According to reports, US District Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday ordered construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) stopped over some of the planned territory. A final ruling is expected to come by the end of Friday.
Judge Boasberg said that work will temporarily halt between North Dakota's State Highway 1806 and an area 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but will continue west of the highway, as he believes that the US Army Corps of Engineers lacks jurisdiction over privately-owned land.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, with the support of many other Native American tribes, claims that construction of the DAPL was deliberately rerouted over the Labor Day holiday weekend, to target traditional burial grounds and ritual sites. Bulldozers and other construction machines were moved in to desecrate sacred areas. Tribe members organized protests at construction sites, locking themselves to machinery.
For its part, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the defendant in the case, said it would comply with a temporary halt in construction.
The tribe has filed a lawsuit to halt construction of the pipeline, due to be finished this year. The suit says the pipeline construction violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act. The claims also incorporate charges that the pipeline will harm water supplies on the reservation, as well as downstream, and disturb ancient sacred burial sites.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein met with protesters on the construction site, endorsing the action.
