Oyate Wahacanka Woecun

Shield the People

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday: September 11th, 2014 Contact: Gary Dorr, Oyate Wahacanka Woecun, Media Coordinator

Email: gfdorr@gmail.com

charles.marshall@rst-nsn.gov

Phone: Toll Free (888) 742-7244 Camp Phone (605) 840-4631

ROSEBUD, SD: Oyate Wahacanka Woecun is coordinating a monumental action to engage in the South Dakota

Public Utility Commission (PUC) permitting process as concerned parties that oppose construction of the Keystone

XL pipeline. In light of TransCanada’s statements that it plans to apply shortly to the SD PUC to certify its permit

in the state, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe will kick off a series of informational meetings to

educate the 46,000 members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the 24,000 members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe about

the status of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, PUC’s role and the permitting process in South Dakota, and the

dangers the project poses. TransCanada also cannot certify that the conditions contained in the original 2010 permit

are all still valid. Most importantly, this endeavor will arm the public with the knowledge they need to exercise

their rights and participate in the permitting process. Though TransCanada will continue to manipulate facts in an

attempt to “certify” that it still meets all the conditions of its 2010 permit, the unified voices of the Oceti Sakowin

and South Dakota will make certain the PUC hears the truth. In addition to the 70,000 tribal members of the Oglala

and Rosebud Sioux Tribe there are an additional 100,000 members of the Oceti Sakowin opposing to the Keystone

XL Pipeline, as well as thousands of non-native landowners in the region. The Rosebud and Oglala Sioux are

closely aligned and cooperating with the citizens’ action group, Dakota Rural Action, to educate the public and

defend the Oglala Aquifer. That aquifer which is in the path of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline provides clean

drinking water for 2.2 million Americans. The South Dakota Public Utility Commissioners must take every action

within its authority to comply with all applicable federal and state laws. The SD PUC must deny the TransCanada

permit certification.

Oyate Wahacanka Woecun will bring to light the fact that TransCanada is incapable of certifying that all the

conditions of the original 2010 permit are still valid today.

TransCanada has stated in the past that the Keystone must be built to aid the domestic oil supply to the United

States, while today U.S. oil production has gone up 60% over the time since TransCanada originally was given a

permit in South Dakota. The U.S. Oil supply from domestic production has gone from 5.3 million barrels per day in

2010 to present-day 8.5 million barrels per day. It is forecast to increase to as high as 9.1 million barrels per day in

2015. TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline is no longer needed to supplement domestic oil supplies; it won’t even

be destined for U.S. oil markets anyway.

TransCanada Corporation will be utilizing the Keystone XL pipeline to transport diluted bitumen to Texas for

refinement and then selling it, tax-free, on the International market to the highest bidder. The U.S. will take all the

risk from a carcinogenic mix of diluted bitumen heated to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and transported through the

pipeline at 1,600 psi, just so TransCanada can sell it on the open market from our port. The technology has a proven

record of spills with 14 occurring in the first 18 months of the Keystone 1 pipeline, thus highlighting that the U.S.

takes all the risk while they get all the profit.

TransCanada made claims that they consulted with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe about the proposed Keystone XL

pipeline route; however, that is moot point because, by U.S. law, meaningful consultation must come from the

Federal Government for activity on trust lands on Indian reservations. Under 36 CFR Part 800.3(f)2, Federal Agency

Officials are to consult with any and all appropriate tribes. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has not been consulted by the

U.S. State Department on the issue of protecting historical and culturally significant sites which are threatened by

the proposed Keystone XL route. It has been documented that TransCanada conducted a faulty and improper, sub-

standard, cultural survey from a moving automobile. The upcoming TransCanada permit certification must be

denied on the basis that any claims that TransCanada makes about consulting with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe are not

in compliance with Federal Law or state law.

Paul Seamans of Dakota Rural Action indicated that a new figure of $20 million in new taxes to local South Dakota

communities has recently been promised by TransCanada’s Keystone Operations President, Corey Goulet. This was

originally 10.3 million in tax revenues in 2010; however, a study by the Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute

alludes to the fact that the 7 billion forecasted to be spent on the Keystone Pipeline in the United States is actually

nearly less than half of that in actuality. Even though TransCanada’s budget is less than half originally forecasted in

2010, TransCanada is now promising to double the tax revenue in South Dakota. The SD PUC should be asking

TransCanada “Where does the additional tax revenue come from if the budget is less than half of what it originally

started at?” This will have a significant impact on the public perception of the validity of the original promises

made by TransCanada if the numbers cannot be realistically shown to exist. Even SD Governor Daugaard testified

to then Secretary Hilary Clinton that the tax revenue would be 10.3 million dollars. Surely they cannot be basing a

$10 million dollar increase in promised revenues from one sentence that Michael K. Madden made in 2009 as an

“assumption,” without factual evidence. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s position is that this lack of authenticity as to

the facts is also an additional reason to deny certification of this permit.

Seamans also pointed to the Sept 5, 2014 Nebraska Supreme Court hearing about the Keystone XL proposed

Nebraska route. TransCanada is in the midst of a Supreme Court Case that may take up to 7 months. For the South

Dakota PUC to allow a permit before TransCanada has a legal ruling from the state of Nebraska or the Federal

permitting process is putting the horse before not just one but two carts. As it stands right now TransCanada has no

legal route through Nebraska. In theory if the South Dakota PUC approves the permit certification they could end

up holding the bag of a worthless pipeline if the route is not approved through Nebraska or even more importantly

by the President to cross the border with Canada. This would leave a pipe in the ground in South Dakota with no

legal recourse for TransCanada to remove it. The South Dakota Public Utility Commission should deny the South

Dakota certification at this time based on the fact that TransCanada may not have a legal route after the Nebraska

Supreme Court decision in about 6-7 months from now, and there has been no presidential approval to cross the

border yet.

It would be premature to approve this permit at a state level before the Rosebud Sioux Tribe has been consulted in

accordance with the Federal Executive Order 13175. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has a unique treaty status that gives

them the authority to protect their water supply and historical, cultural, and spiritual sites and areas from destruction.

One of the reasons the Rosebud Sioux Tribe demands to be consulted is that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline

route crosses the Oglala Aquifer in Tripp County. This pipeline was moved for protection of the Sand Hills in

Nebraska. An even more vital resource such as the Oglala Aquifer that provides drinking water for 2.2 million

American citizens deserves consideration. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has a reserved treaty right to protection of its

resources. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe makes the demand to deny the Keystone XL pipeline on behalf of all living

beings that take their water from the Oglala Aquifer.

The Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL pipeline has generated some very

strong recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically the EPA calls for emergency

plans specific to dilbit, spill monitoring of a lengthy period after any spills, and equipping the local emergency

agencies with the proper equipment, training, and procedures. Before the South Dakota PUC approves any permit,

assurance must be gained from TransCanada that every single precaution suggested by the EPA will be taken so that

South Dakota will be better equipped for a response than the Mayflower, Arkansas oil spill in 2013. That spill

destroyed a neighborhood and the houses were bought out by Exxon because they became unlivable.

The federal 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments directed that states initiate measures that protect the area

surrounding a public drinking water supply. The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources

coordinated compliance for South Dakota. TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline route will cross multiple

rivers including the Missouri River, which supplies drinking water for South Dakota citizens and the Oglala Aquifer.

It would be in the public’s best interest for the South Dakota PUC to consult with the South Dakota Dept. of

Environment and Natural Resources, to take complete responsibility and ensure that drinking water supplies are

completely protected from contamination before approving the certification of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe retains inherent sovereignty over its land, resources, and reserved rights. The land

contains significant known and unknown cultural, spiritual, and historical sites. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has a

right to protect these sights. Further, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe has an inherent right to clean drinking water. The

Tribe takes water as they have historically done for generations from the Missouri river. This proposed Keystone

XL pipeline will place that drinking water and multiple other drinking source waters and the Oglala Aquifer at an

extremely dangerous and possibly permanent risk. The South Dakota PUC should take appropriate action and deny

the certification by TransCanada until the Nebraska Supreme Court rules on the legality of the pipeline route in

Nebraska, and the President makes a determination about whether to sign a Federal Permit for a foreign corporation,

TransCanada, to operate the Keystone XL Pipeline across the international border with Canada.

Further information about the efforts by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Oyate Wahacanka Woecun (Shield The People)

can be found at www.shieldthepeople.org or on their Facebook page,

https://www.facebook.com/shieldingthepeople?ref=stream.