A rally in support of the Standing Rock Sioux effort to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline is planned for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Durango.
The protesters will gather at Buckley Park, Main Avenue and 12th Street, and plan to march on sidewalks on both sides of Main Avenue to the Wells Fargo Bank on College Drive, according to a news release.
The group said it is targeting Wells Fargo because it is one of 17 major funders of the pipeline project. The controversial project involves a 1,172-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from North Dakota oil production areas to refineries in Illinois.
Much of the pipeline is complete, but protesters since summer have tried to halt construction of a tunnel under Lake Oahe. The reservoir is at the center of the Standing Rock Sioux’s fight against the pipeline, which the tribe and its supporters fear could harm cultural sites and drinking water sources at the tribe’s nearby reservation, the Associated Press reports.
The local protesters plan to deliver a letter to the bank calling for it to halt the disbursements of loans to, or investments in construction of the pipeline, according to the release.
The demonstration is part of a National Day of Action against the Army Corps of Engineers and pipeline stakeholders.
