Fund for Dakota Access pipeline protesters reaches $1 million

A fund set up to support people protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota has surpassed $1 million in donations.

The original goal was to raise $5,000, and the money will help cover legal costs, food, and supplies, and could allow the protesters camped near the Missouri and Cannonball rivers to stay there even longer. They are demonstrating against the $3.8 billion pipeline, which is supposed to go nearly 1,200 miles across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa before ending in Illinois. The pipeline will cross the Missouri River, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and supporters worry it could pollute drinking water sources on the reservation and harm cultural artifacts on sacred land. Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas-based company building the pipeline, says it is safe.

After losing in lower courts, the tribe has taken its case to federal appellate court, fighting the pipeline's permitting process. The Standing Rock Sioux did not ask for donations, but sent letters to other tribes, asking for letters of support or formal resolutions, tribal chairman Dave Archambault told The Associated Press. Some tribes began to send money, and the Standing Rock Sioux accepted it to pay for legal fees and waste-management services. "I know the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not alone," Archambault said. "We have overwhelming support." The Standing Rock Sioux will also assist other tribes "in their fight against corporations," he added.

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