Judge denies Native American tribes' request to temporarily halt Dakota Access Pipeline construction

A federal judge denied a request from the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes on Monday that sought to temporarily halt construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, Reuters reports. The tribes have argued that the pipeline crosses sacred grounds and will prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies, as well as threatens to pollute their source of water.

The federal judge's decision comes a week after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted an easement to Energy Transfer Partners to finish the nearly-complete 1,170-mile pipeline, a result of President Donald Trump's order to progress the project. Just 1,100 feet of the pipeline still need to be built.

The company called the tribes' request "a last-ditch desperation throw to the end zone" that "could not conceivably meet the required showing of irreparable harm needed to support a restraining order or preliminary injunction," ABC News reports. Despite widespread protests against its construction in 2016, President Trump said of the decision to finish the pipeline: "I don't even think it was controversial … I think everybody is going to be happy in the end."

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