Key ruling on Dakota Access Pipeline due by end of Friday

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fri, September 9th 2016, 1:03 PM UTC

Members of the Ponca, Santee, Winnebago and Omaha Tribes in Nebraska and Iowa along with others participate in a rally on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in front of the Army Corps of Engineers offices in Omaha, Neb., to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in the Dakotas and Iowa. A judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to block construction of the pipeline that is supposed to pass close to the tribal reservation near the North Dakota-South Dakota border. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Members of the Ponca, Santee, Winnebago and Omaha Tribes in Nebraska and Iowa along with others participate gather during a rally on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in front of the Army Corps of Engineers offices in Omaha, Neb., to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in the Dakotas and Iowa. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Sam Grant of the Omaha tribe addresses members of the Ponca, Santee, Winnebago and Omaha Tribes in Nebraska and Iowa along with others during a rally on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in front of the Army Corps of Engineers offices in Omaha, Neb., to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in the Dakotas and Iowa. A judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to block construction of the pipeline that is supposed to pass close to the tribal reservation near the North Dakota-South Dakota border. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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Members of the Ponca, Santee, Winnebago and Omaha Tribes in Nebraska and Iowa along with others participate in a rally on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in front of the Army Corps of Engineers offices in Omaha, Neb., to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in the Dakotas and Iowa. A judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to block construction of the pipeline that is supposed to pass close to the tribal reservation near the North Dakota-South Dakota border. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge is set to deliver a key ruling on the four-state Dakota Access Pipeline that has drawn thousands of protesters to a construction site in North Dakota in recent weeks.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg says he'll rule by the end of Friday on the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's request to block the $3.8 billion project, which will carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

The tribe argues the project threatens water supplies and has already disrupted sacred sites. The developer, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, says modern technology allows quick detection of leaks. Pipeline supporters also say it would cut the amount of oil that travels by train.

WARNING: The video below contains explicit language

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A weekend confrontation between protesters and private security guards left some guards injured and some protesters with dog bites.

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