After nearly a year of occupying North Dakota prairie land to block the route of a controversial oil pipeline, many of the camp’s holdouts finally marched out Wednesday to meet the federal evacuation deadline.
Earlier this month US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to revive the pipeline project, and after the final permit was issued construction on Dakota Access began almost immediately.
Native Americans and their supporters began leaving the federal land — which was occupied at times by a population that swelled into the thousands — singing traditional songs and banging drums.
Some campers remained past the 2:00 pm local time deadline set by authorities, who had threatened to arrest those who remained.
Native Americans say the pipeline threatens the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The pipeline’s operator, Energy Transfer Partners, insists it is safe, with high-tech systems in place to prevent environmental catastrophe.
State and tribal authorities planned to begin coordinated efforts to clean up the camp, removing garbage, structures, vehicles and other debris, in anticipation of seasonal flooding in the area.
Without the cleanup, authorities said local waterways could be contaminated. More than 230 truckloads of debris had been cleared out as of Monday, officials said.
Campers burned some structures on their way out of the camp, in what they said were ceremonial rituals.
Some protesters had informed law enforcement that they would engage in passive resistance and expected to be arrested, Tom Iverson of the North Dakota Highway Patrol told local television station KFYR.
“People were free to leave,” Iverson said, adding that the evacuation was intended to “avoid an ecological disaster.”
State authorities were also offering protesters bus fare to return home and hotel lodging for one night.
Native Americans and others began protesting at the camp starting last April, in opposition to the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline, whose route runs under land the Standing Rock Sioux consider sacred and under the Missouri River, which is the source of drinking water for the tribe’s reservation.
The tribe filed a motion in federal court last week asking that pipeline construction be halted until a full environmental impact review is completed.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.