2016 Rewind: The stand at Standing Rock

January 2016 North Dakota regulators approve the Dakota Access pipeline unanimously. Energy Transfer Partners LP had applied in 2014 to build a 1,172-mile pipeline to deliver crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields to Patoka, Illinois, crossing South Dakota and Iowa.

April 29 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers holds a hearing on the pipeline. There is intense tribal opposition to the project.

July 25 The Corps approves easements for pipeline water crossings at Sakakawea, the Mississippi River and Lake Oahe. Lake Oahe is an ancestral site for the Standing Rock Sioux.

July 27 The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sues the Corps, citing violation of federal statutes that authorize the pipeline’s construction and operation and seeks an emergency order to halt construction. The tribe also alleges the pipeline threatens their economic well-being and would destroy sites of historic, religious and cultural significance.

Sept. 3 Private security hired by Energy Transfer Partners uses attack dogs and Mace against protesters. Six people are bitten by dogs.

Sept. 6 Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians — which represents more than 500 tribes — speaks to Cabinet-level advisers at a meeting of the White House’s 3-year-old Native American Affairs Council. Cladoosby delivers an impassioned request to his audience: Stand with Native Americans who have united with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and block construction of the pipeline.

Sept. 9 U.S. District Judge James Boasberg rejects a request from Native Americans to block the project. However, he rules that no construction activity may take place between Highway 1806 and 20 miles to the east of Lake Oahe. The tribe appeals.

Sept. 9 The U.S. Justice and Interior Departments and Army order a stop to construction near Lake Oahe until the Corps reviews its previous decisions.

Sept. 13 Energy Transfer Partners tells employees it is committed to completing the project.

Oct. 9 The U.S. Court of Appeals says an administrative injunction related to the emergency motion of the Standing Rock Tribe will be dissolved because Dakota Access has rights to construct on private land up to Lake Oahe.

Oct. 11 Environmental activists across four states disrupt the flow of millions of barrels of crude from Canada into the United States in an action that targets several pipelines simultaneously.

Oct. 25 Tribal consultations begin across six regions on how government decision-making on infrastructure projects could better include tribal concerns.

Nov. 8 Energy Transfer Partners says it has built the pipe to the edge of Lake Oahe.

Nov. 9 After the election of Donald Trump, climate activists and the Standing Rock Sioux say they hope President Barack Obama will kill the pipeline definitively.

Nov. 14 The U.S. government delays a final decision on permitting.

Nov. 18 Energy Transfer Partners’ CEO Kelcy Warren says the pipeline will not be re-routed.

Nov. 20 About 400 activists gather on a bridge between the protest camp and the construction path. Law enforcement officers respond by using tear gas and water cannons on them.

Nov. 26 The Corps tells protesters they need to leave the Oceti Sakowin Camp, the primary protest camp located on federal land. The Corps later says it has no plans to enforce the order.

Nov. 28 North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple issues an evacuation order for the Oceti Sakowin Camp, citing harsh weather on the way. Officials the next day say they plan on blockading the camp so supplies cannot get in. They later back off that plan.

Nov. 30 A group of military veterans announces it will bring more than 2,000 service members to North Dakota to stand as human shields between the protesters and law enforcement.

Dec. 4 The Corps of Engineers denies Energy Transfer Partners’ request for an easement to run under Lake Oahe, sparking a celebration among protesters. ETP says it will continue to fight for the line.

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