Leaders from 11 Native American tribes stormed out of a meeting with US federal officials in Rapid City, South Dakota, to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which they say will lead to \u2018environmental genocide.\u2019<\/p>\n
Native Americans are opposed to the 1,179-mile (1,897km)
\nKeystone XL project, a system to transport tar sands oil from
\nCanada and the northern United States to refineries in Texas for
\nvarious reasons, including possible damage to sacred sites,
\npollution, and water contamination.<\/p>\n
Although the planned pipeline would not pass directly through
\nany Native American reservation, tribes in proximity to the
\nproposed system say it will violate their traditional lands and
\nthat the environmental risks of the project are simply too
\ngreat.<\/p>\n
Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada, the company that hopes to
\nbuild the pipeline, has promised in the past that Keystone XL will
\nbe \u201cthe safest pipeline ever built.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
The Indian groups, as well as other activist organizations,
\ndoubt the claim, saying the risks involved in the project are too
\nhigh.<\/p>\n
In an effort to ease their concerns, officials from the
\nDepartment of State agreed to meet with tribal leaders on Thursday
\nin the Hilton Garden Inn in Rapid City, Michigan.<\/p>\n
Before the talks could begin, however, tribal leaders walked
\nout, angered that the government had sent what they considered
\nlow-level representatives.<\/p>\n
In a press conference following the walkout, tribal leaders took
\nturns criticizing the project, as well as the Obama
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
“I will only meet with President Obama,”<\/i> Bryan Brewer,
\npresident of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, told the Rapid City
\nJournal.<\/p>\n
Others mentioned environmental concerns with the proposed
\npipeline, which echo the concern of environmental groups across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Casey Camp-Horinek, an elder with the Southern Ponca Tribe based
\nin Oklahoma, compared the pipeline and other environmental damage
\nto the historical events that had decimated her people during
\nEuropean colonization.<\/p>\n
“We find ourselves victims of another form of genocide, and
\nit’s environmental genocide, and it’s caused by the extractive
\nindustries,”<\/i> she said.<\/p>\n
Charles LoneChief, vice president of the Pawnee Business
\nCouncil, headquartered in Oklahoma, said the public was misinformed
\nabout the pipeline’s environmental risks.<\/p>\n
Unlike a traditional crude oil pipeline, Keystone XL will pump
\noil that is collected from tar sands. To turn this substance into a
\ntransportable liquid, oil companies must add chemicals that
\nenvironmental groups warn are highly toxic.<\/p>\n
“That gets into our waterways, our water tables, our
\naquifers, then we have problems,”<\/i> LoneChief said.<\/p>\n
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that
\nthe Keystone XL pipeline will increase annual US carbon pollution
\nemissions by up to 27.6 million metric tons \u2014 the impact of adding
\nnearly 6 million cars on the road, according to the Environment
\nNews Service.<\/p>\n
Robin LeBeau, a council representative for the Cheyenne River
\nSioux Tribe based in South Dakota, pledged to protest against any
\nconstruction, even if that meant standing in front of
\nbulldozers.<\/p>\n
“What the State Department, what President Obama needs to
\nhear from us, is that we are going to be taking direct action,”<\/i>
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
I believe this is going to be one of the biggest battles we are
\never going to have, LeBeau added.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time that Native American groups have
\nspoken out on the project.<\/p>\n
Leaders from ten Canadian and US indigenous groups gathered in
\nOttawa, Ontario in March to protest the construction of
\npipelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cTar sands pipelines will not pass through [our] collective
\nterritories under any conditions or circumstances,\u201d<\/i> the tribes
\nsaid at a press conference.<\/p>\n