A group of activists in New York protested on Thursday against the construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline oil pipeline near a Native American reservation in northern U.S.
"We are here tonight with solidarity, standing up. We must stop this pipeline now," the activist group Hoods4Justice chanted in New York City's Grand Terminal.
"We have to stop corporations investing money to allow this pipeline to take priority over indigenous life. Water is life," the activist group said.
The $3.7 billion project would stretch 1,172 miles (1,886 kilometers) from the oil-rich Bakken Formation in North Dakota to carry 470,000 barrels of crude through the U.S. states of South Dakota and Iowa to reach Illinois.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, however, sued the U.S. government in July, claiming the pipeline threatens the environmental well-being of the tribe and would damage its historic and religious burial grounds and praying sites.
Construction of the project was halted in August, but in October a U.S. federal court denied the tribe’s request for an injunction to continue to block construction.
"This pipeline will destroy 200 rivers and our main source of water - our drinking water. Environmental degradation is the genocide of indigenous peoples," the activist group's statement read on their Facebook page.
Sage Bruce, a 19-year-old student and activist, told Anadolu Agency the pipeline is "a continuation of settler colonialism and genocide of indigenous people."
"It's an environmental issue," Sage continued. "If this pipeline ever breaks, which pretty much all pipelines eventually do, it would poison the waters in North Dakota. People need water to live."
Another activist, Atash Khayyatzadeh, a 29-year-old yoga instructor, said she was really concerned about the pipeline and called the project "disrespectful."
"Just because of money, all these corporations are supporting the pipeline," she said, adding "Water is our first medicine ... Everyone should stand up for Standing Rock."
North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, however, said Wednesday that the Standing Rock tribe did not participate in public hearings of the Commission throughout the 13-month review process of the pipeline where topics of environmental preservation and cultural resources were discussed and consulted with experts.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr