There are a couple of updates from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests to keep an eye on this week. One has to do with the process of finally getting all of this red tape out of the way and getting back to the business of doing business. In keeping with that, the acting Secretary of the Army has given the word that a final easement should be issued so we can get this done. (KFYR)

Senator John Hoeven issued the following statement after speaking today with Vice President Pence and Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer:

“Today, the Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer informed us that he has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline. This will enable the company to complete the project, which can and will be built with the necessary safety features to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others downstream.

There will no doubt be additional court action from the protesters, but up until now it was really the Obama administration which was holding up the works. With that little matter out of the way, the easement should provide the relief needed to move forward. Any protesters who choose to stand in the way after this should really be quickly escorted to a jail cell where they won’t be inadvertently injured by any construction equipment.

Really guys… enough. It’s for your own good.

And speaking of the protesters, what of those massive camps that had been running for the past year or more? Sadly, they made a massive mess of the place and somebody is going to have to clean it up. (You didn’t expect them to police the area themselves, did you?) The state needs to move quickly because, in what may be one of the most ironic orders ever, the area is such a dump that the protesters who wanted to save the environment were on the verge of creating an “environmental disaster.” (The Daily Caller, emphasis added)

After months of protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, activists left so much waste at their camp state, officials have ordered it be cleaned up to prevent an “environmental disaster.”

Dump trucks and work crews moved into the campsite Monday to clean up the abandoned cars, structures, trash and waste left by thousands of protesters who converged on the region to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline over concerns it would contaminate drinking water relied upon by American Indians.

The people who ostensibly wanted to protest the pipeline to save the tribe’s drinking water were close to contaminating the ground water supply themselves with their filthy encampment full of abandoned vehicles and chemicals. Really makes you believe in the American spirit of peaceful protest and free speech, doesn’t it? But look on the bright side. As John Sexton recently informed us, the area is apparently on the verge of possible major flooding. Perhaps the camps will simply wash away.