PERC Fellow Weighs in on Dakota Access Protest

In a recent Forbes piece, Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) fellow Terry Anderson adds clarity and context to the claims made by Dakota Access Pipeline protestors. Anderson is the William A. Dunn Distinguished Senior Fellow and former President and Executive Director of PERC as well as the John and Jean De Nault Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University – and a well-known voice on Native American issues in the United States.

Anderson, like Standing Rock Fact Checker, highlights the fact that a find of cultural significance is unlikely considering the amount the area has been surveyed.

“There is a chance that cultural sites will be discovered on these private lands during the construction process, but such discoveries are unlikely because of the extensive archeological investigations conducted in the siting process. Moreover, the DAPL route parallels an existing pipeline and power line, for which other archeological investigations were made.”

Anderson also argues, correctly, that the pipeline represents the safest option to transport oil out of the Bakken.

“The possible risk to the tribe’s water supply is real but minuscule, especially when compared to the risk of transporting the oil by truck or rail.”