Dakota Access Pipeline Has Suffered Its First Oil Leak

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The Dakota Access pipeline has already suffered its first leak, outraging indigenous groups who have been warning that the project poses a threat to the environment.

The $3.8 billion oil pipeline, which is not yet fully operational spilled 84 gallons of crude oil at a pump station in South Dakota in early April, sparking outrage and calling into question its environmental safety.

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RT reports:

The long-debated pipeline leaked crude oil on April 4 in Tulare Township in Spink County, according to the South Dakota Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. Reports of the incident emerged just several days before the pipeline becomes fully operational.

The report of the spill can be found on the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources website. The agency apparently did not make any official announcement on the incident as it was relatively minor and had no environmental impact, according to Brian Walsh, a scientist with the department, as cited by the Guardian. The site “was cleaned up right away,” the official added as quoted by ABC news.

The spill occurred less than 110 miles from Lake Oahe, which supplies Sioux tribes with water.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which protested the planned pipeline and warned of potential threats to drinking water supplies and the environment, condemned the incident.

“The Dakota Access pipeline has not yet started shipping the proposed half million barrels of oil per day and we are already seeing confirmed reports of oil spills from the pipeline. This is what we have said all along: oil pipelines leak and spill,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a statement.

He added that apart from the tribe’s resources, there are “17 million people whose drinking water is at risk.” He also hopes that the ongoing lawsuit against the project will prevent further accidents.

The multi-billion dollar Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) project, designed to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois, has sparked protests across the US.