Enbridge Construction Halted on Karankawa Settlement Update on Lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On May 6th, Enbridge announced a delay in their terminal expansion planned to be constructed on the ancestral settlement and land of the Karankawa Kadla, where thousands of sacred Karankawa artifacts have been found, a place sacred to the coastal tribe where ceremony and prayer have continued for the last 2,000 years. Under the proposed briefing schedule, it was agreed that briefings will be pushed back in order for evidence to be properly cross-examined. The Karakawa Kadla and Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, was notified by the court that construction is now halted to after October 24, 2022, which allows the tribe, Indigenous groups, and their legal team to construct a stronger argument in order to protect the sacred site.

“We have been challenging processes since 2015 and continue to make strides. Enbridge can expect the same energy our ancestors had when colonizers stepped foot on the shoreline. We will protect our traditional lifeways for our youth and elders.” said Sandra Love Sanchez, Karankawa Kadla.

On October 19, 2021, under the schedule for request to halt construction on the Karankawa settlement, filed by the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, Karankawa Kadla Tribe of the Texas Gulf Coast, and Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch, dredging and construction on a new pier at the Enbridge Ingleside oil terminal will be halted and not take place before August 29th, 2022. If the expansion of the Enbridge terminal on Karankawa land and water continues, the Karankawa Kadla will lose direct access to their land and ancestral artifacts, in addition to the pollution of sacred natural waters within the region, violating several U.S. water protection laws.

“As scientists in the latest IPCC report ring the alarm that our window to limit warming is closing, we will stand for Mother Earth and our youth, just as our ancestors did,” Sanchez said. “ We will protect what’s sacred.