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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Tuesday that work will temporarily stop between North Dakota's State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but will continue west of the highway because he believes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacks jurisdiction on private land. It wasn't immediately clear how long of a stretch on which work will stop.
He also said he'll rule on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's challenge of federal regulators' decision to grant permits to the Texas-based operators of Dakota Access pipeline, which will cross North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, by the end of Friday.

A weekend confrontation between protesters and construction workers near Lake Oahe prompted the tribe to ask Sunday for a temporary stop of construction. Four private security guards and two guard dogs received medical treatment, officials said, while a tribal spokesman noted that six people - including a child - were bitten by the dogs and at least 30 people were pepper-sprayed.

Dakota Access attorney Bill Leone said during Tuesday's hearing that there were two more attacks on crews Tuesday, and that if it weren't for the stoppages, the section in question would be finished by the end of this week. A spokeswoman for the Morton County Sheriff's Office didn't immediately responds to a telephone message seeking information on the attacks.

Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault II issued a statement, saying: Today's denial of a temporary restraining order … west of Lake Oahe puts my people's sacred places at further risk of ruin and desecration.†Attorney Jan Hasselman with Earthjustice, who filed the broader lawsuit on behalf of the tribe, noted the tribe will know more by the end of the week about where we're heading.â€

A spokeswoman for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners didn't immediately respond to telephone messages requesting comment. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II is expected to release a statement on Facebook later Tuesday.
Workers allegedly bulldozed sites on private land Saturday, land that Hasselman said in court documents was of great historic and cultural significance to the tribe.†The tribe's cultural expert, Tim Mentz Sr., said in court documents that the tribe believes there are human remains in the area and that it wants an opportunity to rebury our relatives.â€
The elders say that reburying can help deal with the loss and hurt of disturbing these...