Close to 150 protesters picketed and chanted in Akron on Tuesday afternoon to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline’s path near an American Indian reservation in North Dakota.
Amy Breedon, who organized the protest, said she couldn’t make it to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation but wanted to stand in solidarity with those who could travel there.
“There are this many people in our area — and more — who are outraged about the poisoning of water,” said Breedon, referring to the possibility that Standing Rock’s only source of water, the Missouri River, might be contaminated by the pipeline crossing it.
Breedon, 25, of Hudson, said the pipeline threatens the water supply of 18 million people and would desecrate burial grounds of cultural significance to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
“We would not put a pipeline through the Arlington National Cemetery,” she said. “We need to make sure we treat all people the same.”
Similar protests were being held Tuesday across the country, from California to Vermont. In Columbus, police reported an activist blocked traffic by handcuffing himself under a vehicle at a downtown intersection.
Protesters in Akron, who gathered at South Main and East Market streets before marching toward banks on Main to urge them not to fund the project, came from six counties across Northeast Ohio. They varied in age from children to the elderly and came from all walks of life. Many chanted and carried signs. Over the course of the event, passing motorists several times honked to show their support.
Among them was Kathie Jones of Medina County, who came to show support and to raise awareness about the local Nexus Gas Transmission Pipeline that’s planned to cross several Ohio counties — including Summit and Medina.
“We need to stand together,” Jones said. “These pipelines are everywhere.”
Another protester, Akron resident Kevin Fay, attended the event with his dog, Joker. Fay wore a shirt showing his support for failed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.
“Water is life,” he said. “No pipeline is built to be unbreakable. All of them are going to break at some point.”
He said the United States shouldn’t be building more pipelines anyway.
“There’s no reason we shouldn’t be converting to green energy,” he said.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the $3.8 billion North Dakota pipeline, rejects claims that the pipeline would endanger the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and CEO Kelcy Warren noted earlier that Army Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy had informed company officials and Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault that the Army Corps of Engineers’ previous decisions to permit the pipeline “comported with legal requirements.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com.