The Dakota Access Pipeline has not even been completed and it has already experienced a leak. Reports say 84 gallons of oil spilled at a pump station in South Dakota in April, but it wasn’t made public until now. The state government is only obligated to notify the public of oil spills if there is a threat to public health.
CNBC reports:
The spill, the equivalent of two barrels of oil, occurred on April 4 in Tulare township in Spink County, according to South Dakota’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resources.
The $3.8 billion project drew environmental protesters from around the world after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said the pipeline would desecrate a sacred burial ground and that any oil leak would poison the tribe’s water supply.
The sourced Now This news clip adds:
Officials say the leak was contained and quickly cleaned up. But indigenous tribes and protestors are outraged and say it’s further proof the pipeline should be halted.
Jan Hasselman, a Sioux Tribe attorney is calling out the travesty.
“They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks won’t happen, that nothing can go wrong. It’s always been false. They haven’t even turned the thing on — and it’s shown to be false.”
Here is the NowThis clip. Click on the image to start the video.
On Wednesday, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II stated to the press:
"This is what we have said all along: oil pipelines leak and spill."
In less than a month, on June 1, the pipeline is scheduled to be fully operational.