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| More than 1,000 people gather at an encampment near North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux reservation on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe's attempt to halt construction of an oil pipeline near its North Dakota reservation failed in federal court Friday, but three government agencies asked the pipeline company to "voluntarily pause" work on a segment that tribal officials say holds sacred artifacts. |
BISMARCK, North Dakota - The Standing Rock Sioux's effort to block a four-state oil pipeline got a lifeline when the federal government temporarily stopped the project, a move some say likely may forever change the way all energy infrastructure projects are reviewed in the future.
Just minutes after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's attempt to halt the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline that skirts the reservation in southern North Dakota, three federal agencies appealed to the pipeline company to "voluntarily pause" work on a segment that tribal officials say holds sacred sites and artifacts.
Tribal officials challenged the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners' $3.8 billion pipeline that is intended to carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
Friday's ruling by Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, came amid growing protests over the pipeline, which would cross the Missouri River less than a mile upstream of the reservation.
The statement by 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, one of six reservoirs on the Missouri River and the drinking water source for the tribal members on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. More
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