Sierra Club, Lenape Tribe Protest Dakota Access Pipeline At Sunoco HQ

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – Members of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware Sierra Clubs, as well as representatives from the Delaware Lenape Tribe, converged on Sunoco Logistics Headquarters Wednesday in solidarity with those fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline out west, as the petroleum giant is a main stakeholder in the pipeline.

"We are honored to stand with our brothers and sisters in the Dakotas," said Delaware Lenape Indian Tribe Chief Dennis White Otter Coker outside of Sunoco's headquarters Wednesday afternoon. "As a tribal leader, I feel compelled to be here today. It's a no-brainer that the native community gets involved in these environmental issues."

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is on the front line of the pipeline fight due to the potential threat the pipeline would pose to the environment.

Jim Wylie of the Sierra Club's Southeast Pennsylvania Group said if the pipeline is finished, it will put the Sioux's drinking water at risk due to it crossing under the Missouri River upstream from the tribe's water supply.

"While we respect the right to express opinions on infrastructure development, pipelines continue to be the safest form of transporting petroleum products, and we believe that these projects are catalysts for our nation's economy, creating manufacturing opportunities and real, family-sustaining jobs," a Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. statement in response to the protest said.

While Sunoco is a main player in the Dakota Access Pipeline, New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said the company has plans to push pipelines on the East Coast.

"Sunoco is not only proposing destructive projects that hurt environmentally sensitive lands in the Mid-West, but are trying to push through pipelines on the East Coast," Tittels said in a statement. "This pipeline might even connect to refineries here, increasing pollution and greenhouse gases. That is why we must continue the public outcry against these dangerous projects and urge Sunoco to reject them."

Wylie said that project, the Mariner East project, would connect an old, re-purposed pipeline at Sunoco's Marcus Hook industrial complex on the Delaware River to three high-pressure pipelines that would bring methane and liquid natural gas products to Chester County.

"These three very high-pressure pipelines will be going next to schools, through many wetlands, very close to communities and even in some cases under people's houses because development came to the area after the old pipeline was installed," Wylie said.

"The argument always is pipelines are less risky than transporting by train or truck, which is arguably true," he said. "But we don't feel that there needs to be any fossil fuel infrastructure added to what we have."

Wylie said if energy infrastructure is added to the country, it should be centered on renewable energy.

Coker said taking stands on environmental issues is "mandated" on tribes by the Creator.

"Anything we can do to help heal our mother Earth is a mandate for us," he said. "This is an exercise in the fulfillment of that direction."

Coke also said sacred Sioux locations have been and would continue to be disturbed if construction continues.

"About three weeks ago, the Sioux provided to the court system a recently acknowledged cultural deposit," Coker said. "The very next day a group of bulldozers came in and destroyed those deposits."

Coker said that led private security forces to unleash dogs and pepper spray on indigenous protesters who were attempting to stop the construction work.

He went on to say that due to the pipeline being segmented, it allowed construction to circumvent cultural and historical review processes.

According to its website, the Dakota Access Pipeline Project is an approximately 1,172-mile, 30-inch-diameter pipeline that will connect two oil production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline will enable domestically produced light sweet crude oil from North Dakota to reach major refining markets in a more direct, cost-effective, safer and environmentally responsible manner. The pipeline will also reduce the current use of rail and truck transportation to move Bakken crude oil to major U.S. markets to support domestic demand. The pipeline is expected to move between 470,000 and 570,000 barrels of oil a day.

When asked for comment on the protest, Sunoco said projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline provide jobs are are the safest way to transport petroleum products.

Photos by Max Bennett