Dakota Pipeline Protests Unite Tribal Groups

Protests surrounding the Dakota Access pipeline has had a snowball effect, with thousands coming together in North Dakota in recent weeks.

The fight over fossil fuel projects gained momentum after environmentalists, tribal rights groups and anti-pipeline activists joined hands with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in protesting the Dakota pipeline, The Hill reported.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg will rule Friday on the tribe's request to block the $3.8 billion project, which would carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

The Native American tribe argued the project threatened water supplies and has already disrupted sacred sites. The developer, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners stated in its justification that modern technology would allow quick detection of leaks.

Ahead of the ruling, more than 1,000 people — including families with children — gathered at the site of the protest, ABC News reported.

Recalling the Keystone XL campaign which the green advocates won last year, the tribe and its supporters said they were ready to take on the battle.

In late July, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued federal regulators for approving most of the final permits necessary for the 1,170-mile, $3.8 billion pipeline to move forward. The community has asked a federal judge to block construction of the pipeline until a thorough assessment of the route and project was conducted.

The pro-pipeline groups have rejected the tribe's concerns, saying they were carrying out the project as per law, and that they had offered tribal leaders a chance to engage in the process, but the tribe declined.

The tribe, meanwhile, accused the pipeline supporters of plotting against Native American communities over greed for expanded energy production.

"Our Native brothers and sisters understand that as sovereign Tribal nations, we have the right to protect our sacred grounds and waters," David Archambault II, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, wrote in a blog for The Hill. "That right is recognized in the treaties we signed with the United States, and is codified in federal laws."

The movement boasts of high-profile allies – from activists like Susan Sarandon, Shailene Woodley to presidential candidate Jill Stein and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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