© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Sioux tribe protesters outside the US District Court in Washington where a hearing was held to decide fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Energy Transfer Partners is trying to construct a 1,200-mile Dakota Access pipeline.
Work on the pipeline will
cease for a limited time between State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, US District Judge James Boasberg ruled Tuesday in Washington DC. The project is allowed to continue west of the highway, because the judge viewed the US Army Corps of Engineers as lacking jurisdiction on private land.
The tribe, however, was not pleased, as they had sought a total shutdown of the project. When the stoppage will be lifted remains to be seen.
The order came as a result of an emergency hearing called by Judge Boasberg after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe filed a
temporary restraining order over the weekend. Dakota Access construction crews had just used bulldozers to remove topsoil across a 150-foot-wide, two-mile stretch of area near the confluence of the Cannonball River and the Missouri River.
The work destroyed stone features, including prayer rings and cairns used to mark burial grounds, according to the tribe. "I surveyed this land and we confirmed multiple graves and specific prayers sites," Tim Mentz, Sr., the tribe's former longtime historic preservation officer said in a statement Saturday,
according to Indianz.com
"Portion and possibly complete sites, have been taken out entirely." The destruction led to a confrontation between #NoDAPL protesters and construction workers, where security guards
used dogs and pepper spray against protesters.
Comment: More information on the protest at Standing Rock reservation