The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving toward kicking protesters out of the main North Dakota camp they have used since last April to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Corps will close access to a parcel of land it owns near the Missouri River on Dec. 5, the agency announced Friday.
A letter to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe cited "safety reasons," according to Dave Archambault, tribal chairman. A "free-speech zone" south of the existing camp on the Cannonball River on Army Corps land will be provided, according to the Corps. But all access to the present camp on the north side of the river will be closed.
Unaffected is the Camp of the Sacred Stones, which is on private land a short distance south.
The tribe is fighting the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which it says will endanger the drinking water of the tribe and millions of people downstream. The tribe also says sacred sites have been destroyed in construction and remain at risk if the project continues.
"Our tribe is deeply disappointed in this decision by the United States, but our resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever," Archambault said. He reiterated his call for President Barack Obama to stop the project and deny an easement Dakota Access needs to compete the oil pipeline.
The company's battle for that easement through Corps of Engineers land is tied up in court.
Thousands of demonstrators from around the U.S. and the world _ including many people from Washington state _ have visited the protest camp since April, and many have remained to fight the pipeline and support the tribe. Vowing to stay, hundreds of demonstrators had begun winterizing their camps.
"The best way to protect people during the winter and reduce the risk of conflict between water protectors and militarized police is to deny the easement," Archambault said. "And deny it now."
