This weekend, the Council of Canadians provided 1000 pairs of earplugs to the water protectors in North Dakota who are opposing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Last Thursday, the peaceful protestors were subjected to police use of Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD- also known as sound cannons) which emit extremely high levels of sound and cause great pain and permanent hearing loss to those targeted.
Sound cannons emit up to 151 decibels- as loud as a jet engine at takeoff.
A chart of decibel levels, including those made by an LRAD device. Image: Security Pro USA
But a simple pair of earplugs is all it takes to protect people from the sound cannons. In 2010, we gave 7000 pairs of earplugs to G20 protesters in Toronto after police purchased four LRADs.
To date, close to 300 people have been arrested since the blockade against pipeline construction was established in mid-August.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is being built by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners and Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. (which owns a US$1.5 billion share in the pipeline). The pipeline could carry up to 570,000 barrels per day of fracked oil from North Dakota to Illinois. It would cross 200 waterways, including the Missouri River (which is upstream of Lake Oahe, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s main source of drinking water), and the Mississippi River.
Mint Press reports, “About 3,000 people are assembled in the region, divided among five encampments, including three which are largely situated on reservation territory. The gathering of Native Americans representing almost 375 tribal nations and other non-Native American groups is unprecedented in modern history.”
#RezpectOurWater #NoDAPL #DakotaAccessPipeline
