North Dakota’s governor has activated 100 National Guard troops ahead of an expected ruling by a federal judge on a Native American tribe’s request to halt construction of a crude oil pipeline which has drawn fierce opposition and protests.
The $3.7billion Dakota Access pipeline would carry oil from just north of land owned by the Standing RockSioux Tribe to Illinois where it would hook up to an existing pipeline and route crude
directly to refineries in the US Gulf Coast.
The line would be the first to allow movement of crude oil from the Bakken shale.
However, the project has sparked violent clashes between security officers near the construction site and tribe members and other protesters.
Opponents have said the project will damage burial sites considered to sacred to the tribe.
Protests have already been held in North Dakota and Washington D.C.