In North Dakota’s state capital of Bismarck, hundreds of protesters celebrated the government decision.
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Earthjustice represented the tribe in its lawsuit against the Army Corps, and other environmentalists have looked to pressure President Obama into rescinding construction permits for the project.
Earlier Friday, a federal judge denied a request by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for an injunction against the Army Corps of Engineers to stop construction on the pipeline, which will carry 400,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken region to an existing IL pipeline.
Tribal officials challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ $3.8 billion pipeline that is meant to carry oil from North Dakota to IL. U.S. District Judge Judge James Boasberg didn’t agree. Tribal leaders say the pipeline will destroy sacred sites and threatens the reservation’s water supply.
The decision will nearly certainly enrage those protesting the pipeline and embolden energy developers such as the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN).
But a joint statement from the Departments of Justice, Army and Interior said it would “reconsider any of its previous decisions” on land that borders or is under Lake Oahe and requested that Energy Transfer Partners halt work within 20 miles east or west of the lake.
In Friday’s ruling, Boasberg said the tribe had not demonstrated that it would be harmed by construction in areas that received permits from the Army Corps.
The gathering has attracted Native Americans from tribes across the country in a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux.
Dakota Access and its parent company, Energy Transfer Partners LP of Dallas, declined to comment.
A North Dakota state agency that regulates private investigation and security firms is looking into the use of force against protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline. Last weekend, protests at the site turned violent.
“Like I said it’s bittersweet you don’t know how to react because while the work has been halted the fights not over”, said Amanda-Morning Star Byars, Opponent. The tribe sued the corps over its permit for the Missouri River crossing, arguing the federal agency failed to properly consult the tribe.
Rogneby says the board wants to finish its investigation “sooner rather than later”.
A federal judge is set to deliver a key ruling Friday on the four-state pipeline. But an investor in the pipeline project who asked not to be identified said officials were trying to figure out what to do next. It halted briefly amid protests but started up again earlier this month, a day after the tribe declared to the court that it had recently discovered areas along the pipeline route that are culturally and spiritually significant.
The pipeline’s original route crossed the Missouri River near Bismarck, N.D., The New Yorker reported, “but authorities anxious that an oil spill there would have wrecked the state capital’s drinking water”.
A federal judge refused Friday to block the $3.8 billion pipeline over environmental concerns.
Judith LeBlanc is director of the New York-based Native Organizers Alliance.
“People would not bring their children with them if it weren’t”, she said.
People have come from as far as NY and Alaska, as well as Canada.
Kate Silvertooth, who has no tribal affiliation, spent Thursday driving to the protest from Loveland, Colorado. She said there weren’t any reports of protestors being injured.
Frank, and other members of Washington tribes, traveled to Cannon Ball North Dakota last week to join the protests on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Demonstrators said the guards used pepper spray and tear gas on the activists, and some protesters were injured by the guards’ dogs.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and running mate Ajamu Baraka have been charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal mischief stemming from their time at the protest.
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A federal judge denied the tribe’s request Friday to temporarily stop construction on the four-state $3.8 billion oil pipeline.
