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WASHINGTON, D.C.-A federal judge here won't issuing his ruling for more than two weeks after a hearing Wednesday, Aug. 24, in a lawsuit seeking to halt construction of a $3.8 billion pipeline to haul North Dakota oil.
Judge James E. Boasberg has taken the matter under advisement and set a status conference for Sept. 14, according to online court records. Boasberg indicated after the hearing that he'll issue his ruling after Labor Day, according to multiple media reports.
Dakota Access LLC temporarily stopped construction last week amid growing tribal protests near the pipeline's planned crossing of the Missouri River near Cannon Ball, N.D. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposes the river crossing, fearing a pipeline leak would contaminate the tribe's water supply and other sacred sites.
The tribe is represented by the environmental law group Earthjustice in the lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over permits issued for the pipeline, which would cross the Missouri River a half-mile north of the reservation and be the largest oil pipeline from the Bakken oil fields, moving 450,000 barrels per day to Patoka, Ill.
There are 40 officers on construction site near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers, which has drawn 2,000-some protesters camped nearby, many from tribes across the region and the country.
