NEAR THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D. (AP) – The federal government stepped into the fight over the Dakota Access oil pipeline Friday, ordering work to stop on one segment of the project in North Dakota and asking the Texas-based company building it to “voluntarily pause’’ action on a wider span that an American Indian tribe says holds sacred artifacts.

The government’s order came minutes after a judge rejected a request by the Standing Rock Sioux to halt construction of the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline.

The tribe, whose cause has drawn thousands to join their protest, has challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for the pipeline at more than 200 water crossings. Tribal leaders allege that the project violates several federal laws and will harm water supplies. The tribe also says ancient sites have been disturbed during construction.

The tribe’s chairman, Dave Archambault II, spoke at the state Capitol in front of several hundred people, some carrying signs that read “Respect Our Water’’ and “Water Is Sacred.’’ He called the federal announcement “a beautiful start’’ and told reporters that the dispute is a long way from over.

“A public policy win is a lot stronger than a judicial win,’’ he said. “Our message is heard.’’

A joint statement from the Army and the Departments of Justice and the Interior said construction bordering or under Lake Oahe would not go forward and asked the Texas-based pipeline builder, Energy Transfer Partners, to stop work 20 miles to the east and west of the lake while the government reconsiders “any of its previous decisions.’’

The statement also said the case “highlighted the need for a serious discussion’’ about nationwide reforms “with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects.’’

Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for the company, said it had no comment.

The president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council said he was disappointed with the government’s decision to intervene and called it “flagrant overreach’’ that will result in more oil being moved by trucks and trains.

The 1,172-mile project will carry nearly a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois.

In denying the tribe’s request for a temporary injunction, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington said that the court “does not lightly countenance any depredation of lands that hold significance’’ to the tribe and that, given the federal government’s history with the tribe, the court scrutinized the permitting process “with particular care.’’

Nonetheless, the judge wrote, the tribe “has not demonstrated that an injunction is warranted here.’’

Attorney Jan Hasselman with the environmental group Earthjustice, who filed the lawsuit on the tribe’s behalf, said earlier this week any such decision would be challenged. “We will have to pursue our options with an appeal and hope that construction isn’t completed while that (appeal) process is going forward,’’ he said.

Tribal historian LaDonna Brave Bull Allard said Boasberg’s ruling gave her “a great amount of grief. My heart is hurting, but we will continue to stand, and we will look for other legal recourses.’’

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters, many from tribes around the country, gathered near the reservation that straddles the North and South Dakota border.

“There’s never been a coming together of tribes like this,’’ according to Judith LeBlanc, a member of the Caddo Nation in Oklahoma and director of the New York-based Native Organizers Alliance. People came from as far as New York and Alaska, some bringing their families and children, and hundreds of tribal flags dotted the camp, along with American flags flown upside-down in protest.

The judge’s order was announced over a loudspeaker there. John Nelson of Portland, Oregon, came to the camp to support his grandson, Archambault. The 82-year-old says he was not surprised by the ruling, “but it still hurts.’’

State authorities announced this week that law enforcement officers from across the state were being mobilized at the protest site. They said some National Guard members will work security at traffic checkpoints and another 100 would be on standby. The Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association asked the Justice Department to send monitors to the site because it said racial profiling is occurring.

Nearly 40 people have been arrested since the protest began in April, including Archambault.

A week ago, protesters and construction workers were injured when, according to tribal officials, workers bulldozed sites on private land that the tribe says in court documents are “of great historic and cultural significance.’’ Energy Transfer Partners denied the allegations.

The state’s Private Investigation and Security Board received complaints about the use of dogs and will look into whether the private security teams at the site are properly registered and licensed, board attorney Monte Rogneby said Friday, adding that he would not name the firms.

On Thursday, North Dakota’s archaeologist said a piece of private land that was not previously surveyed by the state would be surveyed for artifacts next week.

The company plans to complete the pipeline this year, and said in court papers that stopping the project would cost $1.4 billion the first year, mostly due to lost revenue in hauling crude.

A status conference in the tribe’s lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 16.

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Kolpack reported from Fargo, North Dakota. Associated Press writers Blake Nicholson in Bismarck, North Dakota, and Doug Glass in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that the opinion is 58 pages long, not one page with no explanation. This story also clarifies that the federal government stopped construction near Lake Oahe and requested the company do so on a wider stretch.


 
Key points of judge’s ruling in Dakota Access pipeline case


By STEVE KARNOWSKI, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge in Washington on Friday denied an attempt by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to halt construction of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline that passes near its reservation in North Dakota. Here’s a look at some key points from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s 58-page opinion:

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KEY QUOTE

“This Court does not lightly countenance any depredation of lands that hold significance to the Standing Rock Sioux. Aware of the indignities visited upon the Tribe over the last centuries, the Court scrutinizes the permitting process here with particular care. Having done so, the Court must nonetheless conclude that the Tribe has not demonstrated that an injunction is warranted here.’’

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THE DECISION

The tribe argued that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a duty under the National Historic Preservation Act to consult with the tribe before issuing a permit for the pipeline, but the judge wrote that the corps probably has complied with the law. He also said the tribe hasn’t shown it will suffer any harm that the court has the authority to prevent. So he denied the request for an injunction.

Contrary to the tribe’s assertions that it was left out of the process, Boasberg said, the corps has documented dozens of its attempts to engage with Standing Rock officials in consultations to identify historical resources at Lake Oahe and other places covered by the permit. The corps was not required to consider the effects along the entire pipeline route because the corps has jurisdiction only where the route crosses water, he noted.

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CHANCES TO CONSULT

Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners and the corps gave Standing Rock officials several chances to weigh in in 2014, but tribal officials didn’t take advantage of those opportunities, the judge wrote. Relations between the tribe and corps didn’t improve in 2015, when tribal officials canceled several meetings, according to the ruling.

“Suffice it to say that the Tribe largely refused to engage in consultations,’’ he wrote. “It chose instead to hold out for more – namely, the chance to conduct its own cultural surveys over the entire length of the pipeline.’’

The tribe did provide timely and extensive comments earlier this year on a draft environmental assessment, and the corps and tribe held several meetings to discuss the cultural surveys, the judge wrote.

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THE ROUTE

Ninety-nine percent of the route for the Dakota Access pipeline crosses private land, and 48 percent of it has already been completed, the ruling noted. Most of the route doesn’t require a federal permit – only the 3 percent that crosses streams and other waters in more than 200 places.

The ruling said Dakota Access hired professional archaeologists to survey the entire route through the Dakotas and much of Iowa and Illinois for cultural resources. When the surveys revealed previously unidentified resources, the company changed the route on its own 140 times in North Dakota alone to avoid them, the judge said, and the corps ordered the company to change the route where it crossed the James River to avoid burial sites there.