Native Americans Protest Pipeline

The Standing Rock Sioux has set up a camp in North Dakota to protest a planned pipeline to carry crude from the Bakken oil fields to Illinois. The ``spirit camp'' at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers has been occupied for two weeks. The tribe opposes the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline planned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners because it fears a spill could contaminate its drinking water. The company maintains the pipeline will be a safe and cost-effective way to transport oil, and will create jobs and boost the economy. The proposed 1,130-mile pipeline would pass through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa on its way to Illinois. Regulators in all states have approved the project, though it still needs federal approval.