FARGO, N.D. — The head of North Dakota’s emergency management services says the state is prepared to respond to Dakota Access pipeline protesters who may need help during a winter storm or some other crisis.
State Homeland Security Director Greg Wilz said it would be a “huge challenge,” especially during a mass evacuation, but his office has winter shelter plans in place and agencies are ready to respond.
“The bottom line here is, if we are in a situation of life and limb, we are going to be humane in anything and everything we do,” Wilz said. “We aren’t going to let somebody out there freeze. So if they start evacuating en masse looking for shelter – which I highly suspect will happen – we would take care of that.”
Also on Saturday, North Dakota’s governor and the Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman agreed to meet in person.
The Bismarck Tribune reported that tribal chairman Dave Archambault II had spoken with Gov. Jack Dalrymple by phone several times since the large protests near his reservation have been going on.
Dalrymple issued a statement that it is “important that we do not let this issue divide us as a state” and that the focus will be on cooperation and goodwill.
No date has been set for the meeting.
The government has ordered hundreds of protesters to leave the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires camp, on federal land in southern North Dakota by Monday, although demonstrators say they’re prepared to stay until changes are made to the route of the four-state, $3.8-billlion pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others say the pipeline north of the reservation could pollute water and threatens sacred sites.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation and Morton County Highway Department will be key players in any evacuation plans, Wilz said, noting that those agencies worked to keep roads clear around the protest site during recent heavy snow.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement Friday that the Department of Justice has offered community policing resources to local law enforcement as winter begins to take hold. “Our first concern is the safety of everyone in the area – law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike,” Lynch said.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said Lynch contacted him by phone Friday to discuss the situation.
“While I appreciate the Attorney General taking the time to reach out to me, neither assistance for law enforcement nor a timeline for resolution was offered,” Kirchmeier said in a statement. “I hope the dialogue continues, but it’s time for more actions from the federal government, not more words.”
The North Dakota National Guard is prepared to help with any emergencies, said a spokesman for Dalrymple. The Republican governor issued a “mandatory evacuation” Monday for the main encampment, though he said no one would be forcibly removed.
Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney again encouraged protesters to heed both the governor’s order and the federal government’s request to leave the land. But, he said Saturday, that authorities won’t be “moving on that camp” on Monday or “in the future.”
Officers at the staging area have temporary warming houses and other winterization measures, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said.
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