Just minutes after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s attempt to halt the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline that skirts the reservation in southern North Dakota, three federal agencies appealed to the pipeline company to “voluntarily pause” work on a segment that tribal officials say holds sacred sites and artifacts. Here's a look at the planned pipeline and the tribe's ongoing protest:



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AFTER FIERY TRAIN DERAILMENTS, A MASSIVE PIPELINE PLANNED



Owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project would 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, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. The tribe, whose cause has drawn thousands to join its protest, had challenged the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners' $3.8 billion pipeline, saying that the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will harm water supplies. Filed on behalf of the tribe by environmental group Earthjustice, the suit says the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will disturb sacred sites outside of the 2.3-million acre reservation. The lawsuit alleges that the pipeline, which would be placed less than a mile upstream of the tribe's reservation, could impact drinking water for more than 8,000 tribal members and millions who rely on it downstream. Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II is expected to speak from the North Dakota Capitol shortly after 3 p.m. Friday. Nearly 40 people have been arrested since the protest began in April, including tribal chairman Dave Archambault II, though none stemmed from Saturday's confrontation between protesters and construction workers. The ruling on a Native American tribe's request for a temporary restraining order on construction comes one day after Gov. State authorities announced this week that law enforcement officers from across the state were being mobilized at the protest site, some National Guard members would work security at traffic checkpoints and another 100 would be on standby. ___



CULTURE CLASH



Last weekend, tribal officials said crews bulldozed several sites of "significant cultural and historic value" on private land, which Energy Transfer Partners denies. The state's Private Investigation and Security Board received complaints about the use of dogs and will look into whether the private security personnel at the site are properly registered and licensed, board attorney Monte Rogneby said Friday, adding that he would not name the firms. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg partially granted the tribe's request to temporarily stop work near Lake Oahe to prevent the destruction of more sacred sites, but not on the private land that sparked the protest.
Following this ruling, and to head off an immediate confrontation, the Obama administration temporarily suspends further construction of the pipeline on U.S. Army Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe, and asks the Dakota Access construction company to voluntarily pause all work within 20 miles of the lake.