Thousands of miles from North Dakota, a small but determined group of Tamaqua area residents joined the thousands of U.S. military veterans and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Local supporters were hoping to spread their message of “water is life” far beyond the boundaries of the pipeline’s path.Co-organizer Mareen Thomas-Norman noted the need for continued support for the tribe, despite a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denial of an easement to the pipeline’s developers, Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners, to build under Lake Oahe. The lake is a federally administered reservoir on the Missouri River.“We celebrate the announcement by the Corps of Engineers, but the developers have said they will proceed with the project, despite the announcement. Corporations don’t speak for the people. People need to speak for themselves. Water is life. The many ways of taking water from the ground — fracking, drilling, extraction — along with leaking pipelines around the world, all have a negative impact on life. Humans can’t survive without clean water.”The energy companies were given permission to build the pipeline across the lake in July, but need a second easement under the Federal Mineral Leasing Act. That easement was denied on Sunday.John and Carolyn Suzadail attended the peaceful protest in support of their son, Scott Suzadail.“Scott and his wife, Andrea, who is Native American, traveled from their home in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend to North Dakota to join with other military veterans supporting the tribe,” said Suzadail.The veterans’ protest is being led by Wes Clark Jr., son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark.Paula Schuetrum noted a significant increase in fracking related earthquakes in Oklahoma. “Experts agree there has been something like a 600 percent increase in the number of earthquakes felt in Oklahoma since fracking started there.”The Oklahoma Geological Survey notes that, “Historically, there were virtually no earthquakes in northern Oklahoma before 2012.”Since then, with fracking on the increase, there have been several hundred earthquakes, according to the geological survey.Oklahoma state legislatures voted to prevent local fracking bans after municipalities passed their own laws against the procedure.The DAPL is a four state, $3.8 billion project that is almost complete, except for the segment under Lake Oahe.The Army Corps’ action, according to U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell, “Ensures there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts.”