Federal judge denies request to block Dakota pipeline

Construction of the final stretch of the Dakota Access Pipeline will proceed as planned, a US federal judge ruled Monday. 

Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court in Washington, D.C., denied a request by Native American tribes to halt construction of the controversial $3.8-billion project that has resulted in months of protests and more than 700 arrests. Attorneys for the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes had asked Judge Boasberg to block construction with a temporary restraining order, arguing that the 1,170-mile pipeline would prevent the tribes from holding religious ceremonies at a lake they say is surrounded by sacred ground. The oil, the tribes' attorneys said, would "[render] the water spiritually impure." 

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2017/0214/Federal-judge-denies-request-to-block-Dakota-pipeline-video