/ AFP / Robyn BECK /Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
All eyes are on a federal judge who could freeze construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
By Michael McLaughlin | The Huffington Post
A major ruling expected Friday from a federal judge could derail construction of a controversial oil pipeline in North Dakota.
But a local Native American tribe, which claims the Dakota Access Pipeline desecrates its sacred sites and could pollute a clean water source, plans to continue its large protest regardless of the judge’s decision, activists say.
U.S. Judge James Boasberg has said he’ll rule by Sept. 9 on a request from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe for an injunction that would stop construction on the pipeline while their lawsuit against the $3.8 billion project unfolds. The tribe sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for allegedly violating “multiple federal statutes,” including the National Historic Preservation Act, when it issued permits for the work in June.
