The Texas developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline is taking its sabotage claims against the line seriously enough it’s asking a court against releasing spill response plans for fear it could be used by activists and terrorists.
Energy Transfer Partners made the revalation of “recent coordinate physical attacks” in the court filing in North Dakota. Attempts of vandalism on the pipeline have been confirmed by law agencies in South Dakota and Iowa.
Mashaska County sheriff Russell Van Renterghem in Iowa said someone crawled under a fence and used a torch to burn a hole in empty sections of the pipeline at aboveground shut-off valve sites. In South Dakota, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Brown said the same kind of incident happened there but the site was not fenced.
Who’s to blame and are there any suspects? None have been identified and the environmental groups are denying their involvement.
Jay O’Hara with the environmental group Climate Direct Action denies his group was involved in any violence against the Dakota Access pipeline. Attorneys for the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes maintain the tribes do not condone acts of violence against pipeline property. The attorneys claim the only fighting they’ve done has been in court.
