In Iowa, #NoDAPL Water Protectors Shut Down Construction Site

By Yessenia Funes Oct 13, 2016

As the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline advances, it’s become clear that Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, isn’t backing down. And neither are its opponents.

Yesterday (October 12), water protectors camped along the Mississippi River in Iowa engaged in direct action. According to the Facebook page of Mississippi Stand, the formal name of those camped out, 31-year-old Krissana Mara shut down a construction site by locking herself to equipment.

On the same Facebook page, a video claims that police arrested a “credentialed member of the press” yesterday—the second time this has happened, the person recording alleges.

Tension continues to build as Energy Transfer Partners moves forward with constructing the pipeline despite three federal government agencies (the Departments of Justice, Interior and Army) asking them to voluntarily halt.

In a statement sent to Colorlines, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said:

Not surprisingly, Energy Transfer Partners has ignored the Obama Administration’s call to voluntarily halt construction and continues to desecrate our sacred places. They have proven time and time again that they are more interested in money than the health and well-being of the 17 million people who get their drinking water from the Missouri River. They have bulldozed over the burials of our Lakota and Dakota ancestors and have no regard for the sanctity of these places. 
President Obama has the power to change the fate of the water users who stand to lose clean water. We need him to take action now. Our lives are at risk and the places we hold sacred are at risk. Millions have stood with us in opposition to this pipeline and he must heed their call. 

Follow #NoDAPL to stay up to date on the pipeline.