Giving Compass' Take:

• Naveena Sadasivam explains that federal agencies, legally obligated to consult with tribes about pipelines that may impact them, fail to reach out appropriately. 

• How can funders work to ensure that tribes have appropriate input and consideration in pipeline projects? 

• Read about investing in indigenous-led organizations.

In Montana, the Keystone XL pipeline’s proposed path cuts underneath the Missouri River at the edge of the Fort Peck Reservation’s southwestern border. The Fort Peck Reservation is home to several bands of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, and a spill from the pipeline could contaminate their main source of drinking water.

Federal agencies are required by law to work with Native American tribes that might be affected by oil and gas projects. But there hasn’t been a single public hearing on the Fort Peck Reservation yet, even though the pipeline has been a source of controversy for about a decade.

There are similar stories in Virginia, New Mexico, and elsewhere across the country, according to Indian law experts tracking oil and gas projects. Tribal officials say they try to contact federal agencies and don’t hear back, or that agencies make key decisions before contacting them. Sometimes an agency sends letters asking for tribes’ input to the wrong address or never contacts them at all.

“It’s very inconsistent,” said Marion Werkheiser, a founding partner at the law firm Cultural Heritage Partners, which works with tribes, developers, and local governments on cultural and historic preservation. “It’s difficult for tribes to know what to expect when they get into the process because some agencies are not fulfilling their obligations.”

The Monacan Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe that Werkheiser represents, sent several letters in 2019 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for approving an extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through southern Virginia and central North Carolina. They’re worried about protecting burial sites and cultural resources along the pipeline’s route. But the agency hasn’t responded, Werkheiser said.

Read the full article about failing to consult tribes about pipelines by Naveena Sadasivam at Grist.