WASHINGTON, DC (KELO-AM) The Dakota Access oil pipeline on Friday won a critical court victory, when a federal judge in Washington DC ruled against a temporary halt to construction near the North Dakota-South Dakota border..
The Standing Rock Sioux Indian tribe asked for the temporary injunction, claiming sacred sites were in jeopardy. The judge is still considering the tribe's suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for approving permits for pipeline construction. The tribe claims water quality is at stake as the pipeline would be built under the Missouri River.
On the same day has the court ruling, protesters got help from an unexpected quarter. The U.S. Army Corps called for a temporary pause in pipeline construction under the river and for 20 miles on both sides of it. Apparently the Corps wants time to reevaluate, based on the concerns of Native American tribes from all over the country.
Law enforcement had been beefed up at the protest site near Cannonball, North Dakota, n anticipation of Friday's court ruling. More than 1,000 protesters had gathered at the site on private land near the sprawling Standing Rock Reservation. There have been dozens of arrests since the protest started weeks ago. South Dakota's many tribes have joined together to oppose the pipeline, as they did with the Keystone XL pipeline.
Dakota Access will take North Dakota oil across eastern South Dakota, right by Sioux Falls, through Iowa to Illinois.
