The people who claimed they were protesting the Dakota Pipeline to save the environment have a funny way of showing it. They left behind so much garbage that the site has become a potential environmental disaster.
The Washington Times reports:
Massive cleanup underway after Dakota Access protesters leave behind environmental messClean-up crews are racing to clear acres of debris at the largest Dakota Access protest camp before the spring thaw turns the snowy, trash-covered plains into an environmental disaster area.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday that the camp, located on federal land, would be closed Feb. 22 in order to “prevent injuries and significant environmental damage in the likely event of flooding in this area” at the mouth of the Cannonball River in North Dakota.“Without proper remediation, debris, trash, and untreated waste will wash into the Cannonball River and Lake Oahe,” the Corps said in its statement.Those involved in the clean-up effort, led by the Standing Rock Sioux, say it could take weeks for private sanitation companies and volunteers to clear the expanse of abandoned tents, teepees, sleeping bags, blankets, canned food, supplies and just plain garbage littering the Oceti Sakowin camp.
The video report below from a local news source suggests that there are up to 250 truckloads of trash to be removed and that authorities are even searching the debris for dead bodies.
The Week has more on the search for the dead:
Authorities are checking the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters’ trash for dead bodiesThe camp inhabited by the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters once held as many as 10,000 people, although only a determined 1,000 planned to stay on through the rough North Dakota winter. As the weather begins to warm once again, though, sanitation crews are scrambling to remove six months’ worth of trash before it becomes “toxic,” NBC’s West Dakota affiliate reports.”Standing Rock Environmental Protection Agency and Dakota Sanitation are working together to try and avert an environmental tragedy,” explained Tom Doering, the Morton County Emergency Manager.Authorities are concerned about the possibility of other kinds of tragedies, too. Every load of trash is carefully combed by the Morton County Sheriff’s department: “We are looking for, as I said, anything illegal, anything that might be used to, I guess, harm our officers during a protest,” said Morton County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jay Gruebele. He added, “As bad as it sounds, we’re looking for people that may have died and could be wrapped up in a canvas or a tarp or tent.”
It’s like Occupy Wall Street all over again.
Why is the left taken seriously over any environmental concerns when they repeatedly leave a trail of destruction and trash in their wake?
Featured image via YouTube.
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