These lands are Indian lands. This undisputed fact, that the pipeline would cross Rosebud mineral estates held in trust, has several legal implications: The publicly available maps that the Tribes have seen show that the pipeline corridor also would cross Rosebud surface and mineral estates. Share. The injunction blocking KXL construction has now been lifted. In addition to the intervention, a hearing has been scheduled in Rosebud Sioux Tribe et al v. United States Department of State et al. Watch on Keystone XL 329 miles (529 km) in Canada (Hardisty, Alta., to Monchy, Sask.) The governments analysis does not meaningfully address how an influx of out-of-state construction workers will affect the health, welfare, and safety of tribal members, and in particular Native women and children. See the related statement from Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Bordeaux. With President Trumps illegal permit revoked, the Tribes plan to continue their efforts to ensure that TransCanada, and its proposed Keystone XL project, follows all applicable laws that are in place to protect tribal people and ancestral lands. Pipeline opponents file a lawsuit against the Nebraska government claiming the state law used to review the new route is unconstitutional. It was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. This isnt your grandfathers typical oil, says Anthony Swift, director of NRDCs Canada project. a new mini-documentary entitled Take Action: Protect Our Land., their response to the defendants motions to dismiss. This decision reversed two previous administrative decisions and was done without any public comment or environmental analysis. Later, fossil fuel companies funnelled millions into Trumps 2017 inauguration ceremony, days after which he brought the Keystone XL project back from the dead, and ramped up federal lobbying efforts in the first months of his administration. We will not dishonor our relatives and unnecessarily endanger our health, safety, and wellbeing. So this is a complete win for the tribes on the motions to dismiss. Federal agencies have a duty to prevent mineral trespass and protect Indian lands and tribal mineral estates. If the Presidents goal was to avoid complying with the District Courts decision in that case, it worked. On October 16, 2020, the judge ruled against the Tribes on some claims, finding that the Presidents permit only applied to the border and not the entire pipeline. Its route intercepted Native American land and posed a threat to their water supply. The Tribes are asking the court to declare the review process in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and to rescind the illegal issuance of the Keystone XL pipeline presidential permit. But Keystone XL . April: The State Department suspends the regulatory process indefinitely, citing uncertainty about the court case in Nebraska. Five years ago, a pipeline spilled a million gallons of tar sands crude into a Michigan riverand were still cleaning it up. The Keystone XL pipeline would cross the United States border into Montana, then cut through the Great Sioux Reservation, as set forth in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, in South Dakota and finally Nebraska to Steele City where the crude would mix with US crude reserves and continue to Texas for export. This interactive tool is a powerful visual for Indigenous communities and our allies along the KXL route. It runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to Patoka, Illinois. We must ensure our people are safe, and that the economic security, health, welfare, and general well-being of Rosebud and our members are protected. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and also to oil tank farms and an oil pipeline distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma. January: Nebraska Gov. The U.S. Senate approves a bill to build Keystone XL. January: The Nebraska Supreme Court narrowly strikes down the lower-court decision, ruling that the governors actions were constitutional. Digital maps are a powerful way to educate the public about connections between oil and gas extraction, climate change, social justice, and Indigenous rights. But environmental reviews by both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have lowered gasoline prices. On October 16, 2020, the court held that the Presidents permit only applied to the border and not the entire pipeline, but that the tribes could sue the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its KXL permitting. Keystone XL will need permission from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, so this is not over.. So, in March he withdrew the State Departments permit and issued his own presidential permit as an attempt to avoid any environmental or regulatory oversight and to circumvent the court decisions. In 2015, when the Keystone XL pipeline was being debated, numerous Native American tribes and the Indigenous Environmental Network organized against it. In 2014, more than two million comments urging a rejection of the pipeline were submitted to the U.S. Department of State during a 30-day public comment period. The Tribes are taking a stand for their people, their culture, their water and their future, but they also are taking a stand for YOU, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. Pipeline representatives start visiting landowners potentially affected by Keystone XL. Browse our map catalog downloadable PDFs and our interactive maps. In a huge success for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline, TransCanada (TC Energy) announced in June 2021 that it is terminating its Keystone XL pipeline project. But the path to victory wasnt always clear. This pipeline transports 470,000 barrels of crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, over 1,172 miles. Since 2015, CAMP has worked with Indigenous and environmental organizations to build interactive maps that tell stories about climate justice across the Americas. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. 6210 Bristol Pkwy. Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline was permitted in March 2008. The briefest look at American and Canadian history clearly shows that the pipeline situations are most certainly not the first instance of the government refusing to respect the lands, waters, and even peoples of indigenous groups. The XL stands for export limited. If completed, KXL would add another 510,000 barrels of capacity. The notorious tar sands pipeline was a lightning rod in the fight against climate change and the seemingly unstoppable oil industry. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) in coordination with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, on September 10, 2018, sued the Trump Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. Today, as in the past, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community drink the water that comes from the rivers and the ground sources to provide for their communities. You may remember the Keystone XL pipeline from 2015, when a movement galvanized by the growing threat of climate change successfully pushed President Obama to reject the project. In 2015, the Obama administration vetoed the pipeline due to its potential threats to the climate, drinking water, public health, and ecosystems of the local communities. Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney M. Bordeaux responded to the announcement, This is great news for the Tribes who have been fighting to protect our people and our lands. You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and Earlier this year, the Keystone pipeline leaked 1,800 gallons of oil less than half a mile from the Mississippi River. We hope the Keystone XL Map will add a visual resource that supports the education and advocacy efforts of social movements working for Indigenous sovereignty and a just transition to renewable energy.. Now TransCanada (TC Energy) wants to add more miles to their leaky Keystone Pipeline. On April 23, 2019, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, filed an amended complaint against TransCanada and President Trump over the handling of the Keystone XL pipeline. It is a project that has moved forward without regard to legality or safety. The courts intervention is needed to protect the Tribes precious lands, water, natural, and cultural resources. The decision echoed a seven-year State Department review process with EPA input that concluded the pipeline would fail to serve national interests. The United States formally agreed, among other things, to keep outsiders off Sioux and other tribal nations territory and protect tribal natural resources. The federal government violated the 1851 Treaty of Ft Laramie and 1855 Lame Bull Treaty, in which the US committed to protect against future harm to the tribes natural resources. Therefore, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utiity Commission held public hearings on the proposed TransCanada KXL Pipeline on Tuesday, May 28, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the St. Francis Indian School Gym, 502 Warrior Dr, St Francis, SD 57572. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, February: TransCanada announces it will build Phase 3 of the Keystone Pipeline as a separate project that is not subject to presidential permission, since it does not cross an international border. Joye Braun, IEN Community Organizer, Fort Belknap has declared a state of emergency on the reservation because of the extremely dangerous COVID-19 pandemic and its threat to the health and well-being of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribal members, said President Werk of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, We are very concerned about TransCanada bringing in outside construction workers from all over to build this pipeline within an hour from our reservation., Rosebud has issued a curfew, closed businesses, and asked all to shelter in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, TC Energy announced that it was abandoning its plans for building the pipeline for goodputting an end to a fossil fuel project that had loomed over waterways, communities, and the climate for more than a decade. at a much higher rate than company estimates. (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as an essential ingredient in the oil industrys plans to triple tar sands production by 2030. He also signs an order requiring pipelines in the United States to be built with U.S. steel. President William Kindle of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) promised continued vigilance in light of the Nebraska Public Service Commissions decision today to permit TransCanada Corp.s proposed Keystone XL pipeline to cross that states lands. The 2019 pipeline approval violates both of these provisions. Rosebud Sioux Tribes President Rodney Bordeaux delivered the South Dakota State of the Tribes address in January. In granting the right-of-way, the BLM failed to analyze and uphold the United States treaty obligations to protect the Tribes lands and natural resources. In their permit application, TransCanada agreed to abide by tribal laws and regulation, which they have failed to do. But, the President must comply with the Treaties, and TC Energy must comply with Rosebud law. The permitting process was completed only 56 days after TransCanada submitted its application for the third time. Keystone XL Pipeline, Gas Prices, and Oil Exports, Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact, Keystone XL Pipeline Controversy and False Claims, President Trump and the Keystone XL Pipeline, President Biden and the End of the Keystone XL Pipeline, officially abandoned the project in June 2021, tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Farmers, ranchers, tribes, and conservation groups, abandoning its plans for building the pipeline, Ghost Pipelines: How Landowners Suffer, Long After a Project Gets Canceled, The Future Has Spoken: Its Time to Shut Down DAPL and Stop Line 3, Battered by Floods, Nebraskans Worry About Pipeline Spills, 2018 Wasnt a Completely Horrible Year for the Environment, A Rubber Stamp on Keystone XL? Its a threat to our climate, our drinking water, and our safety. Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. December: U.S. legislators pass a bill with a provision saying President Barack Obama must make a decision on the pipelines future in the next 60 days. The agencies have not considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on either health and safety or the global oil markets. A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energys own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on the projects pipes was damaged from being stored outside and exposed to the elements for the last decade, notes NRDC senior attorney Jaclyn Prange, who spent years working on KXL litigation. the desecration and destruction of cultural, historic, and sacred sites; the endangerment of tribal members, especially women and children; damage to hunting and fishing resources, as well as the tribal health and economies associated with these activities; the impairment of federally reserved tribal water rights and resources; harm to tribal territory and natural resources in the inevitable event of Pipeline ruptures and spills; and. For example, in 2020, Teck Resources withdrew its 10-year application to build the largest tar sands mine in history, citing growing concern surrounding climate change in global markets. When they entered into treaties with the United States, the tribal nations meant to protect their natural resources (water, grasslands, and game) and keep people from crossing their lands. See our original complaint filed. Of course, they can then use this ongoing construction as justification for allowing the project to proceed whether or not the project is legal. Opposition to Keystone XL centered on the devastating environmental consequences of the project. Meanwhile, major new tar sands projects stopped moving forward, despite investments from the government of Alberta, Canada. Once they are gone and depleted, they are gone. What is missing is an appreciation of the long-term effects of an oil pipeline going through our sacred land. The judge found that the US State Department had not fulfilled its duties to the American people when it issued TransCanada a 2017 permit for the Keystone XL pipeline without the required environmental and safety review. UAB is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and family-friendly environment in which all faculty and staff can excel and achieve work/life balance irrespective of race, national origin, age, genetic or family medical history, gender, faith, gender identity and expression as well as sexual orientation. NARF has two important updates regarding our defense of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community against the Keystone XL pipeline. Rather than honoring these legal obligations, the United States has chosen to blatantly violate them. The land, water, tribal sovereignty, and governmental services were not given to us in those treaties, President Kindle said. At every turn, the Tar Sands Invasion would put people and the environment in harm's way. ante wasteya nape iuzapelo (I take your hand in friendship). Phase 3b is added later, connecting the pipeline from Port Arthur to Houston, Texas. It connects Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas. It has also been determined that tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other forms of crude oil. Since it first went into operation in 2010, TC Energys original Keystone Pipeline System has leaked more than a dozen times; one incident in North Dakota sent a 60-foot, 21,000-gallon geyser of tar sands oil spewing into the air. September: Canadas National Energy Board approves the Canadian section. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. The Keystone XL Developer's Position TransCanada, a Canadian corporation, owns or has interests in $48 billion of long-life assets primarily pipelines and power-generation facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico and is expected to see $38 billion in new projects completed by the end of this decade 18. Over the years, the United States government willingly made very specific promises to tribal nations. In these filings, the Tribes highlight that TransCanada admitted that the Keystone XL pipeline would cross Rosebud mineral estates held in trust by the United States. TransCanada agreed to abide by tribal law. They are proposing to do so without the tribal consent required under the treaty law. It poured 407, 000 gallonsalmost 3,000,000 poundsof crude oil into the ground. Tar sands oil is thicker, more acidic, and more corrosive than lighter conventional crude, and this ups the likelihood that a pipeline carrying it will leak. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments and . In a last-ditch attempt to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, 21 states led by attorneys . The second segment was the hotly contested 1,209-mile northern lega shortcut of sortsthat would have run from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska. The biggest concern with the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a spill in an environmentally sensitive area, such as the . In the face of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Ft. Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order on pipeline construction. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially stated that, on a wells-to-wheels basis, tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other types of crude, but several years later, the State Department revised this number upward, stating that the emissions could be 5 percent to 20 percent higher than previously indicated. That means burdening the planet with an extra 178.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the same impact as 38.5 million passenger vehicles or 45.8 coal-fired power plants. By the time President Biden took office in 2021, ready to fulfill his campaign promise to revoke the cross-border permit, the dirty energy pipeline had become one of the foremost climate controversies of our time. Elections turn control of the U.S. Congress over to Republicans, who pledge to move forward on Keystone XL. We will fight to ensure that federal law is followed.. In South Dakota, the pipeline would cross through Tripp County, just miles from the boundaries of the Rosebud Indian Reservation and within yards of Rosebuds trust lands and tribal members allotments. In 2017, the Trump administration reversed Obamas veto, signing an executive order to advance the Keystone pipeline as well as a similar crude oil project, the Dakota Access Pipeline despite the many valid arguments made against the two pipelines. Once resubmitted, the U.S. State Department did not bother to seek any new information or public comment, but instead quickly granted TC Energy a permit. January: The Cushing MarketLink Phase 3a pipeline goes online. The "replacement" pipeline runs mostly on a completely new route through Minnesota, barreling through hundreds of lakes, rivers, aqueducts and wetlands. The promises made to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, as well as the Oceti Sakowin, were broken before the ink on Fort Laramie treaties dried. Even as Trump and TC Energy tried to revive the pipeline, polls showed that a majority of Americans opposed it. It was proposed to be an extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been in operation since 2010. People and wildlife coming into contact with tar sands oil are exposed to toxic chemicals, and rivers and wetland environments are at particular risk from a spill. The online map can be found here: https://climatealliancemap.org/kxl-map The city was named after its founder, Harry Culver. In addition to extensive violations of law outlined in the original complaint, the new complaint raises the following issues: Maps released by TransCanada show the pipeline corridor and access roads crossing Rosebud territory, some of which is held in trust, as well as Rosebuds Mni Wiconi Water system. Seated in a camping chair, Faith Spotted Eagle, 68, pulls a blanket around her to ward off the cold. As you know, our natural resources are finite. When industry-friendly politicians took charge of both congressional houses in January 2015, their first order of business was to pass a bill to speed up approval of Keystone XL. June: Phase 1 of the Keystone Pipeline goes online. In 2015, the U.S. State Department, under President Barack Obama, declined to grant the northern leg of the Keystone XL project the permit required to construct, maintain, and operate the pipeline across the U.S.Canada bordera permit that President Trump later granted and President Biden once again revoked. Also in the filings, the Tribes point out that, contrary to defendants arguments, neither the presidents foreign affairs power, nor his role as commander in chief provide him authority to permit the pipeline. Phase 2 and 3 did not require Presidential Permits and were built over several years starting in 2010. The climate impact of a complete and fully operational Keystone XL would be drastic. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments and . February: TransCanada Corporation proposes the Keystone Pipeline project. Finally, massive fossil fuel infrastructure investments like KXL undermine efforts to minimize global warming and prioritize clean energy like wind and solar. Any new pipeline will leak, it is just a question of when. A similar crude oil project, the Dakota Access Pipeline has received media attention in previous years due to the police and state reactions to the protests over its creation. The Native American Rights Fund and our clients will continue to fight to ensure our treaties are upheld and that the health and welfare of our people is protected. Keystone XL Maps Map Terminated pipeline route The following map details the route of the terminated Keystone XL Pipeline and the current Keystone Pipeline System. Nevertheless, in the mid-2000s, with gas prices on the rise, oil companies ramped up production and sought additional ways to move their product from Canadas remote tar sands fields to midwestern and Gulf Coast refineries. The following are quotes from the project partners: The Keystone XL pipeline was proposed by the energy infrastructure company TC Energy. The Tribes are asking the court to put a short hold on construction until a hearing scheduled later this month. The activities described in the projects Environmental Impact Statement, namely rock ripping, blasting, trenching, top soil removal, and replacement of removed materials as backfill would adversely affect Rosebuds mineral estate. The Rosebud Sioux Tribealso known as the Siangu Lakota Oyateis one of the seven tribes that make up the Oeti Sakowin (the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota people). Recent governmental reports contain new data about climate change, which necessitates new analysis. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will take any and all necessary steps, up to and including litigation, to protect our people, our land and water, and our cultural and historic resources., As we have seen, spills from such projects can be catastrophic, said NARF Staff Attorney Matt Campbell. We would score a victory, and it would have huge ramifications for holding off construction at critical times, says NRDC attorney Cecilia Segal, who has worked on KXL litigation since 2017. Neither the president nor wealthy foreign corporations are above the laws of our country. The 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie and other federal laws requires Rosebud consent to cross Rosebud territory. A study set between the years 2007 and 2010 found that pipelines carrying tar sands oil spilled three times more per mile than pipelines carrying conventional crude oil. BILLINGS, Mont. The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planets dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to marketand fast. This is great news for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline. It is the largest underground water source in the United States. The total for the Keystone pipeline's 2017 gush onto. Revoking the Trump administrations illegal permit is a necessary first step towards fixing this situation, Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk Jr. explained. TransCanada has begun construction of the Keystone XL pipeline near the Rosebud Reservation, just a week after the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) sued the Trump Administration for its illegal approval of the pipeline. They contain a form of petroleum called bitumen, a relatively sludgy substance that can be turned into fuel. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. The pipeline would consist of 875 miles of 36-inch pipe with the capacity to transport 830,000 barrels per day" (Parfomak, Pirog, Luther and Vann 4). This has proved to be untrue. A Peoples Orientation to a Regenerative Economy, Chief Theresa Spence and Attawapiskat First Nation file urgent action with UN committee, Indigenous Storytellers Ashley Fairbanks and Jennifer K. Falcon Launch New Podcast We Keep The Fire: Indigenous Climate Futures, Inyo County tribes, residents, and leaders welcome the news of an indefinite suspension of drilling activities at Conglomerate Mesa. President Trump tried to go around the courts, the laws, and the will of the American people, in order to put a foreign-owned pipeline on tribal lands, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. Thats up nearly threefold from a decade ago, and an amount equal to 42 percent of our consumption. They begin by displaying a map of the proposed pipeline that shows that the pipeline will not cross Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and in fact, it is located entirely on privately owned land except for a 1,094 ft portion . Back in 2017, the mainline of the Keystone pipeline ruptured in South Dakota outside of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home to the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to cancel the Keystone XL cross-border permit should he win the presidencyand on his first day in office, he made good on that promise. ), It would also have led to greater greenhouse gas emissionswhich, the latest scientific reports makes clear, we simply cant afford if were to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts. Now, after the courts have told the United States it must follow the law, President Trump has attempted to circumvent the courts by issuing a new permit. This hearing will focus on the United States motion to dismiss. The pipeline path skirts federal tribal land boundaries in South Dakota, Baker said, yet will still cut "almost through the heart" of a large protion of the land set aside for exclusive use by tribal nations, as recognized by the 1851 and 1868 Laramie Treaties.The pipe would cross native spiritual sites, burial grounds, hunting lands and sources of drinking water, including the Mni Wiconi . To that end, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utility Commission will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019, to address the Keystone XL pipeline and its impacts on our territory and people. This is not a pipeline to America, said the late civil rights activist Julian Bond, among the many arrested. Like the US Constitution, treaties are the law of the land, and no one is above that law, said NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell. President Bordeaux had this to say about the KXL pipeline: There are a great many things that trouble us about this project. Heres why thats a disaster in the making. The founder of Bold Nebraska has led the Cornhusker States years-long rallying cry against TransCanadas tar sands pipeline. 36-inch diameter pipeline Capacity of 830,000 barrels per day MYTH: Since the route permit was first certified in 2010, there is less need for Keystone XL in South Dakota. On his fourth day in office, Trump signed an executive order to allow Keystone XL to move forward. The federal government must examine potential impacts on the safety and welfare of Native peopleespecially women and children. Because of the highly corrosive and acidic nature of the tar sands oil, there contains a higher likelihood that the pipeline will leak. Less than two years before the project was finally pulled, the Keystone tar sands pipeline was temporarily shut down after a spill in North Dakota of reportedly more than 378,000 gallons in late October 2019. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community successfully stood strong for years to protect their people, water, and sacred lands from the threat of the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares . The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC EnergyAs of March 2020, the Government of Alberta.

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