Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A Native American tribe has been celebrating the decision 
 
 Two firms behind a controversial oil pipeline in the US have accused the White House of political interference for failing to approve its completion. 
 
 The US Army said it would not authorise the final section of the Dakota Access Pipeline to allow alternative routes to be considered. 
 
 The decision is a win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who have protested against the pipeline for months. 
 
 But the next US president, Donald Trump, says he supports the project. 
 
 The multi-billion, 1,200-mile (1,900 km) pipeline, crossing four states, is intended to slash the costs of transferring crude. It is nearly complete except for a section planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River. 
 
 The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters fear it will contaminate drinking water and run over sacred burial sites. 
 
 Months of protests, on federal land, have seen clashes between the demonstrators and law enforcement. 
 
 The final stretch required a permit from federal authorities but on Sunday, the US Army Corps of Engineers refused to grant it so it could undertake "an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes". 
 
 The two firms involved, Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics, attacked the move as a "purely political action". 
 
 Noting that the project already has court approval, the companies accused the White House of abandoning the rule of law "in favour of currying favour with a narrow and extreme political constituency". 
 
 The battle continues: By James Cook, BBC North America Correspondent 
 
 The Battle of Standing Rock is far from over. 
 
 A memorandum from the US Army Corps of Engineers might strongly suggest that the pipeline will be re-routed but it does not actually say that will happen. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's James Cook visits the Standing Rock camps 
 
 It talks of "consideration" and "discussion" of other locations and of a "more robust analysis of alternatives" before permission "is granted for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Missouri river on Corps land". 
 
 The Corps also acknowledges that the project has been ruled lawful by the courts. 
 
 Plus it hardly needs pointing out that Barack Obama, whom the protestors praise for this decision, will soon be succeeded by Donald Trump, a supporter of the project who has previously invested in Energy Transfer Partners and may still hold stock in a related firm, Phillips 66. 
 
 It would be a very big surprise indeed were Mr Trump not to try to reverse a move by the Corps of Engineers which one Republican in North Dakota said sent a "very chilling signal" for the future of infrastructure in the US. 
 
 Both companies added they "fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe". 
 
 Republican North Dakotan politicians too have piled in, with Governor Jack Dalrymple calling the decision a "serious mistake" 
 
 In contrast there has been jubilation among protesters, who have numbered in their thousands, enduring bitter cold at encampments. 
 
 Adan Bearcub, a Native American and military veteran, said "this is the best news that I've heard forever - best news for Native people, native country, the whole United States - all the people. Water is so precious." 
 
 How social media saw it 
 
 The US army's decision has delighted high-profile opponents of the pipeline, such as actress Shailene Woodley, who was arrested at a protest in October. 
 
 Image copyright @shailenewoodley 
 
 Singer Alicia Keys shared a picture and a famous Native American quote. 
 
 Image copyright @aliciakeys 
 
 Police have been criticised for using excessive force during the protests, something Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein appeared to allude to. 
 
 Image copyright @DrJillStein 
 
 But there were also warnings the victory could be short-lived. ||||| CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share As Standing Rock protesters rejoice over the decision to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, questions remain. USA TODAY NETWORK 
 
 Protesters in Philadelphia demonstrate in solidarity with members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota over the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on Dec. 1, 2016. (Photo: Matt Rourke, AP) 
 
 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' announcement Sunday halting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline was met with jubilation among protesters. 
 
 
 
 In the biggest blow yet to the much-contested pipeline, the Corps denied an easement for the pipeline to cross Lake Oahe, a Corps reservoir on the Missouri River in North Dakota and the major source of water for the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. That segment remained the only contested portion of the 1,172-mile pipeline, which is almost complete. 
 
 Tribal members and others have protested the project for months, worried that a pipeline breach could threaten the drinking water supply. 
 
 "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's assistant secretary for civil works said in a statement Sunday afternoon. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." 
 
 Darcy said the pipeline should undergo an environmental impact statement — a process that could drag on for months. The decision means construction will likely not be completed during President Obama's remaining weeks in office. 
 
 President-elect Donald Trump's administration, widely viewed as more friendly to energy interests, could reverse the Corps' decision after he takes office Jan. 20. 
 
 
 
 Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault has said he sees a re-route as a major victory, but many protesters have vowed to continue the fight until the $3.8 billion project is shut down. 
 
 Could that happen? 
 
 Pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners and its backers don’t think so — four states and the Army Corps of Engineers granted permits for the pipeline, and construction is more than 92% complete — but opponents remain hopeful. 
 
 Here are a few of the areas opponents are focusing on as paths to a possible shutdown. 
 
 1. Standing Rock wins in court 
 
 The tribe filed a federal lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers during the summer shortly after the agency signaled its intent to approve an easement for drilling under Lake Oahe, a more than 200-mile-long reservoir on the Missouri River that extends from South Dakota into North Dakota. 
 
 The tribe asked for an immediate injunction on two grounds: 
 
 • That the Corps failed to adequately consult with the tribe to identify historically significant sites along the pipeline route. 
 
 • That granting the easement would do irreparable harm to tribal history; parts of the Standing Rock Reservation already were flooded with the creation of the lake in the 1960s. 
 
 U.S. District Judge James Boasberg rejected both arguments Sept. 9, saying the tribe was offered the chance to consult but refused until the process neared an end, and that it had no proof the current route would cause irreparable harm. 
 
 That doesn’t mean the case is over. The ruling was restricted to the tribe’s claims on alleged violations of the National Historic Preservation Act. 
 
 The underlying lawsuit also argues that the Corps’ permitting process violated the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. None of those claims has been fully litigated. 
 
 2. The federal government delays or stops the project 
 
 Sunday's announcement that more study of the pipeline is required offers another avenue for opponents. 
 
 Delays and re-routes add financial strain to pipeline projects and create more openings for opposition, according to Jane Fleming Kleeb of Bold Nebraska. 
 
 Kleeb’s group helped push for a re-route of the Keystone XL Pipeline around Nebraska’s Sandhills and the Oglala Aquifer in 2011. That forced that pipeline’s owner, TransCanada, to further study environmental impacts and effects on natural resources and to negotiate with more landowners, she said. 
 
 “Whenever a re-route happens, it reopens all those discussions,” Kleeb said. 
 
 The continued delays of Keystone XL forced a review hearing at the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in 2015. Ultimately, President Obama chose to deny a permit for KeystoneXL, and TransCanada has filed a lawsuit. 
 
 Members of the clergy join protesters against the Dakota Access crude-oil pipeline Nov. 3, 2016, in southern North Dakota near Cannon Ball. (Photo: James MacPherson, AP) 
 
 3. Re-routes or delays could endanger the project’s financial feasibility 
 
 Delays alone could do major financial damage to Energy Transfer Partners. The company indicated as much in court filings in the Standing Rock lawsuit. 
 
 In an Aug. 18 declaration to the court, Joey Mahmoud, Dakota Access vice president, wrote that the company had committed to completing the pipeline by Jan. 1. 
 
 “The long-term transportation contracts give shippers a right to terminate their commitments if (Dakota Access Pipeline) is not in full service per the contract deadline,” Mahmoud wrote. 
 
 A delay in the start of operations would cost about $913 million, Mahmoud wrote, rising to more than $1 billion by 2018. Stopping work would cause “grave and irreparable impacts to DAPL (the Dakota Access Pipeline), its workers, the landowners, economy, both the state and federal government and the environment.” 
 
 Travelers arrive at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline as they walk into a tent next to an upside-down american flag in Cannon Ball, N.D., Dec. 2, 2016. (Photo: David Goldman, AP) 
 
 Opponents now speculate that financial harm from protest-related delays alone could be enough to stop the pipeline’s completion. 
 
 “It’s pretty clear they’re not going to have oil flowing on Jan. 1,” said Lorne Stockman, research director of the non-profit outfit Oil Change International. “It’s going to happen. They’re going to have to renegotiate those contracts.” 
 
 When the project was announced in 2014, the price of oil was $70 to $80 a barrel. The long-term contracts common in the pipeline industry might be more difficult to lock in with oil at $45-$50 a barrel, Stockman said. 
 
 The embrace of natural gas and the ramp-up of U.S. energy production have played into the extended price slump, and energy analysts are concerned about long-term lows. The chief financial officer of Royal Dutch Shell, Simon Henry, had said the world will hit peak oil demand within five to 15 years. 
 
 “The world in which they would renegotiate those contracts is not the world in which they negotiated the original contracts,” Stockman said. 
 
 However, company spokeswoman Vicki Granado said the January date would not affect shipping volumes or the project as a whole. 
 
 “There is no Jan. 1 deadline,” Granado wrote in email. 
 
 4. Iowa landowners win in court 
 
 Most of the attention focused on the Dakota Access Pipeline has been aimed at protest camps in North Dakota, where thousands have visited and hundreds have been arrested in clashes with law enforcement. 
 
 But opponents have another front line in their battle against the pipeline: the cornfields and courtrooms of Iowa. 
 
 The state has had its own protests and arrests as well, said a former state lawmaker and radio host who opposes the pipeline, Ed Fallon. 
 
 “We’ve had more people arrested in Iowa over this than we’ve ever seen, even going back to the Vietnam War,” Fallon said. 
 
 Pipeline opponents are using an eminent-domain law that Fallon championed in 2006 in hopes of booting Dakota Access from the state. The law says eminent domain can be used only to take property for defined public purposes. 
 
 Water, electricity, and natural gas delivery are explicitly included in the statute. Crude oil is not. 
 
 People protest the Dakota Access pipeline from inside the Iowa Utilities Board building Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, in Des Moines. (Photo: Charly Haley/The Register) 
 
 Des Moines lawyer Bill Hanigan represents 15 landowners in a half-dozen Iowa counties where land was taken for pipeline construction through eminent domain. 
 
 Hanigan’s clients argue that both Iowa law and the U.S. Constitution bar the use of eminent domain to condemn property for a crude-oil project. 
 
 “Crude oil has no value unless it’s refined. It’s a raw material,” Hanigan said. “We need lumber to build homes, so would we condemn farms to build someone a private highway to haul lumber?” 
 
 Hanigan believes the already-built pipeline beneath his clients’ property and every barrel of oil that flows through it are considered trespassing. 
 
 Hanigan believes the Iowa case, which will be heard later this month, has the potential to shut down the project, but he doesn’t think either side has a clear path to victory — in Iowa or anywhere else. 
 
 “It ain’t over,” Hanigan said. “It’s still a big shooting match.” 
 
 Contributing: Kevin Hardy, The Des Moines Register. Follow John Hult on Twitter: @ArgusJHult 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2gEH1el ||||| Though the US denied a permit for the Dakota Access pipeline , many worry that the Trump administration and the pipeline company could reverse the decision 
 
 Native American activists at the Standing Rock “water protector” camps vowed to remain in place the morning after the US Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit for the Dakota Access pipeline, with many expressing concerns that the incoming Trump administration and potential legal action from the pipeline company could reverse their victory. 
 
 Dakota Access pipeline: US denies key permit, a win for Standing Rock protesters Read more 
 
 The Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday that it would not grant the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline to drill under the Missouri river, handing a major victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe after a months-long campaign against the pipeline. 
 
 
 
 However, the companies behind the pipeline, who have the backing of the incoming Trump administration, have insisted the project would still go ahead. “Nothing indicates for us to pack up and go home,” said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Our native people have reason to be distrustful.” 
 
 Tara Houska, a member of the Couchiching First Nation, was similarly circumspect. 
 
 “I celebrate with caution,” the national campaigns director for Honor the Earth said. “We know that Trump is coming and with that, we know our fight will continue.” 
 
 Nothing indicates for us to pack up and go home. Our native people have reason to be distrustful Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network 
 
 Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics, the companies behind the project, called the ruling a “purely political action”, accused the Obama administration of abandoning the rule of law “in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency”, and said the pipeline project would go ahead. 
 
 “As stated all along, ETP and SXL are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe,” the companies said in a statement. “Nothing this administration has done today changes that in any way.” 
 
 Monday was supposed to have been a day of resistance and prayer at the sprawling encampment where opponents to the project have gathered. Hundreds of supporters, including a large contingent of Native American and non-Native American US veterans, have travelled to the banks of the Missouri river to defy the army corps’ stated deadline for people to vacate the camp by 5 December. 
 
 Some feared a confrontation. Frank Archambault, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who has lived at the main camp on army corps land with his five children since August, moved his children to a hotel in Bismarck in anticipation of a repeat of violent clashes with law enforcement. 
 
 But the announcement of the permit’s denial on Sunday afternoon turned that tension into jubilation and awe, as activists who have braved the freezing North Dakota winter and aggressive tactics from law enforcement realized that their efforts had been recognized at the highest levels of government. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest As snow began to fall, activists said that they wanted people to remain at the camp and called for more to arrive. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 “It’s solid. They say that Trump can come in and change it but he can’t,” said Jumping Buffalo, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe whose English name is Troy Fairbanks. 
 
 Still, as snow began to fall, Jumping Buffalo said that he wanted people to remain at the camp and called for more to arrive. “This becomes a healing camp now,” he said. “Now is the beginning of the healing camp for people to heal from all the historical traumas.” 
 
 Few shared Jumping Buffalo’s faith that the fight was over. 
 
 “Do not take anything for granted,” said Elouise Brown, a member of the Navajo Nation and an army veteran. “Do not trust anything they say. I think what happened yesterday was their move to get us to back up and leave. We’re not that stupid.” 
 
 I think what happened yesterday was their move to get us to back up and leave. We’re not that stupid Elouise Brown 
 
 But the sense of wariness could not entirely dampen the enthusiasm for a major breakthrough in the months-long fight to halt the pipeline from crossing the Missouri river just north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. The tribe fears that the pipeline would contaminate their water source and destroy sacred sites. 
 
 “We don’t ever win,” Houska said. “Indigenous people never win, but we did.” 
 
 “A new nation of water protectors has been created here at Standing Rock,” said Cheryl Angel, a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe. “This newly formed alliance will not decrease and will double then triple until the numbers of the masses increase to the point where safety measures to protect water in every nation becomes a reality.” 
 
 The Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday that it would explore “alternative routes” for the pipeline by undertaking an environmental impact statement – a process that can take years. 
 
 While the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been pressuring the Obama administration to deny the easement, the election of Donald Trump complicates the future. 
 
 Trump said Friday that he supports the 1,720-mile pipeline, which would carry crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to a refinery in Illinois. 
 
 Trump supports Dakota pipeline – but claims it's not due to his investment in it Read more 
 
 The president-elect is an investor in Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the project, but he denied his investment was a factor in his position. Kelcey Warren, the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, donated more than $100,000 to help elect Trump. 
 
 Several protesters voiced suspicion that Sunday’s announcement was a “trick” to encourage the thousands of Native American and environmental activists gathered in encampments near the drill site to go home. 
 
 Others expressed concern that Trump would simply reverse the army corps’ decision when he takes office, and Heidi Heitkamp, a US senator from North Dakota, appeared to concur. 
 
 “The pipeline still remains in limbo,” she said in a statement. “The incoming administration already stated its support for the project and the courts have already stated twice that it appeared the corps followed the required process in considering the permit. For the next month and a half, nothing about this project will change.” 
 
 Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the tribe, said that a Trump reversal would not be automatic, however. 
 
 “That the new president is in favor of fossil fuels is not a basis on which to reverse an agency decision,” Hasselman said. 
 
 The corps would instead have to show a court that reversing itself six weeks after making a decision was a “rational decision based on appropriate factors”. 
 
 “I’m not saying that they can’t get away with it,” he said. “All I’m saying is that it will be reviewed by a court.” 
 
 The pipeline company could also bring some kind of legal action against the army corps. On 15 November – one day after the corps announced that it was delaying its decision over the easement for “additional discussion and analysis” – the company filed court papers asking a judge to intervene on its behalf. 
 
 In court filings, the company has claimed that the delay at the Missouri river crossing has cost it “hundreds of millions of dollars”. 
 
 “Dakota Access has fought every step of the way,” Houska said. “This is the company that unleashed dogs on Native American men, women, and children protecting sacred sites. I would not trust that they’re done with this.” 
 
 Goldtooth said that his organization was asking the thousands of activists – who call themselves “water protectors” – to remain in place at the encampments until they receive guidance from the tribe, traditional leaders, and Native youth. 
 
 “If DAPL completely dismantled their drilling pad and took out their pipes and asked North Dakota law enforcement to take down the barricades,” he said, “Then I might reconsider our decision to stay here.” ||||| Protesters against the North Dakota Access oil pipeline said Saturday they will not move from the site of a months-long encampment, even after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a letter announcing its plan to close the land. 
 
 The protesters, or “water protectors,” were notified that land north of the Cannonball River will be closed on Dec. 5, according to Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. 
 
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 The Oceti Sakowin camp, which rests on the banks of the river, contains a loose collective of tribal nations and out-of-state supporters opposing the 1,172-mile pipeline. The camp is about 45 minutes south of Bismarck, the state capital. 
 
 Archambault said he was “deeply disappointed” by the Army Corps’ decision, “but our resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever.” 
 
 “It is both unfortunate and disrespectful that this announcement comes the day after this country celebrates Thanksgiving — a historic exchange of goodwill between Native Americans and the first immigrants from Europe,” Archambault wrote. “Although the news is saddening, it is not at all surprising given the last 500 years of the mistreatment of our people.” 
 
 The Army Corps did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
 
 The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its supporters have said the $3.7-billion pipeline threatens the reservation’s main water supply and cultural artifacts, all claims the company behind the project, Energy Transfer Partners, has denied. 
 
 Archambault said the Army Corps closed public access to the land over “safety concerns,” adding that the agency plans to allow a “free-speech zone” south of the Cannonball River. 
 
 Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, posted what appeared to be the Army Corps’ statement on Facebook. 
 
 The decision comes days after law enforcement deployed water hoses, rubber bullets and tear gas against hundreds of unarmed Standing Rock protesters. Camp organizers said more than 300 protesters were injured in Sunday’s standoff, and 26 were hospitalized. 
 
 The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement’s response in the encounter, saying it was a “catastrophe with serious human rights implications.” 
 
 The sheriff’s department defended the decision to douse protesters in freezing temperatures, saying that protesters were “very aggressive.” An initial statement from the department said it was an “ongoing riot.” 
 
 Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren told the NewsHour that the pipeline was built “to have minimal impact to all people concerned,” adding that “we’re building the pipeline.” 
 
 READ MORE: For Native �?water protectors,’ Standing Rock protest has become fight for religious freedom, human rights 
 
 New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Friday called on Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice to investigate tactics that police are using against protesters at Standing Rock. 
 
 “I call on the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to promptly and thoroughly investigate all credible reports of inappropriate police tactics and, if DOJ has not already done so, to send federal monitors to Standing Rock to ensure that protesters can peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights,” he wrote. ||||| CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - North Dakota’s governor ordered the expulsion of thousands of Native American and environmental activists camped on federal property near an oil pipeline project they are trying to halt, citing hazards posed by harsh weather as a blizzard bore down on the area. 
 
 Women hold a prayer ceremony on Backwater Bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 27, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith 
 
 The “emergency evacuation” order from Governor Jack Dalrymple came days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the site, set a Dec. 5 deadline for the demonstrators to vacate their encampment, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Bismarck, the state capital. 
 
 The Army Corps has insisted, however, that it has no plans to forcibly remove protesters, many of them members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The agency instead urged a “peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location.” 
 
 Late Monday, Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II denounced Dalrymple’s order as a “menacing action meant to cause fear,” and accused the Republican governor of trying to “usurp and circumvent federal authority.” 
 
 A woman washes dishes in the Oceti Sakowin camp in a snow storm during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 28, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith 
 
 Archambault noted that the evacuation order, which the governor said he issued for the campers’ well-being in the face of dangerous winter weather, came a week after police turned water hoses on protesters in sub-freezing temperatures. 
 
 Activists have spent months protesting against plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying the project poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. 
 
 The governor did not specify how he intended to enforce his order other than by directing state and local agencies to refuse emergency assistance and other services to anyone who remained at the site. He said the order was effective immediately and would stay in force “until rescinded.” 
 
 But Standing Rock Sioux spokeswoman Phyllis Young told a news conference Monday night the tribe would stand its ground. 
 
 “We have lived for generations in this setting. That is our camp. We will continue to provide for our people there,” she said. “This is Lakota territory. This is treaty territory, and no one else has jurisdiction there.” 
 
 Slideshow (2 Images) 
 
 Protest leaders suggested a forced evacuation could prove more dangerous to the activists than staying put. 
 
 “We’re in the heart of winter now. To even think of a forced removal is terrifying,” said Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, who estimated there were about 5,000 people in the camp. 
 
 Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier added to the pressure by issuing a video statement urging protesters to avoid subjecting themselves to “life-threatening conditions” by remaining exposed to the elements with little shelter. 
 
 The National Weather Service has posted a storm warning for most of western and central North Dakota, forecasting the possibility of heavy snow through Wednesday. 
 
 The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline project is mostly complete except for a segment that is supposed to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. 
 
 The Obama administration in September postponed final approval of an Army Corps permit required to allow tunneling beneath the lake, a move intended to give federal officials more time to consult tribal leaders. The delay also led to escalating tension over the project. 
 
 The companies say the pipeline would carry Bakken shale oil more cheaply and safely from North Dakota to Illinois en route to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries than it could be shipped by railroad or tanker trucks. ||||| Scott Olson/Getty Images Fireworks fill the night sky above Oceti Sakowin Camp as activists celebrate after learning an easement had been denied for the Dakota Access Pipeline near the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 4, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. 
 
 OCETI SAKOWIN CAMPGROUND, N.D ― The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters celebrated a historic victory Sunday after federal authorities halted construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. 
 
 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it had denied the final easement required for the $3.8 billion project to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The Army said it will now explore alternative routes pending an environmental impact study. 
 
 The 1,172-mile pipeline starts at the Bakken Formation in northwest North Dakota near the Canadian border and runs southeast to southern Illinois. 
 
 The Standing Rock Sioux, which had been joined in a months-long protest by environmental, human rights and social justice activists, opposed the oil pipeline due to concerns over water contamination, environmental destruction and damage to ancestral sites. 
 
 “My hands go up to all the water protectors who have stood up to protect tribal treaty rights and to protect Mother Earth,” Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a statement Sunday. “Thank you for Standing For Standing Rock.” 
 
 See more images from the victory below. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters celebrate as they march back to the Oceti Sakowin campground after they found out the Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement to drill under Lake Oahe on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Drummers at the Oceti Sakowin campground perform a victory song. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Lance King, 33, an Oglala Lakota from Lyle, South Dakota, celebrates with Kayti Bunny after the announcement that the Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement to drill under Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access Pipeline. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Lita Boyd, a veteran of the U.S. Army, leads a group of veterans to the checkin area at the Oceti Sakowin campground north of Cannon Ball, N.D. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Cornel West speaks during a multi-faith congregation at the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters celebrate after learning that the Army Corps of Engineers denied the drilling permit to drill under Lake Oahe near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Tamara Bliss Sharp of Oakland, Calif. prays at the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters sing and celebrate after the Army Corps of Engineers announced they won't be granting the easement to drill under Lake Oahe. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Thousands gather in the main area of the Oceti Sakowin campground to celebrate after the Army Corps of Engineers announced they will not be granting a drilling permit. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Evan Porter, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, checks into the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Horse riders meet at the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters participate in a victory march to the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images The Showdown at Standing Rock is a win for Native Tribes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned down a key permit for a the Dakota Access Pipeline that was slated to drill beneath the Missouri River and through sacred Sioux grounds on Dec. 5, 2016. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Rob McHabey, right, a U.S. Navy veteran, walks with Ben Wright, left, a U.S. Army Veteran, at the Oceti Sakowin campground. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters congregate on North Dakota Highway 1806 north of Cannon Ball, N.D. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Dakota Access Pipeline protesters celebrate as they watch a group of veterans march into the Oceti Sakaowin camp. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Troy Fairbanks, right, of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe cheers after hearing Chief Arvol Looking Horse announce to members of over 300 nations that the pipeline's construction has been halted. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Activist Brenda Cohen cries tears of joy as she celebrates at Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images Activists hold hands during a prayer circle as they try to surround the entire camp at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post Chief Arvol Looking Horse arrives to the Oceti Sakowin campground north. 
 
 JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images A Sioux American flag hangs upside down at the encampment at Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Troy Fairbanks, right, of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, holds back tears as he hugs a friend after hearing Chief Arvol Looking Horse announce, to members of over 300 nations, that the US Army Corps of Engineers will no longer grant access to the Dakota Access Pipeline to put their pipe line on the boundary of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Stephanie Keith / Reuters People celebrate in Oceti Sakowin camp as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Activist Brenda Cohen cries tears of joy as she celebrates at Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Scott Olson/Getty Images Native American and other activists celebrate after learning an easement had been denied. 
 
 Stephanie Keith / Reuters People celebrate in Oceti Sakowin camp. 
 
 Scott Olson/Getty Images Native American and other activists celebrate. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Native americans lift up their hands to celebrate their victory. 
 
 Stephanie Keith / Reuters Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Sioux nation, participates in a ceremony in Oceti Sakowin camp. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images US Navy veteran Bob McHaney, left, and Bill Runningfisher, of the Gros Ventre nation, right, press their fists together in solidarity while on a bridge near Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp. 
 
 JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images U.S. Navy deep sea diving veteran Rob McHaney (C) holds an American flag as he leads a group of veteran activists back from a police barricade on a bridge near Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images The encampment at Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 
 
 Lucas Jackson / Reuters A woman looks out over the Oceti Sakowin camp as activists celebrate.
– After months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters, the US Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday said it would consider alternate routes for the Dakota Access pipeline that didn't travel under North Dakota's Lake Oahe, effectively putting the brakes on the nearly finished pipeline's construction. What that means, how the news was received, and where we go from here: The Huffington Post had a photographer on the scene, and shares images of "what victory ... looks like." Mic similarly shares a dozen photos that show how the win was received. So what's next? The Argus Leader focuses on some protesters' cry to get the 92%-complete pipeline shut down for good, and looks at the challenging ways that could come to pass: via the tribe's court effort, due to the financial impact of a delay, or via a court battle somewhere else entirely—Iowa. The protesters could be dealt a blow in short order, though, reports Bustle, which looks at what's next through the lens of the Environmental Impact Study the Army has ordered. There's a court hearing this Friday related to a claim brought by the company constructing the pipeline, and one possible outcome is that the court could override the Army’s decision. At the BBC, James Cook points out that the Army Corps' memorandum "might strongly suggest that the pipeline will be re-routed but it does not actually say that will happen." He briefly digs into the language, and is pretty unequivocal in his expectation that a President Trump will try to reverse the Corps' move. The BBC also has reaction from Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics, two companies involved, who accuse the White House of attempting to "curry favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency." For deep reading, head to Mother Jones and dig into "How a Movement Was Born at Standing Rock." There, Wes Enzinna writes for the Jan/Feb issue, "Many at Standing Rock saw the threat of environmental catastrophe as inextricable from racial injustice," noting that a preliminary plan to take the pipeline through Bismark was turned down by the Army Corps over worries about that city's water supply. "Bismark's population is 92% white," notes Enzinna. More deep reading: The Minneapolis Star Tribune looks at the "long complicated road" and goes back to the start: "The dispute is rooted in the fracking revolution that transformed North Dakota."