MITCHELL, S.D.—Bishop Bruce R. Ough, resident bishop, Dakotas-Minnesota Area and some clergy of the Dakotas Conference show support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who stand in protest to the Dakotas Access Pipeline (DAP). The Tribe, with Earth Justice, is waiting the decision of a federal judge on a pending lawsuit that would halt the construction of the pipeline.

Photo by James MacPherson AP. Native Americans held a protest against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota last week.

Ough released a statement of support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who are in protest of the Dakotas Access Pipeline.

"I stand with my Lakota and Dakota brothers and sisters because I believe the central question of the creation story is at the heart of their lament and their protest: What will we do with the blessing of power God has given us? This is a particularly poignant God-question for those of us who have the power of privilege in our country and the world. I urge all Dakotas United Methodists to wrestle with this question so central to our faith and witness," said Ough. 

Some clergy United Methodist clergy across North and South Dakota are staging efforts of support through social media. Plans are underway to go to the protest site in Cannonball, N.D. to offer support and prayer.

The Dakotas Access Pipeline is a 1,172-mile pipeline that travels through four states is expected to be in service by the end of the year. The $3.78 billion project will be the Bakken’s largest oil pipeline, transporting 450,000 barrels per day from Stanley to Patoka, Ill. Energy Transfer Partners of Texas is the company spearheading the project.

Now a growing number of protesters are objecting to the oil pipeline’s Missouri River crossing a half-mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which they argue could threaten the water supply for the tribe and other communities downstream.

An early proposal for the Dakota Access Pipeline called for the project to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck, but one reason that route was rejected was its potential threat to Bismarck’s water supply, documents show.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers on July 27 to stop the pipeline that would cross under the Missouri River, the reservation’s sole source of water. The corps approved the pipeline last month, but the tribe argues they were not properly consulted, and that cultural and historical sites would be destroyed during construction.

Judge James E. Boasberg from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia said he will make a decision about the $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline on or before September 9.