Federal Government Halts Work on Part of Oil Pipeline Project

Federal Government Halts Work on Part of Oil Pipeline Project
A banner protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline is displayed at an encampment near North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux reservation on Sept. 9, 2016. AP Photo/James MacPherson
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NEAR THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D.—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.

J.R. American Horse (L) raises his fist with others while leading a march to the Dakota Access Pipeline site in southern Morton County North Dakota. Several hundred protesters marched about a mile up Hwy 1806 on Sept. 9, 2016, from the protest camp to the area of the pipeline site where some archaeological artifacts have been discovered. (Will Kincaid/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)
J.R. American Horse (L) raises his fist with others while leading a march to the Dakota Access Pipeline site in southern Morton County North Dakota. Several hundred protesters marched about a mile up Hwy 1806 on Sept. 9, 2016, from the protest camp to the area of the pipeline site where some archaeological artifacts have been discovered. Will Kincaid/The Bismarck Tribune via AP