Leaked Audio: Dakota Access Pipeline Executive Says "Election Night Changed Everything" and DAPL "Is Going Through"

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Shaun King, a writer for the New York Daily News, has uploaded what appears to be a recordedย audio file of Energy Transfer Partners’ Chief Operating Officer saying that โ€œelection night changed everythingโ€ for the company as it relates to its embattled Dakota Access Pipeline.

King stated on social media and on the SoundCloud page on which he posted the file that aย source sent him the file on December 13, hours after Matthew Ramseyย โ€” COO of Energy Transfer Partners โ€” gave his speech.ย The source who gave King the audio, he explains on SoundCloud, โ€œclaimed to be in a corporate meetingย at Energy Transfer Partnersโ€ย and told him that the person speaking was Matthew Ramsey, the COO of Energy Transfer Partners. King also wrote that the recording was made during a mandatory companyย meeting.

โ€œI’ve got to tell you, election night changed everything,โ€ Ramsey apparently said in the 10-minute clip, the authenticity of which DeSmogย could not independently verify. โ€œWe now are going into a transition where we are going to have a new President of the United States who gets it. He understands what we’re doing here and we fully expect that as soon as he gets inaugurated his team is going to move to get the final approvals done and we’ll begin to put [Dakota Access] across Lakeย Oahe.โ€ย 

Dakota Access has yet to receive the easement permit it needs from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to cross Lake Oahe, which the company has publicly decried. Ramsey said in the clip, one in which the voice sounds similar to his voice heard in a November 21 company conference call, that it will take about 65 days to cross the lake once they get theย permit.

Energy Transfer Partners recently saw one of the members of its Board of Directors, former Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, nominated as U.S. Secretary of Energy by President-elect Donald Trump.ย Perry also sits on the Board of Directors of Dakota Access LLC co-owner, Sunocoย Logistics.ย 

Two days after the presidential election, Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren expressed a similar sense of jubilation about the prospects for Dakota Access when Trump assumes the Whiteย House.ย 

โ€œHaving a government that actually backs up what they say that we’re going to support infrastructure, we’re going to support job creation, we’re going to support growth in America, and then actually does it?,โ€ Warren told The Dallas Morning News. โ€œMy God, this is going to beย refreshing.โ€

Warren was a major donor to Perry’s short-lived run for president during the Republican Party primary cycle and also served as a major donor to Trump’s presidential campaign. Warren also sat on the advisory board for Perry’s run forย president.

Ramsey and Energy Transfer Partners spokeswoman Vicki Granado did not immediately respondย to a request for commentย fromย DeSmog.

โ€œQuite aย Fightโ€

In the tape, the voice thatย appears to belong to Ramsey spoke about the political battle ensuingย over Dakota Access, which has lasted almost two years and recently stalled temporarily after the Army Corps of Engineers said it needed more time to do a more thorough environmental impact statement for the prospective Lake Oahe easement. The fight against the pipeline has engendered one of the largest cross-tribe mobilizations of Native American people in U.S. history.

โ€œThis has been quite a fight here on [Dakota Access],โ€ remarked Ramsey. โ€œSo let me just tell you, make no mistake about it, this pipeline is going through. It’s going through exactly where we haveย planned.โ€

He also said Energy Transfer Partners โ€œalways, always plays by the rulesโ€ as it relates to following the letter of the law for its projects, saying that Dakota Access LLC โ€œcrossed every ‘t’ [and] dotted every ‘i’โ€ relating to rules andย regulations.ย 

Meeting Withย Police

Police repression has also played a central role in the ongoing Dakota Access fight and so the audio confirms what many likely already thought. That is, law enforcement has worked closely alongside Dakota Access LLC to fend off those fighting against theย project.

โ€œWe met with some of the officials in North Dakota [during a recent trip to the state],โ€ saidย Ramsey. โ€œWe met with the National Sheriff’s Association.ย People are tired of this. They’re tired of seeing what’s going on in the community and we think that the tide has turned and people are understanding what a great project this would be for the State of North Dakota. That came right out of the governor’s mouth. He’s very much in favor of this thing. So, I think we’re off and running on [Dakotaย Access].โ€

โ€œI know that everybody in this room has had to deal with the protesters. Everybody in this room has had to read on social media the misinformation that’s out there. It’s not fair. We feel like keeping our head down and doing what we do best, which is to putย this pipeline in the ground, is the best thing we can do. We never stopped doingย that.โ€

โ€œA lot of times people say to me, and I’d like to answer this question more directly, ‘Why don’t we just immediately answer back every time something is stated wrong about the company and what we’re doing?’,โ€ saidย Ramsey.

โ€œNot About Waterโ€ฆLots and Lots ofย Moneyโ€

Concerns about water contamination and a pipeline spill have played a central role in galvanizing support for those who have protested alongside the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Indeed, participants in the protests and encampment call themselves โ€œwater protectors.โ€ย But the audio captures Ramsey dismissing those concerns out of hand, saying it is โ€œnot about waterโ€ atย all.

โ€œAnd you have to understand, and I didn’t really understand this until I got deep into it.ย This is not really about water. This is not about [unintelligible]โ€ฆ this is about environmental activism. And it’s nothing more thanย that.โ€

But as King pointed out, a pipeline spill actually took place the morningย Ramsey gave his speech, however. That spill of 176,000 gallons of oil into a creek ensued just 150 miles from the Standing Rock protestย site.

Ramsey also alluded to the โ€œKeep It In The Groundโ€ campaign, saying that Dakota Access fit under the umbrella of those demanding to keep all fossil fuels in the ground. Keep It In The Ground, though, did not target the pipeline as part of its broader campaign and focuses on supply, not midstream assets likeย pipelines.

โ€œThese are people thatย are pushing toย keep all fossil fuels in the ground, at every angle. And make no mistake. This is an event that they are using to raise lots and lots of money. If they can create a cause and they can create a lot of publicity, which they’ve clearly done here,ย it’s an avenue for themย to raise money. Not only to fight us onย this project, but to fight all infrastructure projects like this in the United States,โ€ Ramsey claimed.ย 

โ€œSo we’ll continue to fight through this thing. But please, please, please be confident in this company. We are going to get this thing through in short order. We couldn’t be more confident in that fact. And look for us to be pouring oil through this thing in spring of nextย year.โ€ย 

โ€œWater Isย Everythingโ€

In a December 11 interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, Trump saidย Dakota Access will โ€œstart one way or the otherโ€ once he takes office, but did not offer any detail beyondย that.

Not everyone believes that โ€œelection night changed everything,โ€ however. Enter Jane Kleeb, Founder and President of the Boldย Alliance.

โ€œElection night did nothing to change Big Oil from trampling over property rights of farmers and Sovereign rights of Tribal Nations,โ€ Kleeb told DeSmog. โ€œFor us in the states, in the proposed pipeline routes, water is everything. Our livelihoods, our families, our communities all rely on cleanย water.โ€

Photo Credit: Wikimediaย Commons

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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