A deadline for protesters to leave a Dakota Access pipeline protest camp amid fears that an expected rise in water levels could pose a danger to demonstrators is set to pass Wednesday as a relatively small group of protesters vowed to defy the order.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum last week ordered that demonstrators evacuate the Oceti Sakowin protest camp amid fears that quickly melting snow could cause flooding in southern Morton County. The governor and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set the deadline for evacuation at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
"Everybody plans to be in camp tomorrow up until the 2 o'clock mark. Then people will make their individual decisions about what their level of commitment is," Chase Iron Eyes, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, told Reuters. "Some will get arrested."
The camp, which sits on federal land between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the pipeline route, was founded more than six months ago. At its peak population, it housed thousands of people.
That number dwindled to about 300 protesters by Wednesday, Reuters reported. In addition to Burgum's order, the Standing Rock Sioux asked demonstrators to leave in December. Instead of physically blocking the completion of the pipeline, the tribe aimed to continue the battle in court.
>> Related: Why are Facebook users checking in to Standing Rock Indian Reservation?
Winona Kasto, a Native American from South Dakota who cooked for protesters gathered at the Oceti Sakowin camp, told CNN that she was at the camp when the Standing Rock Sioux asked protesters to leave before the spring flooding season.
"I felt sad," Kasto told CNN. "It's like they gave up. Standing Rock gave up on our prayers and what we stand for here."
She and her family left the camp and planned to move to another that was not at risk of flooding.
Despite the concerns, some vowed to defy Burgum's evacuation order.
"I'm not going anywhere," Texas resident Valerie Armstrong told CNN on Tuesday. "I carry a knife with me all the time, but I am handing that over so that I have no weapons on me. I will stay and pray even if they come to remove us."
Sheriff's deputies can arrest protesters who refuse to leave, and Army Corps rangers can write citations for offenses including trespassing, a transgression that carries a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine or six months in jail, Corps Capt. Ryan Hignight told The Associated Press.
More than 700 protest-related arrests have occurred since August, though activity has recently waned.
One day before the order was set to take effect, most of the yurts had vanished from the Oceti Sakowin camp, according to CNN. Heaps of trash lay over parts of the muddy ground.
A spokesman for Burgum told Reuters that more than 200 dumpsters filled with debris have left the campsite since last month, when cleanup efforts began.
Others camps are forming on private land in the area, the AP reported. One of those, set up by the Cheyenne River Sioux, sits about a mile from the Oceti Sakowin camp.
"A lot of our people want to be here and pray for our future," tribal Chairman Harold Frazier told the AP.
The 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline is intended to carry oil from western North Dakota to a shipping point in Illinois. The company building it says it is complete except for a section that would pass under the Missouri River near the site of the North Dakota protests.
>> Related: Army Corps blocks easement route of Dakota Access oil pipeline
Efforts to complete the final stretch of the pipeline were bolstered last month by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that directed the Army Corps to move forward with approvals for construction and easement requests related to the pipeline. President Barack Obama had attempted to block the construction.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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