National media has been mostly silent on these injuries until a New York woman, Sophia Wilansky, suffered a massive blast trauma injury to her arm last week. On Sunday November 20, 400 protesters and police had a violent confrontation on a bridge closed by authorities, effectively blocking access to the Dakota Access Pipeline construction project. Wilansky's injury is the most significant to date in the nearly six-month long standoff at Standing Rock, N.D.
Her father, Wayne Wilansky, told reporters gathered in Minneapolis that his daughter may need as many as 20 surgeries to possibly save her arm and hand. However the prognosis looks grim at this writing.
Standing Rock resident Vanessa Dundon suffered a severed retina after law enforcement shot her in the face with a tear gas canister, according to reports from Oceti Sakowin.
The fingers of blame are pointing in all directions. Protesters say police threw a concussion grenade that hit 21-year-old Wilansky and caused her injury. The Morton County Sheriff's Department says that they were not using that equipment the night of the incident. NPR has a good analysis here. click here
Confrontations increased after Energy Transfer Partners issued a statement on November 8, 2016 declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline has not voluntarily agreed to halt construction of the pipeline in North Dakota. "Dakota Access has now completed construction of the pipeline on each side of Lake Oahe and is currently mobilizing horizontal drilling equipment to the drill box site in preparation for the tunneling under Lake Oahe." Dakota Access maintains it has all other regulatory approvals and land rights to complete the crossing of the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
However the USACE has vigorously opposed this stance, and is battling the issue out in District Court in Washington, DC.
This audio recording is instructive and supports claims of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that they had not been consulted during the development of the pipeline project.
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