PORT ANGELES — St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church plans a gathering at the mouth of the Elwha River at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its fight against Energy Transfer’s proposed Dakota Access Pipeline.
The group will meet on the west side of the mouth of the river at the end of Place Road. Members of the general public are invited. Carpooling is suggested because parking is limited on Place Road.
The proposed pipeline would transfer oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. The $3.7 billion pipeline would move 470,000 barrels of domestic crude oil a day. Protesters say the pipeline endangers the environment and sacred land.
The Thursday gathering was organized in response to a call issued by the Rev. John Floberg, supervising priest of two Episcopal congregations on the Standing Rock Reservation, to stand at the Missouri River, said the Rev. Gail Wheatley of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
“We thought … we want to do something to respond to this call to stand at the river,” she said. “Why don’t we stand at the Elwha River?”
Exactly what the group will do once they arrive is yet to be decided. Wheatley said they might say some prayers and sing once they arrive.
“We just want to do this little thing,” she said. “If there’s anybody that wants to stand in solidarity with the people at Standing Rock, then they are welcome to do that.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
