Letter From USACE Details Environmental Damage at Standing Rock Protest

A letter sent from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Chase Iron Eyes – a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and anti-Dakota Access protest camp, details the multiple violations  of public use regulations for Corps lands and the ongoing environmental damage occurring as a result of the protest activity.

The specific code which the protesters are in violation is 36 CFR Sec. 327 – regulations governing the use of Corps managed lands. Specifically the protesters are in violation through:

  • Unauthorized vehicles
  • Improper disposal and burning of trash
  • Improper disposal of human waste
  • Unauthorized fires
  • Unauthorized structures
  • Unauthorized habitation
  • Garbage, Debris, Building Materials, Vehicles, Personal Property, and Hazardous Materials threaten to wash into the Cannonball River and Oahe reservoir creating an unacceptable level of environmental damage.

The letter provides a notice to vacate for camp inhabitants and to remove their property before February 22nd.

We’ve detailed the ongoing environmental damage caused by the protesters before. With the mountains of waste already being removed from the site – protesters should only look in the mirror to ask themselves who the real environmental damage in this fight stems from.