U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has denied the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe's request for a temporary restraining order against the Dakota Access Pipeline construction project. The Judge ruled that construction of the pipeline does not threaten the water of Lake Oahe on the Missouri River. The Judge still has to rule on the tribe's religious challenge to the pipeline.
"The mere presence of the oil in the pipeline renders the waters religiously impure," Cheyenne River Sioux lawyer Nicole Ducheneaux said Monday.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe also plans to file a motion asking Boasberg to give an up-or-down ruling on the validity of the government's permitting decisions on the project. The Standing Rock tribe believes the project needs to go through an Environmental Impact Statement review before moving forward.
The environmental review of the project was bypassed last month when President Trump ordered federal agencies to issue the easement allowing developers to move forward with construction of the pipeline under Lake Oahe.
(more on Judge Boasberg denial of a temporary restraining order for pipeline construction...)
