Close to 100 scientists have signed onto a letter decrying “inadequate environmental and cultural impact assessments” for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and calling for a halt to construction until such tests have been carried out as requested by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Lead signatories Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley, Anne Hilborn, Katherine Crocker, and Asia Murphy drew attention to the missive in a letter to the journal Science published Friday.
“The DAPL project is just one of many haphazard approaches to natural resource extraction that overlook broader consequences of oil development,” they wrote.
Furthermore, the open letter (pdf) states, “We as scientists are concerned about the potential local and regional impacts from the DAPL, which is symptomatic of the United States’ continued dependence on fossil fuels in the face of predicted broad-scale social and ecological impacts from global climate change.” Specifically, they cite the Standing Rock Sioux’s concerns that the pipeline project threatens biodiversity and clean water.
Underscoring those concerns, a Reuters investigation into the nation’s pipeline system published Friday reveals that “sensitive technology designed to pick up possible spills is about as successful as a random member of the public…finding it, despite efforts from pipeline operators.”
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