Water utilities on tribal land need better enforcement, study says

A crude oil pipeline slated to pass under the Missouri River and sacred Native American tribal land was one of the few hot-button political issues that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump wanted to touch during this election.

The Dakota Access Pipeline was approved by the feds last July and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, unless protesters successfully stop it. Protesters and lawsuits note that the Missouri River is an important source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who have led the historic fight against the project.

“Cognizant of multiple major spills from crude oil pipelines in recent years, the Tribe feared that an oil spill on the Missouri could pose an existential threat to the Tribe,” the Standing Rock Sioux wrote in a lawsuit last year alleging that the United States Army Corps of Engineers had fast-tracked the approval process for the pipeline.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/water-utilities-on-tribal-land-need-better-enforcement-study-says-110916.html