Dakota Access: company under scrutiny over sacred artifacts in oil pipeline's path

North Dakota regulators accuse company of failing to disclose
the discovery of Native American symbolic stones on a site where
construction was planned

Sam Levin in San Francisco
Saturday 5 November 2016 12.00 GMT

North Dakota regulators are filing a complaint against the oil company building the Dakota Access pipeline for failing to disclose the discovery of Native American artifacts in the path of construction.

The allegations mark the state’s first formal action against the corporation and add fuel to the claims of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has long argued that the $3.7bn pipeline threatens sacred lands and indigenous cultural heritage.

Julie Fedorchak, chair of the North Dakota public service commission, told the Guardian that on 17 October, pipeline officials found a group of stone cairns –symbolic rock piles that sometimes mark burial grounds – on a site where construction was planned.

The firm, however, failed to notify the commission, in violation of its permit, and only disclosed the findings 10 days later when government workers inquired about it, she said.

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The rebuke is significant given that public officials in North Dakota have repeatedly criticized Native American leaders protesting against the pipeline and have gone to great lengths to protect the construction sites from demonstrations. The commission will file a complaint this week and the company could face a maximum fine of $10,000 per day for the 10 days without a disclosure, according to Fedorchak.

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