A group of supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation gathered in Kearny Mesa Monday for a demonstration and prayer vigil after the Dakota Access Pipeline was halted.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit required for the project in North Dakota on Sunday after months of protests.
Protesters have been camped out for months against the $3.7 billion oil pipeline they say will hard a tribal water source.
Approximately 75 demonstrators gathered outside the Army Corps Engineers Office on Aero Drive Monday afternoon to celebrate, what they are calling a small victory.
“We are doing this for the next generation. I want my son to have access to clean drinking water,” said Gina Tiger Madueno.
The Chula Vista resident and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation said she took supplies to protesters a few months ago. She says this was a victory that made many, including her, emotional.
But she added that many still fear the decision to halt the pipeline will be changed after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
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“It's a small victory for right now but it's definitely far from over, it's not a win,” she said.
Madueno and the protesters said they will not be moving anytime soon from the demonstration site in Standing Rock because they fear the future Trump Administration will stop the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers from looking for another route.
“With Trump coming in, he can easily just toss that to the side and say ‘we're gonna move forward with this project,’” she added.
President-elect Donald Trump has voiced his support of the pipeline and has reportedly invested Energy Transfer Partners, one of the companies building the pipeline.
In response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision, Energy Transfer Partners released the following statement:
"The White House's directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency."
The people from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation were also joined by environmentalists on Monday. Both groups say it's time to stop the push to use fossil fuels because the health of the planet depends on it.
“I hope that they honor what they say they're going to do and I hope that they will permanently halt the construction of the pipeline,” Madueno said.
