nothing can go wrong,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been fighting the project for years. “It’s always been false. They haven’t even turned the thing on and it’s shown to be false.”

The April spill, which was first uncovered this week by a local South Dakota reporter, illustrates the need for the more robust environmental assessment that the tribe has long demanded, said Hasselman.


“It doesn’t give us any pleasure to say, ‘I told you so.’ But we have said from the beginning that it’s not a matter of if, but when,” the Earthjustice attorney told the Guardian on Wednesday. “Pipelines leak and they spill. It’s just what happens.”

Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota department of environment and natural resources, said the spill was relatively minor and was caused by a mechanical failure at a surge pump.

“It’s not uncommon to have a small release at a pump station,” he said, adding that the company responded immediately and cleaned up the liquid petroleum. The spill occurred inside a “secondary containment area” and there were no environmental impacts, he added.


Standing Rock Sioux tribe chairman Dave Archambault II said the spill is another sign that the courts should intervene.

“Our lawsuit challenging this dangerous project is ongoing, and it’s more important than ever for the court to step in and halt additional accidents before they happen – not just for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our resources but for the 17 million people whose drinking water is at risk,” he said in a statement.

The company and the state made no announcements about the spill after it occurred.

Walsh said the department only releases public notices of spills when there is an imminent threat to a waterway or public health. This was the pipeline’s first spill in the state, he said.


Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. A spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the corporation maintains that the pipeline is safe and that the leak was contained in the proper manner. The Associated Press also reported that no other Dakota Access spills have been documented in any other states.

The company has fought in court to keep information about the status of the project confidential.

Hasselman said these kinds of spills should be immediately disclosed.

“What kind of oversight and accountability is there if no one even finds out about these things until weeks later?”
 Source

Energy Transfer Partners' new Rover Pipeline has spilled millions of gallons of drilling fluids into Ohio's wetlands. Construction of the $4.2 billion project only began last month.

According to regulatory filings obtained by Sierra Club Ohio, on April 13, 2 million gallons of drilling fluids spilled into a wetland adjacent to the Tuscarawas River in Stark County. The next day, another 50,000 gallons of drilling fluids released into a wetland in Richland County in the Mifflin Township. The spills occurred as part of an operation associated with the pipeline's installation.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners is the same operator behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Rover Pipeline's construction in February. The 713-mile pipeline will carry fracked gas across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan and Canada, and crosses three major rivers, the Maumee, Sandusky and Portage, all of which feed into Lake Erie. The pipeline is designed to transport 3.25 billion cubic feet of domestically produced natural gas per day.

Completion of the Rover Pipeline is planned for November 2017. Energy Transfer spokeswoman Alexis Daniel told Bloomberg that the spills will not change the project's in-service date.

"Once the incidents were noted, we immediately began containment and mitigation and will continue until the issues are completely resolved," she said.


Environmental groups are fighting to stop the pipeline's construction.

"Construction just began just a few weeks ago, yet Energy Transfer has already spilled more than 2 million gallons of drilling fluids in two separate disasters, confirming our worst fears about this dangerous pipeline before it has even gone into operation," said Jen Miller, director of the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club.


"We've always said that it's never a question of whether a pipeline accident will occur, but rather a question of when. These disasters prove that the fossil fuel industry is unable to even put a pipeline into use before it spills dangerous chemicals into our precious waterways and recreation areas.

"Construction on the Rover Pipeline must be stopped immediately, as an investigation into Energy Transfer's total failure to adequately protect our wetlands and communities is conducted."
Source

Cleanup efforts are underway after a failed Chevron Corporation pipeline released about 4,800 gallons of oil into an intermittent stream on public land in northwestern Colorado and killed some wildlife.

The breach happened on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and was first detected on March 5 by a Chevron consultant. The pipeline was shut down after discovery of the leak and the oil is now trapped in a berm and siphon dam in a dry ravine, according to the Associated Press.

As it happens, the leak occurred around the same time that the conservation group Center for Western Priorities found that Chevron was behind 31 reported spills in Colorado last year, ranking the energy corporation as the fourth highest oil and gas spiller in the state.

Chevron spokeswoman Erika Conner said that while there are no public health concerns after the March 5 incident, some animals have died. Two mallard ducks covered in oil were found at the spill site and were transferred to Colorado Parks and Wildlife on March 5 but died the day after. Two other small birds and several mice have also been found dead by cleanup crews.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been notified," Conner told The Daily Sentinel. "We regret the impact the release has had on the affected animals and are working diligently to avoid any additional impacts to wildlife."

Colorado Department of Natural Resources spokesman Todd Hartman told the AP that the failed section of pipeline is being analyzed to determine a cause.


The spill involved a 6-inch-diameter oil gathering pipeline, BLM spokesman David Boyd told The Daily Sentinel.

In its recent report, the Center for Western Priorities calculated available data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and determined there were 509 reported spills in 2016—that's more than one a day in Colorado.

The number of spills in 2016 are less than the 615 reported spills and incidents in 2015, reflecting the decrease in drilling activity. However, the group expects spills to increase as the state ramps up oil and gas production.


"As drilling and production increase in Colorado—which is expected as the price of oil and gas may increase in the coming years—we also expect to see spills increase," the report said. "Monitoring these incidents help to inform Coloradans about the impacts of oil and gas development within the state."

In response to the report, Chevron said in a statement that it "aggressively manages the risk of spills through a rigorous ongoing asset integrity program wherever we operate."

"For example, Chevron has undertaken a comprehensive, multi-year, multi-million-dollar project to streamline and upgrade facilities and systems at our largest Colorado asset in Rangely," the company continued. "The program will continue through 2018. To date, approximately 11 miles of pipes have been removed from service."
 Source

The city became the fifth in the U.S. to divest from companies and banks that are involved in the oil project.

San Francisco became the latest U.S. city to divest from companies and banks involved in the Dakota Access pipeline, selling US$1.2 billion in investments as Native American tribes push for a divestment campaign against the controversial oil project.

The move was approved unanimously Tuesday by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors after Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer introduced a resolution calling for divestment from all the banks that have lent money to the Dakota Access.

The resolution states that City Treasurer Jose Cisneros must now add the pipeline to the list of screening factors when making city investment decisions. Fewer’s resolution urges Cisneros to act “with expediency,” the San Francisco CBS Radio reported Tuesday.

“Let’s hope that our action today in passing this resolution adds volume to the voices across the country condemning the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Fewer said.

He added that the resolution would see the city divesting almost 14 percent of the city’s investments, or about US$1.2 billion, that are providing financing to the project.


San Francisco's vote is the latest development in a national fossil fuel divestment effort called Go Fossil Free. The movement seeks to stop fossil fuel companies from exploring for new sources of hydrocarbon-based energy, end fossil fuel corporate lobbying for special privileges and secure a pledge from them to keep 80 percent of their current reserves underground forever.
 Source

Here is a visual exploration of the environmental consequences of oil production and refineries across America – as told through the work and words of nine photographers.

The irreversible damage of oil extraction to the earth’s ecology is already evident. But when plans for the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines were revived in the first days of the new administration, it became clear that America, the insatiable consumer, would not be turning green any time soon – one more chapter in a centuries-long battle over land and resources.

Health and Culture of Poor Communities Ian Willms. Ian Willms has spent years closely documenting the impact of oil production on First Nations of northern Alberta.

“The oil industry consumes the ecology. It poisons the water, it eats up the land, it displaces the natural migrations of caribou and moose and other animals that the nearby First Nation communities rely on.

There are a lot of health problems, for instance an extremely rare form of bile duct cancer is being found at a very high rate. I’ve photographed a funeral for a miscarried infant and a young boy named Dez, aged seven, who has had numerous open-heart surgeries. The local doctor believes it is all caused by industrial pollution.

Once the fur trade dried up and the fish were deemed unfit to sell at market because of pollution, welfare benefits and the oil industry became the community’s main sources of income. This forces a lot of people into a pretty bitter compromise. It’s been an ongoing process of assimilation since the colonists first arOil Spills and Leakages Alyssa Schukarrived and the oil industry has sped that up.



Air Pollution Alex Maclean. In 2014, Alex MacLean used aerial photography to document the supply and demand of both ends of oil production – from the Alberta Tar Sands down to the Texas Gulf refineries.


Deforestation Jiri Rezac Jiri Rezac began photographing the Alberta Tar Sands 10 years ago, mapping the impact of development on the surrounding ecology.


Oil Spills and Leakages Alyssa Schukar: Alyssa Schukar has closely documented the environmental legacy of oil production on East Chicago communities and photographed on assignment at Standing Rock.


Environmental Pollution Peter Essick. Peter Essick’s series on Alberta Tar Sands studied the damage of oil extraction on the land, rivers and downstream communities.


Desecration of Sacred Lands Daniella Zalcman. Daniella Zalcman‘s Pulitzer-Center funded project, Signs of Your Identity, reveals the damage of the residential school system on indigenous communities. Many of her subjects and their relatives travelled to Standing Rock to stand in solidarity with the Sioux Reservation.


Treaty Rights Camille Seaman. Camille Seaman is an indigenous environmental photographer who spent several months at Standing Rock, documenting the developing story through Native eyes.


The Cattle Industry Jeff Jacobson In September 2016, Jeff Jacobson travelled the route of the Keystone XL pipeline, capturing the land, livestock and people who will be affected by its development.


American Power Mitch Epstein Mitch Epstein‘s American Power series examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape and how it influences American lives.
Source

Danske bank/Danish bank and Sparinvest, an international asset management group based in Luxembourg and owned by a broad range of Danish institutional shareholders, have dropped investments in the companies behind the disputed Dakota Access pipeline.

Donald Trump had revived the pipeline which the Indians and the environmental organizations had been trying to stop. Because of this, the Danish Bank and Sparinvest have decided to divest their investments in the companies behind the planned pipeline at the Indian reservation, Standing Rock, in North Dakota, U.S.A. "We don't approve the recent treatment of the Indigenous people and their forced removal, therefore we have divested from the pipeline" said bank and investment officials.

The American police, on orders from President Donald Trump had cleared the protest camp where the Indians, environmentalists, veterans of the U.S. Army and other activists had stayed for several months in an attempt to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Behind the pipeline are the companies Energy Transfer Partners, Sunoco Logistics and Philips 66.

The Danish Bank sold it's investments to the latter company, according to the Danish bank's Head of Responsible Investments, Thomas Kjærgaard. "We have had a smaller investment of 27 million Danish krona in the company. We are not comfortable with the company's overall risk profile and therefore we have sold it", he said. Also the investment manager for Sparinvest had until recently investments in Phillips 66. Communications spokesperson, Bent Sørensen, told the newspaper that they have been in a dialogue with the company about the Indian's rights, among other things, in an attempt to influence the project.

According to the Sioux Indians in the area the pipeline would be passing through an area that is religiously and culturally worthy of preservation. The Indian Tribe is primarily concerned that the pipeline will go under Oahe River from which the reservation gets their drinking water from. More than 90 percent of the oil pipeline is laid, but the last stretch to the border of the reserve had been halted. In the end, the decision to proceed with the pipeline was maintained. Under the current momentum created by President Trump it seems the completion of the pipeline is imminent.

On the map it says: Barack Obama halted two contentious oil pipelines (Keystone and DAPL) but they were revived by Donald Trump, shortly after he came to power. It's the Dakota Access pipeline that the Indians are protesting against.
Source

Eric Byler spoke to property holders in Iowa whose land is being seized from them for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The coalition of farmers and environmentalists that is taking legal action to prevent the pipeline from going into service includes many Donald Trump supporters and voters, even though the Trump administration lists the fast track approval of the pipeline as an accomplishment that will lead to "job creation."

In its application to the IUB, Dakota Access promised to parallel roads and existing right-of-ways when possible, and the company also estimated it would pay landowners up to $189 million for easements across private property.

IUB began holding informational meetings in December 2014, which is when property owner Shirley Gerjets of Calhoun County first heard of the project.

“It started out wrong in the first place,” she says, as citizens weren’t allowed to ask questions and the group was told that surveyors would be coming to individual properties without any recourse to stop them.

“I chased them off two or three times,” says the 81-year-old Gerjets. “And then after they got that surveying done we kept getting letters and letters and letters about this offer and that offer.”


In the end, Gerjets says the company offered her $64,000 to run the pipeline through her 65 acres, an offer she refused.

“My dad worked hard to own this little piece of property,” she says. “He always worked because that was his goal to own his own piece of property and he finally did it [in the early 1970s]. I helped farm the thing so he could pay for it.”

“This sets a precedent that eminent domain can be used for anything,” says Ed Fallon, a former state representative, now representing Bold Iowa, a group opposing the pipeline. “If they can come in and take your land for a private oil company’s pipeline, what can’t they take it for? What rights do you have anymore to your own property?”


“The farm is not going to be the same for a long long time,” Coppola says. She’s worried about compacted soil, damaged topsoil, turned up rocks, metal and other debris left behind by the pipeline. And most importantly, she’s worried about potential oil leaks in her soil.

“To me it’s only a matter of time until these pipelines leak because it’s corrosive, crude shale [oil] that’s going through these pipes,” Coppola says. “It just makes sense that sooner or later there will be a leak.”


When it comes to the Dakota Access Pipeline, much remains unclear. But one thing is certain — both the Standing Rock Sioux and the landowners in Iowa aren’t backing down.

Shutting down the pipe is not an option; divers can't reach the leak because of ice

Natural gas for at least 10 days has leaked from an underwater natural gas pipeline in Alaska's Cook Inlet and floating ice has prevented divers from reaching the site.

The gas is bubbling from a 20-centimetre pipeline in 24 metres of water about six kilometres off shore. The pipeline belonging to Hilcorp Alaska, LLC, moves processed natural gas from shore to four drilling platforms in the inlet.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the leak. In an email response to questions, spokeswoman Candice Bressler said the agency is assessing public health and environmental risks.

"We believe the risk to public health and safety is small," the agency said. "Environmental risk is less easy to quantify since a monitoring and assessment program is not yet in place."

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is also investigating.


Foraging area for white whales

The U.S. Coast Guard warned mariners to stay at least 300 metres from the bubbling gas. Another federal agency expressed concern over possible adverse effects on marine mammals.

"Our greatest concern is for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales and impacts to their critical habitat," said Julie Speegle, spokeswoman for the fisheries section of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by email. The natural gas discharge is within the winter foraging area for the white whales, she said.


 
Can't just shut down the pipe

Hilcorp spokeswoman Lori Nelson in an email said platform crews have shut down non-essential equipment to reduce natural gas flow to the minimum gas pressure possible without jeopardizing employee safety or the environment.

Diving unsafe because of ice

Processed "dry" natural gas is nearly 99 per cent methane.

Hilcorp hired a diving company to assess damage when the leak was discovered, the state agency said. Diving was determined to be unsafe because of ice in the inlet.
 Source

Update: The City Council voted 5-to-0 to support divesting Santa Monica from Wells Fargo.

Council members Sue Himmelrich and Pam O’Connor were not present for the vote. Himmelrich recused herself from the vote because she said she has represented Wells Fargo in the past and her husband currently represents Wells Fargo.

At its meeting tonight, the Santa Monica City Council will consider divesting the beachside city’s funds from Wells Fargo over concerns about the bank’s involvement in the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

The item was placed on Tuesday’s agenda by Councilmembers Terry O’Day and Tony Vazquez and, if approved by the Council, would, “direct staff to examine its investment practices and consider divesting all City funds from Wells Fargo, due to their business practices and their involvement in financing the Dakota Access Pipeline,” according to the agenda.

Wells Fargo “is our primary relationship on the list of lenders to DAPL,” said Councilmember Terry O’Day in a post on social media.

“We may hear that there are secondary bankers on Tuesday. The outcome we anticipate is an RFP [Request for Proposal] for a new banker,” he said.


If the City Council votes to move forward, it would join Seattle, WA and Davis, CA which together pulled some $3 billion of annual cash flow from the bank over concerns about the pipeline and the recent scandal in which Wells Fargo employees were found to have created millions of bogus checking accounts.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, a Change.org petition, started by Santa Monica High School alumna Jenna Perelman, supporting the agenda item had garnered about 300 signatures.

According to NPR, construction of the final piece of the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army.

Controversy over the route of the pipeline exploded onto the national scene last year after the pipeline was rerouted to avoid Bismark, North Dakota. The new route took the pipeline through a major water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, causing major concerns about pollution of the vital water source.
Source

Pope Francis wades into US oil pipeline dispute by supporting indigenous people of America and their ancestral land rights.

Pope Francis insisted Wednesday that indigenous peoples must give prior consent for any economic activity on their ancestral lands — an indirect critique as the Donald Trump administration seeks to advance construction on a $3.8 billion oil pipeline over opposition from American Indians.

Francis met with representatives of indigenous peoples attending a U.N. agricultural meeting and said the key issue facing them is how to reconcile the right to development with protection of their cultures and territories.

“In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail,” he said. “Only then is it possible to guarantee peaceful cooperation between governing authorities and indigenous peoples, overcoming confrontation and conflict.”

The Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes are suing to stop construction on the final stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, which would bring oil from North Dakota’s rich Bakken fields across four states to a shipping point in Illinois.

The tribes say the pipeline, being built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, threatens their drinking water, cultural sites and ability to practice their religion, which depends on pure water. The last piece of the pipeline is to pass under a reservoir on the Missouri River, which marks the eastern border of both tribes’ reservations.
Source


Francis, history’s first Latin American pope, has been a keen backer of indigenous rights and has frequently spoken out about their plight.

In recent interview Pope Francis apologized for the sins and "offenses" committed by the Catholic Church against indigenous peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas.

"I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America," he said to applause and cheers from the crowd.

Opponents of a high-pressure natural gas pipeline expected to be built across the northern half of Ohio are clinging to the wings of a furry flier, the northern long-eared bat, in their efforts to at least delay the $2 billion project.

 The existence of the threatened species remains one of the impediments the partnership between Houston-based Spectra Energy and Detroit's DTE Energy face before receiving expected approval to build the 255-mile long NEXUS pipeline capable of transporting 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the shale fields of Appalachia into Michigan and Ontario, Canada.

NEXUS cleared a big hurdle in November when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an environmental impact statement that found no problems with the company's proposed route. NEXUS now awaits the Commission's approval to begin construction, a step that could be delayed when one of its three Commission members resigned last week.

The existence of northern long-eared bats, classified as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along the proposed route means NEXUS isn't completely out of the woods. The bats live in caves and other sheltered spots during winter months and nest in trees during spring and summer. Its threatened status means trees in their habitats are not supposed to be felled between April 1 and Sept. 30.

Pipeline opponents hope the bats will cause further delays if the Commission doesn't allow the company to fell trees after March 31.

"Time is our friend and their foe," said Jon Strong, of Medina County, where about 450 feet of the pipeline is slated to be built along the edge of his property.


In the environmental impact statement, NEXUS said it's preparing a contingency plan if the company needs to cut down trees during spring and summer that would include data on the number of bats likely to be killed.

Strong, along with Medina County resident Paul Gierosky, and other leaders in the pipeline fight have devoted countless hours the last two years trying to convince NEXUS and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the route should be moved south, away from backyards and neighborhoods, to farmland where the existence of a 36-inch-wide pipeline carrying potentially explosive natural gas would have less effect on people's lives and property values. Farmers are allowed to grow crops over buried pipelines. Structures can't be built over top of them.


More than 100 property owners in Medina and Summit counties, including the city of Green, have refused to allow NEXUS surveyors on their land to stake out the pipeline route. The property owners' attorneys say they expect NEXUS to use eminent domain to conduct surveys and take land they need.

Opponents also question NEXUS' need after the Commission last week approved a project that also crosses northern Ohio and travels into Michigan and Canada and has the capacity to carry 3.25 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

While opponents have acknowledged they're engaged in a rearguard action, the fight against NEXUS for Gierosky has become far bigger.
 Source

"They just want to stop fossil fuels." Another time, he compared the tactics of some anti-pipeline activists to "terrorism." Kelcy Warren.

 Warren is a co-founder and CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, the conglomerate whose security contractors have deployed pepper spray and snarling dogs against the Native Americans protesting its Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota.

He's laying another contested pipeline, the Trans-Pecos, near Big Bend National Park—hallowed ground to many Texans. He's spent millions of dollars supporting right-wing politicians. He gave $700,000 to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's political action committee and $6 million to PACs supporting former Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign. He also put Perry on ETP'S board.

With his business partners, Warren has distributed $223,000 to the three members of the Texas Railroad Commission, who rule on the eminent-domain requests his companies often use to run pipelines through privately owned farms and ranches. He personally spent $100,000 to help elect Trump—formerly an ETP shareholder—with the unvarnished expectation that the new administration would remove the last hurdles for the stalled North Dakota project on "January 20 or shortly thereafter." Indeed, four days after taking office, Trump issued an executive order to speed the completion of the pipeline; this week, the Army Corps of Engineers granted an easement that will allow the construction to proceed.

The scale of Warren's projects is mind-boggling. The 1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline will carry 570,000 barrels of oil a day through watersheds and wildlife habitats. Add that to the 75,000 miles of pipe Warren already owns, a carbon-based nervous system worth an estimated $67 billion, and it's not hard to see why he has become the target of some truly nasty personal attacks. Pipeline foes have called him "the face of genocide for Native Americans" and "nothing but a cancer on the planet."

Warren has vigorously defended his projects, saying the Dakota Access Pipeline is "built to safety standards that far exceed anything government requires." At a meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission—to which Gov. Abbott appointed him as a commissioner in 2015—Warren responded patiently to a Native American elder who asked if he thought it was right to dig up ancestral graves: "No, sir. I don't think that would be appropriate. I think that would be bad."


"But you've been doing it," the elder replied.

"No, sir. Obviously I don't believe so."

Sometimes Warren lets his exasperation show. "This is not a peaceful protest—there are violent people," he told a Fargo, North Dakota, radio host in November. "They just want to stop fossil fuels." Another time, he compared the tactics of some anti-pipeline activists to "terrorism."
Source Mother Jones

One worker was missing and two were injured after an explosion sparked a fire at a Louisiana pipeline Thursday night, officials said.

 Authorities don't yet know what caused the fire on the Phillips 66 pipeline in Paradis, but a crew of six workers was cleaning it at the time, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said at a news conference.

Two of the workers were hospitalized — one taken to a burn center— and three had minor or no injuries, the sheriff said. The remaining worker was unaccounted for, and a helicopter was being brought in to help search for him.

Champagne said the source of the 20-inch pipeline had been shut off but the fire would have to burn off the rest of the liquid inside, which could take hours or even days.

"They tell us the best thing that can happen right now is for the product to burn off," he said.

The pipeline was carrying a highly volatile byproduct of natural gas, which was burning cleanly and very hotly over a 30- to 40-foot area, the sheriff said.


"It's just a big blow torch," he said.

Sixty homes were evacuated and highways were being diverted around the area in Paradis, which is about 30 miles west of New Orleans.
 Source

At least two workers injured after explosion sparks fire at Louisiana natural gas pipeline, officials say. https://t.co/UxO5joqWFD pic.twitter.com/3gNgf7ZJz3

— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2017

People gathered at the Oklahoma State Capitol announcing they will fight the Diamond Pipeline that will run from Cushing through Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee.

 Protesters signed their name to a list, forming a coalition against the line.

There have already been clashes in Arkansas over this pipeline. Oklahomans say they will join those groups in Arkansas.

They say they are concerned about the environmental impact.

"We're not all about oil. We're about life and we're about protecting our land and our waters," one man yelled to a cheering crowd.

But many people, are concerned about the impact on Native American tribes. The pipeline will be built along the Trail of Tears.


"There are 36 different Trail Of Tears. There are 36 different nations whose peoples were buried and killed along the way," Ashley McCray said. "And for a lot of indigenous people, it’s very disrespectful to disturb those remains even if just jewelry or even if it's clothing-- to interfere with that spirit passing on to the next world really does a lot, spiritually, to our people."

McCray cofounded the group #NoPlainsPipeline, one of the groups spearheading the fight against the Diamond Pipeline.

The Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association responded to the protest, saying claims pipelines are unsafe, are unfounded.


"Really, moving oil and gas product by far is the most safe and environmentally responsible method of moving those product," president Chad Warmington said.

He cited a 2013 study by the American Petroleum Institute and the Association of Oil Pipeline Lines that said 99.99% of the time oil is transported with no issue through pipelines.

The Diamond Pipeline is a partnership between Valero and Plains All American LP. According to the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association, the Army Corps of Engineers has reviewed and approved the cultural and environmental impacts of the project.
Source

Jan 30, 2017: The pipeline ruptured around 4 pm Monday afternoon on Highway 121, about a mile away south of Highway 160 in Blue Ridge.

 Billy Brummett lives in Desert, just down the road. He tells us when he first heard the sirens, he thought it was another wreck at the intersection.

“A neighbor came by showed me a picture she’d taken of the geyser of the oil shooting," Brummett said.

We're told a contractor for TxDOT accidentally cut a 30-inch high pressure oil line, spraying crude oil all over the highway.

“Construction’s going on and that’s a deep ditch and things they’re cutting over there for the new highway so it’s not a big surprise to me," Brummett said.

The line was shut off within minutes of being cut, but continued to spill oil from what was left inside. The area was immediately placed under quarantine while crews began the cleanup process.


“The roadway’s shut down be patient with us and they’re going to get it opened up as soon as they can,” Blue Ridge Fire Captain Bonnie Bowers said.

Traffic was diverted on highway 160 due to the closure.

Multiple fire departments were at the scene. No injuries were reported.


It's unclear how much crude oil was spilled or if it poses an environmental risk.

News12 put in calls to Enterprise Products, the company that operates the pipeline, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality but have yet to hear back from either.
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The former First Daughter was spotted at a Standing Rock solidarity and anti-DAPL event on festival grounds, and Shailene Woodley was there too.

 "It was amazing to see Malia, " Woodley told Democracy Now on Wednesday. "I saw her last night when we did the event with Chairman Dave Archambault. And it was incredible to see her there."

Woodley commended the 18-year-old for finding her own identity and supporting the cause. “To witness a human being and a woman coming into her own outside of her family and outside of the attachments that this country has on her, but someone who’s willing to participate in democracy because she chooses to, because she recognizes, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn’t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children.”

Malia Obama attended a protest at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday in response to President Trump's plans to revive the Dakota Access pipeline

She was one of approximately 100 people who stood in the heavy snow to show their solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Later that day, Malia also attended a private event where she met with Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault


Her attendance at the events was revealed by Shailene Woodley, a longtime opponent to the pipeline who said seeing the former first daughter was 'amazing'


Malia flew into Sundance on Sunday, three days after her family left the White House, and next month begins an internship with producer Harvey Weinstein

Small groups of Water Protectors scattered throughout the crowd of about 1,200 people held up anti-pipeline signs and shouted, ‘Keep it in the ground.’

 Another protector, seated directly behind the prime minister, held up a sign that read “Water is sacred.”

As a handful of demonstrators challenged him, Trudeau asked for permission to continue and answer people’s questions.

“I know you have a voice. I’ve just heard it,” he said.

“I’m asking you can I have permission to continue in my town hall with Canadians who came out to meet with their prime minister?”

Most in the crowd applauded strongly when Trudeau asked the Water Protectors to let him speak.


There were questions about poor housing conditions on reserves, boil-water advisories and high rates of kids in the child welfare system.

Winnipeg is home to Canada’s largest urban aboriginal population. Trudeau admitted his government has much more work to do.

“I have talked about the fact that Canada has failed … in a fundamental relationship that we were supposed to get right,” he said.
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“We’re not moving as fast as I’d like on that path. I absolutely agree. But it’s a difficult path to walk. There are decades of wrongs to undo.”

Earlier in the day, Trudeau was greeted by Water Protectors shouting “Water is life” as he walked through the University of Regina to meet students. Trudeau replied that he agreed and continued to make his way down a long corridor packed with students trying to squeeze in a selfie with him.

There were also people carrying placards that said “People over Pipelines.”

January 26, 2017: Iowa Department of Natural Resources says 138,600 gallons of diesel fuel leaked in Worth County.

 Authorities now say the Magellan pipeline ruptured near Hanlontown early this morning. Weather is impacting cleanup efforts. Those with the company say they have experienced pipe breaks before.

“There will be a investigation on what caused release and what can be learned from this to try and help us and ensure this doesn’t happen again,” says Tom Byers, Manager of Government and Media Affairs for Magellan Mainstream Partners.

Byers says they will continue clean up efforts and monitor the situation on a 24 hour basis.

HANLONTOWN, Iowa – Emergency responders are dealing with a pipeline leak in Worth County.

It reportedly started around 5:30 am Wednesday morning near Hanlontown. Authorities say the Magellan Pipeline has leaked 138,600 gallons of diesel fuel.


The Worth County Sheriff’s Office, Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Worth/Mitchell County Emergency Management and Freeborn County Emergency Management are on the scene.

Worth County Sheriff Dan Fank says there are no health risks at this time but Wheelerwood Road from 390th to 410th Street will be shut down for a couple of days.


Magellan Midstream Partners has issued a statement which says they are unsure what caused the 12” pipe to leak. Company representatives, clean-up crews and various regulators and environmental crews were sent to the site.
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