Oil CEO Says Bribing Native Americans Will Stop Dakota Protests | News | teleSUR English

30.9.16

Oil CEO Says Bribing Native Americans Will Stop Dakota Protests | News | teleSUR English: James J. Volker, CEO of Whiting Petroleum Corp, said that economic opportunities such as oil service contracts and jobs related to the oil industry, such as water hauling, could be given to Native American-owned companies.

“We, as an industry, would like to see them provide those services … It does provide a better standard of living for them, it does provide a direct tie to the energy business and makes them and their tribal leaders more inclined to have more energy development,” said Volker, speaking to the Independent Petroleum Association of America on Tuesday.

Thousands have protested in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who say that the 1,168-mile pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois will run through sacred sites and damage the environment, including local water supplies, with the Missouri River as a foremost site among those that could potentially face ruin in the event of a rupture. The tribe says that their rights have been violated and that they were not adequately consulted on the project.