Recently, federal agents delayed construction on the North Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil pipeline that will run from Bakken, North Dakota, to Patoka, Illinois.

The pipeline will allow oil to reach markets in a more direct and cost-effective manner. However, construction of the pipeline will also destroy sacred burial grounds and water supplies of the Standing Rock Sioux, a Native American tribe.

Middletown High School students had mixed reactions to this news.

Some students think the pipeline should continue as proposed. “If it’s good for the economy, they should do it,” said Matt Evich, a MHS junior.

Other students believe construction on the pipeline should be halted permanently. “I think they should get rid of it altogether if it’s going to threaten lives,” said MHS sophomore Gemma Carioti.

MHS senior Losha Lautenberger shared Carioti’s views. “Construction should be stopped,” said Lautenberger. “Things that are precious to people should stay preserved; otherwise, we won’t have any history left.”