North Dakota’s chief archaeologist to inspect pipeline site

Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said four private security guards and two guard dogs were injured after several hundred protesters confronted construction crews Saturday afternoon at the Dakota Access pipeline construction site.

Picha says state officials earlier surveyed the route, but not the disputed site, which is on private land west of State Highway 1806.

A spokesperson for the pipeline’s developer told local media the protesters broke through a fence and attacked workers.

A federal judge allowed construction to continue there earlier this week, but is expected to rule by Friday on the tribe’s lawsuit challenging federal permits.

The broadcast news networks-ABC, CBS and NBC-have aired exactly one report on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests since the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe began an encampment against the project in April, according to a search of the Nexis news database.

Filed in July on behalf of the tribe by environmental group Earthjustice, the tribe says the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, which will harm water supplies on the reservation and downstream and disturb ancient sacred sites.

But the protest has become heated, with almost 40 arrested, including Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault II.

A weekend confrontation between protesters and construction workers near Lake Oahe prompted the tribe to ask Sunday for a temporary stop of construction.

Stein was charged Wednesday in Morton County with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who advocates for clean energy, spent Monday evening with them and used red spray paint to write “I approve this message” on the blade of a bulldozer, a spokeswoman said.

Also missing from what is so far the entirety of broadcast TV news’ coverage of the Dakota Access protest is any mention of the threat the pipeline poses to water resources-the pipeline crosses the Missouri River just half a mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation-or the climate destruction facilitated by pipelines created to ship fracked oil out to consumers.

Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. Police say four private security guards and two guard dogs were hurt.

Following the incident, an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on Dakota Access Pipeline construction was filed by legal counsel for the Standing Rock Sioux.

Zent said he didn’t have any information on whether the North Dakota National Guard would be on standby, but said, “The governor has always said the National Guard is an option”.

On Tuesday, 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.

Announced in 2014, supporters said the pipeline would create more markets and reduce truck and oil train traffic – the latter of which has been a growing concern after a spate of fiery derailments of trains carrying North Dakota crude.