Amid jubilation, North Dakota pipeline protesters still wary of future

CANNON BALL, N.D. - A blizzard Monday did not dampen the jubilation protesters felt Sunday when the federal government said it would deny an easement to finish work on a giant oil pipeline where it crosses the Missouri River near here.

Still, those who have fought the Dakota Access pipeline over environmental and cultural concerns remained wary.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II called on protesters to use the reprieve from the U.S. Army Corps to depart the camp and enjoy the holidays with their families.

"It's time to go home," Archambault said on Fargo radio station KFGO. "Nothing's going to happen this winter."

But many protesters, who marched peacefully alongside supportive veterans Monday afternoon, said they weren't going anywhere. "I'm telling everyone to be vigilant," said Clyde Bellecourt of Minneapolis, a founder of the American Indian Movement. "Don't be talking about going home just yet."

Keith Lussier Sr., of Red Lake, Minn., agreed, saying that with president-elect Donald Trump, who has supported the pipeline, taking office soon, protesters must hold their ground.

The pipeline's developers called the Corps' decision "purely political."

The Obama administration "has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency," the oil company said.

Exactly what the Corps announcement Sunday will mean in the long run was uncertain Monday.

Builders of the pipeline seem confident they'll get the needed approval for their controversial pipeline after Trump takes office Jan. 20.

The CEO of Energy Transfer, the main company behind the pipeline, has said as much. And financial markets seem to be betting the pipeline — already 92 percent complete — will clear its final hurdle once Trump is president.

Energy Transfer's stock closed down less than 2 percent Monday, not the sort of earthshaking decline indicating a long delay for the pipeline.

"It depends, and it's complicated," said Mehmet Konar-Steenberg, a law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul. "To the extent that the [Army's Sunday announcement] is a policy matter, elections matter, and a new president can make new policy."

On the other hand, any legal questions raised by the Army may still need to be answered — and that isn't simply a matter of policy, Konar-Steenberg said.

The Army's Civil Works department said Sunday that its "policy decision" on the pipeline crossing at the Lake Oahe reservoir on the Missouri River "is based on the totality of circumstances in this case."

That includes federal pipeline law, the proximity of Standing Rock's reservation to the lake, and "the potential impacts on treaty hunting and fishing rights."

Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, said in a statement Sunday that she wants a "more robust consideration of reasonable alternatives." She recommended a full environmental impact statement (EIS). That could take a year or more.

But with the Corps now saying further analysis needs to be done, "Trump has to justify changing course," said Alexandra Klass, a natural resources and environment law professor at the University of Minnesota.

If he doesn't, the Trump administration's actions could be interpreted as "arbitrary and capricious," and in possible violation of federal law governing administrative procedures, Klass said. Pipeline opponents could use such an argument in court.

On the other hand, Congress could simply pass legislation exempting further environmental review of the pipeline — which Trump would then approve, she said. "That's not unprecedented."

What happens next — whether protesters will leave Standing Rock or dig in for the winter — became a moot question Monday afternoon as a winter storm blew in, turning driving conditions treacherous on the lone highway out of camp. Vehicles spun out and crashed, and many people who were ready to leave had no way of doing so.

Temperatures Tuesday are expected to plummet, and keep dropping to subzero lows throughout the week.

The ruling "doesn't mean we can't stand together in prayer," Toby Montoya said as he angled his wheelchair until the bitter December wind was at his back. In front of him, a long line of people, bundled against the snow and cold and chanting traditional prayers, approached a barricaded bridge that led to the pipeline project bearing down on the Standing Rock reservation.

"This is about supporting one another. It's about love," said Montoya, a former infantryman wounded in Afghanistan, where he'd gone, he said, to help people and to build schools and roads. He traveled from New Mexico with a group of Apache, Navajo and Pueblo, up to the frozen Dakota prairie, to help people again.

He was one of thousands of veterans who marched through a blizzard in a quiet and peaceful show of support for the Standing Rock Sioux, and in opposition to the $3.78 billion pipeline the tribe fears could foul its water supply and that of millions more people downstream of the Missouri River.

"This is sacred land," Montoya said. "This is beautiful."

Monday's march had an air of celebration. Many of the veterans said they felt compelled to come. Many protesters say they feel compelled to stay.

"Be vigilant," he said. People need to keep coming to Standing Rock, he added. "We need to keep our numbers high."

mike.hughlett@startribune.com 612-673-7003 jennifer.brooks@startribune.com 612-673-4008