The Dakota Access Pipeline Case Study

The Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”) is a proposal for a 1,168-mile-long crude oil pipeline which is fronted by the Dallas based corporation, Energy Transfer Partners that would transport oil from the “Bakken region of North Dakota across four states to Pakota, Illinois through a route that travels underneath the Missouri River twice and runs alongside the Standing Rock Reservation” (Dhillon, 2016; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, 2016). The Pipeline was originally set to pass by the town of Bismarck however those plans were shut down and the pipeline was rerouted. It was stated that the plans to run the pipeline through Bismarck could potentially harm the capitals water supply if there was a leak, in addition to the understanding that Bismarck is noted to be predominately white the issue of environmental racism develops (McKibbon, 2016).

The world is run on oil, oil is one of the most important resource of our time and as the United States seeks to gain control of the product that they require immensely, corporations are willing to overstep and violate ecosystems and displace and disrupt the lives of certain residents in order to provide the supply. There is a contentious calculation of ecological and legal viability that is balanced with economic benefits that allow corporations to violate the rights of humans and the nature and environment that

“A study of North Dakota’s pipelines revealed over 300 leaks in two years, most of which were unreported to the public” and although Energy Transfer Partners has made attempts to reassure the people of Standing Rock that their operations are secure and would involve close monitoring, from 2012-2013 there were 300 pipeline spills in North Dakota, many of which were not reported (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, 2016,