The executive order from Governor Jack Dalrymple came two days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it would close public access to the main protest encampment, about 30 miles south of Bismark, setting a Dec. 5 deadline for demonstrators opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline to leave the area.

Demonstrators have protested for months against plans to run the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it poses a threat to water resources and to sacred Native American sites.

"Winter conditions have the potential to endanger human life, especially when they are exposed to these conditions without proper shelter, dwellings or sanitation for prolonged periods of time," the governor's order stated.

It added that the area around the protest camp, just north of the Cannonball River, is "not zoned for dwellings suitable for living in winter conditions."

A spokeswoman for the tribe did not have an immediate comment.

Last week local law enforcement sought to disperse demonstrators opposed to the pipeline, many of whom are members of the Standing Rock tribe, by spraying protesters with water in sub-freezing temperatures.

Activists protesting the pipeline have vowed to continue their resistance.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier added to the pressure on Monday 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 winter storm warning for most of western and central North Dakota, forecasting the possibility of heavy snow through Wednesday.

Protest leaders suggested that a forced evacuation of the camp could prove even more dangerous to the activists.

"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 around 5,000 people in the camp.

Demonstrators have protested for months against plans to run the $3.8 billion pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners LP, beneath Lake Oahe, formed by a dam on the Missouri River, about a half mile (0.8 km) from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

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.

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) project is mostly complete except for the segment planned to run under Lake Oahe.

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 with tribal leaders. The delay also led to escalating tensions over the project.

Police drew condemnation from the American Civil Liberties Union and others last week when they used water hoses in below-freezing weather in an attempt to disperse about 400 activists near the proposed tunnel excavation site.

"They don't need to be worried about us in the winter," said Kandi Mossett, from the Indigenous Environmental Network. "We're perfectly capable of being self-sufficient. So using this as an excuse is insulting." </s> The Dakota Access Pipeline's route takes it over four states and nearly 1,200 miles, from the Bakken oil fields in northwestern North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa and down to a terminal in Illinois.

But one Missouri River crossing just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota has become the focal point of a fight over how the pipeline's route was analyzed and approved by the federal government.

In legal challenges and public demonstrations, members of the tribe and their supporters have argued that they were not adequately consulted about the route. Running the pipeline under a Missouri River reservoir called Lake Oahe, member say, would jeopardize the primary water source for the reservation, and construction would further damage sacred sites near the lake, violating tribal treaty rights.

After more than six months of legal wrangling, the Trump administration reversed a decision by the Obama administration and announced it is allowing the pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners, to drill under Lake Oahe and finish building the last section of the pipeline.

Here are some key moments in the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline.

This story has developed over many months, and this timeline captures only a portion of the newsworthy developments that have occurred, focusing largely on legal and policy decisions.



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Omaha District publishes a draft of its plan to approve the Dakota Access Pipeline route under the Missouri River.

The Corps opened the plan up to public comments, including comments on environmental and cultural impacts.



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office determines that no historic properties will be affected by the pipeline crossing.

A letter from the Corps' senior field archaeologist for the project lists five "recorded cultural sites" within the area that could be affected by construction of the pipeline, and more than 30 others that are thought to be within a 1-mile radius.

The letter supports the determination that "no historic properties will be subject to effect," by the crossing under Lake Oahe, and notes that the Standing Rock Sioux has requested further archaeological survey of the area.



The U.S. government's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation disputes the Corps determination in a letter to the assistant secretary of the Army, citing the need for cooperation with tribal leaders to identify areas of concern to them.

In the letter, the advisory council director asks the Corps to justify its decision.



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approves the portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline route that crosses the Missouri River at the Lake Oahe reservoir. The crossing is on Army Corps-controlled land.

The 1,261-page report announcing the approval said of the public review process: "No significant comments remain unresolved."

The Omaha district commander, Col. John Henderson, wrote, "I have evaluated the anticipated environmental, economic, cultural, and social effects, and any cumulative effects" of the river crossing and found it is "not injurious to the public interest."



The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sues the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The tribe alleged that the Corps had failed to adequately consult tribe members before approving the pipeline, and had violated the National Historic Preservation Act when it "effectively authorized construction of the vast majority of the pipeline in and around federally regulated waters without any provision to ensure against destruction to culturally important sites."

"There is a high risk that culturally and historically significant sites will be damaged or destroyed in the absence of an injunction," the tribe wrote in its court filing.



Dakota Access LLC, a subsidiary of the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners, countersues leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux, alleging that protesters near the Lake Oahe river crossing have "halted construction activities" that had been scheduled to begin five days earlier.

"On Wednesday August 10, 2016, representatives of Dakota Access arrived at the Construction Site and were met with resistance by approximately 15 to 30 individuals ... who were protesting the construction of the Pipeline. By the afternoon, the number of individuals protesting at the Construction Site increased to approximately 100," the company wrote.



The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe issues a statement saying Energy Transfer Partners demolished an area that contained "significant Native artifacts and sacred sites" when construction crews bulldozed a two-mile-long area near the Lake Oahe river crossing and north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

"I surveyed this land and we confirmed multiple graves and specific prayer sites," the tribe's historic preservation officer, Tim Mentz, said in the statement. "Portions, and possibly complete sites, have been taken out entirely."

And protests in North Dakota turned violent when private security guards clashed with some protesters.

As reporter Amy Sisk of the public radio collaboration Inside Energy said in an NPR Live discussion on Facebook, "What happened is some protesters who've been camped out near this construction area broke through a fence to access this construction site and were met with some private security guards and guard dogs hired by the pipeline company. ... Law enforcement says the protesters attacked the security guards and the dogs." She added that demonstrators said the dogs "actually bit some of the protesters."



U.S. District Judge James Boasberg temporarily halts construction on the portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline that crosses the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, pending a full decision on the tribe's earlier lawsuit against the Army Corps.



North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple activates the North Dakota National Guard to assist local law enforcement that had been monitoring demonstrations. In early December, a spokesperson for the guard told NPR that more than 500 National Guard members were on active duty and that multiple buses and military vehicles had been used to "aid law enforcement."



U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denies the Standing Rock Sioux's request to stop construction. In his decision, he writes that "the United States' relationship with the Indian tribes has been contentious and tragic." But he went on to say that the Army Corps "likely complied" with its obligation to consult the tribe, adding that the tribe "has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the Court could issue."

But the Justice Department, the Department of the Army and the Interior Department announced that construction on Army Corps-controlled land near the Lake Oahe river crossing should not proceed — and asked that the pipeline company honor the request — pending further evaluation and consultation with the tribe.



Energy Transfer Partners proceeds with construction despite the request by the three federal agencies that it voluntarily halt activities near the Lake Oahe river crossing. The Morton County Sheriff arrests 27 people demonstrating at the site.



The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, Dave Archambault II, sends a letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting an investigation "to protect civil rights" of protesters, citing the "overall militarization of law enforcement response."



Then-President Obama says in an interview that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers is "examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline in a way. So we're going to let it play out for several more weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that I think is properly attentive to the traditions of the first Americans."



Law enforcement uses tear gas and sprays water at crowds of demonstrators as the temperature drop below freezing, reports Amy Sisk of Inside Energy.



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tells protesters to leave some encampments on federal land by Dec. 5, and North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple follows up with an evacuation order for the area, citing "harsh weather." Nonetheless, many people stay.



The Army Corps halts construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and says it intends to issue an environmental impact statement with "full public input and analysis" before it approves the river crossing at Lake Oahe.



The Army publishes a notice in the Federal Register saying it is preparing the environmental impact statement and soliciting public comments until Feb. 20, 2017, on whether to grant the easement necessary to cross under Lake Oahe.



President Trump signs an executive memorandum instructing the Army to expedite the review and approval process for the unbuilt section of the Dakota Access Pipeline.



The Army says it has been directed to expedite the review process for the easement request, and that "the Assistant Secretary for the Army Civil Works will make a decision on the pipeline once a full review and analysis is completed in accordance with the [president's] directive."



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grants the easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The Corps also issues a memo saying it intends to terminate the public comment period and rescind its notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact assessment.

The pipeline company immediately began construction near the crossing under Lake Oahe.



The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe asks the U.S. District Court to issue a restraining order to block construction of the final piece of the pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officially joins the request a few days later. Both reservations get their water downstream of the Lake Oahe crossing.



U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denies the tribes' joint motion, noting that oil is not yet flowing under the reservoir. In his decision, Boasberg requires Dakota Access LLC to update the court on Feb. 21, "and every Monday thereafter as to the likely date that oil will begin to flow beneath Lake Oahe."



The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux tribe request a summary judgement against both the Army Corps and Dakota Access LLC, a subsidiary of the pipeline company.

The plaintiffs cite tribal land rights under the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty and argue that the Corps decision to grant the easement was "arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law."



The Corps formally terminates its environmental review in a notice published in the Federal Register.



North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum sets this date as a deadline for the remaining protesters to leave an encampment on federal land near the area of the pipeline company's construction site. </s> WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not authorize construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Corps land even though a federal judge denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction.

The Corps issued a joint statement Friday with the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior that said important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline remain.

“The Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other federal laws,” the statement read.

The agency said it will move expeditiously to make the determination and provide a clear and timely resolution. The Corps requested that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied the tribe’s request for injunction Friday, Sept. 9, in the tribe’s lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Boasberg wrote that after reviewing the extensive record, the corps has likely complied with the National Historic Preservation Act while the tribe has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the court could issue. The parties are scheduled to meet for a status conference on Sept. 16.

The statement from the three federal agencies also said the case highlights the need for “a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform” on considering tribes’ views on infrastructure projects.

The agencies said this fall they will invite tribes to formal, government-to-government consultations on what the federal government should do to better ensure meaningful tribal input and whether new legislation should be proposed to Congress.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II is expected to speak from the North Dakota Capitol shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.

Archambault has said the tribe intends to continue looking for legal options to fight the pipeline.

“It’s the beginning of a continuing legal battle,” Archambault said Thursday while speaking to pipeline opponents who are camping north of the reservation.

“We have respected and protected the right of individuals to protest even when protests have disrupted our community,” Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Shulz said in a statement released after the ruling. “It is now clear and obvious the fight needs to be moved from Morton County to a courtroom in Washington, D.C.”

Shulz added that protesters should “respect the rule of law and the right for all citizens to live and travel in peace,” and urged them to shift efforts to judicial or legislative solutions.

The $3.8 billion pipeline will carry 450,000 barrels of crude oil each day from North Dakota to Illinois. The tribe sued the corps over its permit for the Missouri River crossing, arguing the federal agency failed to properly consult the tribe. Tribal leaders say the pipeline will destroy sacred sites and threatens the reservation’s water supply.

The corps argues in court records it “followed a robust tribal consultation process” and said Standing Rock withdrew from a scheduled site visit of the proposed Lake Oahe crossing, a dammed section of the Missouri River.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple activated the North Dakota National Guard Thursday in anticipation of the ruling. About a dozen Guard members are manning a traffic information point on State Highway 1806 to free up law enforcement to have a visible presence near the protest site.

A protest is planned at the North Dakota Capitol from until 6 p.m. Friday. </s> A federal judge has denied an attempt to halt construction of a controversial $3.8bn oil pipeline that has been fiercely opposed by a Native American tribe that claims the project threatens its water supply and risks destroying cultural heritage.



Judge James Boasberg of the US district court ruled that the US Army Corps of Engineers “likely complied” with National Historic Preservation Act by permitting the 1,170-mile Dakota Access pipeline, which will take oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

In rejecting a request by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to halt construction of the pipeline, Boasberg wrote: “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.”

Despite the ruling in its favor, the federal government said it would halt pipeline work that occurs on federal land near Lake Oahe until it “can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions”.

In a joint statement, the Department of Interior, the Department of Justice and US Army Corps of Engineers said: “Important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and other tribal nations and their members regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain.

“The army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved – including the pipeline company and its workers – deserves a clear and timely resolution. In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe. We urge everyone involved in protest or pipeline activities to adhere to the principles of non-violence.”



The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has waged a vociferous protest against the pipeline, which would run near its North Dakota reservation. The tribe’s chairman David Archambault said the pipeline, which will run under the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, will “knowingly poison water”.

The pipeline was originally meant to run near the city of Bismarck, which has an overwhelmingly white population, before objections resulted in the relocation to Native American land.

There have been several violent clashes between a coalition of Native American tribes and security guards at a protest camp set up at a pipeline construction site in North Dakota. Other activists, including Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein and actor Susan Sarandon, have lent their voices to the protests, which peaked last weekend when tribes claimed cultural sites were being bulldozed.

Jack Dalrymple, North Dakota’s governor, ordered 100 national guard troops to the area of the protest camp ahead of Boasberg’s decision. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe said it has received assurances that the troops will not enter the camp. Energy Transfer, the company that is building the pipeline, has claimed that its workers have been attacked by protesters.

On Thursday, Boasberg had ruled that work will temporarily stop between North Dakota’s state highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but will continue west of the highway because he believes the US Army Corps of Engineers lacks jurisdiction on private land.

The pipeline would funnel 500,000 barrels of oil a day from the North Dakota oil field to a refinery in Illinois. The project is expected to be finished by the end of the year but tribal leaders have raised concerns that the pipeline, which will run under the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, will pollute drinking water for millions of people and disturb sacred sites.

In total, the pipeline will make 200 river crossings in four states. The US Army Corp of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over pipelines that cross major waterways, approved the Dakota Access plan despite warnings from the Environmental Protection Agency that leaking oil could pollute the rivers. Energy Transfer has downplayed the concerns, insisting that any leak would be swiftly remedied.

In court documents, Texas-based Energy Transfer said the Dakota Access pipeline is 45% complete and that a temporary injunction to stop it would have “devastating short and long-term impacts” to the project. </s> Activists have spent months protesting 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.

Supplies, including food and building materials, will be blocked from entering the main camp following Governor Jack Dalrymple's signing of an "emergency evacuation" order on Monday, said Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman from the Morton County Sheriff's Department.

"They have deliveries, retailers that are delivering to them - we will turn around any of those services," she said.

The order was effective immediately. As of Tuesday morning, however, no vehicles carrying supplies had been turned back, said Cecily Fong, a spokeswoman for the North DakotaDepartment of Emergency Services.

The building materials intended for the site are a top priority because the camp is not zoned for permanent structures, Fong said. Propane tanks also will be blocked because they have been used in attacks against law enforcement, she said.

A spokeswoman from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe was not immediately available for comment.

The 1,172-mile (1,885 km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP <ETP.N>, is mostly complete except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

Thousands of people are protesting at camps located on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land,north of the Cannonball River in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. The Sacred Stone camp, which was the original camp established in April, is south of the river on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

Opposition to the pipeline has galvanized numerous Native American tribes as well as environmental activists. The movement has been bolstered by social media campaigns and the support of celebrities including actors Mark Ruffalo and Shailene Woodley.

North Dakota officials have issued several requests for additional help from federal law enforcement in light of the demonstrators. However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Monday that its order to evacuate the primary protest camp - known as Oceti Sakowin - by Dec. 5 would not include forcibly removing people from the land.

"Those who remain will be considered unauthorized and may be subject to citation under federal, state, or local laws," the Army Corps said, adding that enforcement of the order was up to local authorities. </s> On the eve of the deadline for anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protesters to vacate camps in North Dakota, the company in charge of construction said in a court filing on Tuesday that oil could start flowing in as early as two weeks, beating previous estimates.

Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners, the builder of the pipeline whose construction has sparked protests since last August over its location, said in the filing to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that the company “estimates and targets that the pipeline will be complete and ready to flow oil anywhere between the week of March 6, 2017 and April 1, 2017.”

The court filing was required as part of an ongoing legal battle that is challenging the construction at the site by Lake Oahe.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum last week called for the Oceti Sakowin protest camp — located on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation — to be evacuated by Wednesday, Feb. 23., claiming ecological damage at the camp and rising post-winter floodwaters.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, which is part of the Great Sioux Nation, has joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit against the pipeline, filing a motion at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 9 seeking a temporary restraining order “to halt construction and drilling” under and on either side of the land surrounding the lake.

The tribe argued that the pipeline “will desecrate the waters upon which Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members rely for their most important religious practices and therefore substantially burden the free exercise of their religion,” according to a court document obtained by ABC News.

Last Monday, the court denied that motion seeking a temporary restraining order. On Tuesday, the pipeline company said that the Cheyenne River Sioux legal claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act “has no chance of success on the merits.”

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe filed a separate motion seeking a preliminary injunction directing the Army Corps to withdraw the easement issued to the pipeline company on Feb. 8. The tribe alleges that the easement granted is “entirely unlawful,” according to court documents. A further hearing on the Cheyenne River Sioux’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the pipeline is set for Feb. 27 in Washington, D.C.

After receiving the easement to build the pipeline across land on both sides of Lake Oahe, Energy Transfer Partners announced it would resume construction immediately, and indeed work has resumed.

The Dakota Access Pipeline, which would connect oil production areas in North Dakota to an existing crude oil terminal near Patoka, Illinois.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been at the forefront of massive and prolonged protests over the four-state crude oil pipeline. The demonstrations have drawn thousands of Native Americans, environmental activists and their allies to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation.

Kelcy Warren, the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, has said that “concerns about the pipeline’s impact on local water supply are unfounded” and “multiple archaeological studies conducted with state historic preservation offices found no sacred items along the route.”

In the final days of President Barack Obama’s administration, Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, announced on Dec. 4 that an easement would not be granted for the pipeline to cross under the large reservoir on the Missouri River.

The move to deny the easement was hailed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other pipeline opponents as a major victory. But on his second weekday in office, President Trump signed a memorandum aimed at advancing the Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as one directed at the Keystone XL pipeline.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Darren Reynolds, Evan Simon and Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report. </s> Dec 4 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has denied an easement for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a statement from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been protesting the project, saying it could contaminate water supplies.

"Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline," the tribe said in a statement. "Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes."

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. (Reporting By Ernest Scheyder in North Dakota, Writing by Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; editing by Diane Craft) </s> The Dakota Access Pipeline could begin operations as early as next month as construction runs ahead of schedule and newly inaugurated President Donald Trump facilitates the removal of administrative obstacles to its launch.

In a court-ordered status report, Energy Transfer Partners, one of the company’s constructing the pipeline, said the last 1,100-foot piece of the project is nearly completed and would be ready to install soon.

“Dakota Access reports that the pilot hole is complete,” said the report filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, according to The Washington Times. “The company is currently reaming the hole — i.e., making it larger in order to accept the pipe. As of now, Dakota Access estimates and targets that the pipeline will be complete and ready to flow oil anywhere between the week of March 6, 2017 and April 1, 2017.”

The Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux have both filed lawsuits to force the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct an in-depth environmental impact study – which the corps had agreed to do under President Barack Obama’s administration. They also argue that the pipeline will pass through sacred lands and pose a threat to their drinking water supply as it would pass under the Lake Oahe.



Related: Combined Compliance For OPEC, Non-OPEC Hits 86%

U.S. District Court Judge Kames Boasberg, who is presiding over the case, green-lighted an expedited hearing schedule on Thursday, giving Energy Transfer Partners until March 23rd to respond to the tribes’ request for summary judgement.

Images of the ruins of the Oceti Sakowin camp, the main gathering site for Native American and allied protestors from around the country, have circulated social media since Wednesday, when police forces forcibly evacuated the area citing a growing risk of floods from the Missouri River as spring begins and ice starts to melt.
• None U.S. Oil Rig Count Rises – Up 125 Since OPEC Deal </s> CANNON BALL, N.D. — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it won’t grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota.

The decision is a victory for the several thousand camped near the construction site, who’ve said for months that the four-state, $3.8 billion project would threaten a water source and cultural sites.

The pipeline is largely complete except for the now-blocked segment underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. According to a news release, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to “explore alternate routes” for the pipeline’s crossing.

The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, had said it was unwilling to reroute the project. It and the Morton County Sheriff’s Office, which has done much of the policing of the protests, didn’t have immediate comment.

U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps’ “thoughtful approach … ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts” and “underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward.”

The federal government has ordered people to leave the main encampment, which is on Army Corps of Engineers’ land, by Monday. But demonstrators say they’re prepared to stay, and authorities say they won’t forcibly remove them.

Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who’ve dug in against the project.

About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, camp in southern North Dakota for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn’t clear how many actually arrived.

“We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action,” Wes Clark Jr. said. He then talked about North Dakota authorities’ decision to move away from a key bridge north of the encampment by 4 p.m. Sunday if demonstrators agree to certain conditions, saying the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed.

“If we come forward, they will attack us,” Clark said. Instead, he told the veterans, “If you see someone who needs help, help them out.”

Authorities said they’ll move from the north end of the Backwater Bridge if protesters stay south of it and come to the bridge only if there is a prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a serious arm injury.

“The question was asked if we would consider pulling back from the Backwater Bridge,” Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a Saturday news release after a conversation between law enforcement and the group’s organizers, “and the answer is yes! We want this to de-escalate.”

Protesters also are not supposed to walk, ride or fly drones north of the bridge, Laney said. Any violation will “will result in their arrest,” the statement said.

The bridge blockade is something that Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault has been asking to be removed, the Bismarck Tribune reports , and something he said he would to talk to Gov. Jack Dalrymple about when they meet in person. A date for that meeting hasn’t been set.

Veterans Stand for Standing Rock’s GoFundMe.com page had raised more than $1 million of its $1.2 million goal by Sunday — money due to go toward food, transportation and supplies. Cars waiting to get into the camp Sunday afternoon were backed up for more than a half-mile.

“People are fighting for something, and I thought they could use my help,” said Navy veteran and Harvard graduate student Art Grayson. The 29-year-old from Cambridge, Massachusetts, flew the first leg of the journey, then rode from Bismarck in the back of a pickup truck. He has finals this week, but told professors, “I’ll see you when I get back.”

Steven Perry, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran who’s a member of the Little Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians in Michigan, spoke of one of the protesters’ main concerns: that the pipeline could pollute drinking water. “This is not just a native issue,” he said, “This is an issue for everyone.”

Art Woodson and two other veterans drove 17 hours straight from Flint, Michigan, a city whose lead-tainted water crisis parallels with the tribe’s fight over water, he said.

“We know in Flint that water is in dire need,” the 49-year-old disabled Gulf War Army veteran said. “In North Dakota, they’re trying to force pipes on people. We’re trying to get pipes in Flint for safe water.”

On Monday, some veterans will take part in a prayer ceremony in which they’ll apologize for historical detrimental conduct by the military toward Native Americans and ask for forgiveness, Clark said. He also called the veterans’ presence “about right and wrong and peace and love.”
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.