CANNON BALL, N.D. – The Latest on protests in North Dakota over the Dakota Access oil pipeline (all times local):
4 p.m.
The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe is calling for rerouting the Dakota Access oil pipeline that is the target of protests in southern North Dakota.
At a news conference outside the Morton County Courthouse, tribal Chairman Dave Archambault (AHR’-sham-boh) said Saturday the pipeline “doesn’t have to put our water at risk” and that, “Everybody can still benefit.”
Tribal members fear the pipeline will harm their drinking water and violate sacred sites.
The Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eQ0Dc8 ) reports Archambault said other, existing pipelines also need to be refurbished and upgraded.
Supporters say the pipeline will have safeguards against leaks, and is a safer way to move oil than trucks and trains.
___
1:50 p.m.
Dozens of protesters are demonstrating against the Dakota Access oil pipeline, this time outside the North Dakota Capitol.
More than 60 people were taking part in the event Saturday afternoon in Bismarck. Billed as the Rally To Protect Our Future, demonstrators carried signs with messages such as, “Water is life.”
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux and other supporters are trying to halt construction of the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline that the tribe says threatens its water sources and cultural sites.
One protester, Holly Doll of Mandan, says Native Americans “have been ignored throughout history.” Doll says the pipeline protest is “about looking ahead for future generations and protecting our water.”
The protest in Bismarck was held about 50 miles north of where hundreds of protesters have been camping near a pipeline construction site. The demonstration has been ongoing for months.
___
11 a.m.
Protesters trying to block the Dakota Access Pipeline are bringing their concerns to the North Dakota Capitol.
A rally is scheduled Saturday afternoon in Bismarck. Organizers say in a Facebook post that the event, called Rally To Protect Our Future, will feature landowners and community members encouraging supporters statewide “to take action how they can.”
Hundreds of people gathered at a similar rally in September.
Standing Rock Sioux members and other protesters argue that the nearly 1,200-mile oil pipeline is a threat to water and cultural sites. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, which is building the pipeline across four states, says the line is safe.
___
10:40 a.m.
Protesters trying to block the Dakota Access oil pipeline are staying near their encampment following two days of confrontations that resulted in more than a hundred arrests and a barricade of burned-out vehicles on a North Dakota highway.
A handful of people walked along the highway amid cloudy, chilly weather Saturday morning as campfires burned at the nearby camp where hundreds of protesters are staying. About a half-dozen law enforcement vehicles were parked along the roadway.
As many as 50 protesters gathered behind heavy plywood sheets and the burned vehicles on Friday, a day after about 140 people were arrested while protesting on private property.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier described the protesters as “non-confrontational but unco-operative,” and credited Standing Rock Sioux tribal members for helping to ease tensions.
___
12 a.m.
A tense protest over the Dakota Access pipeline subsided at least temporarily after some protest leaders urged activists to leave a barricade near a state highway bridge.
As many as 50 protesters gathered Friday behind heavy plywood sheets and burned-out vehicles. They faced a line of concrete barriers, military vehicles and police in riot gear.
But only a handful of people, some of them observers from Amnesty International, remained on the bridge by late afternoon after protest representatives told people to return to the main encampment.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier described the protesters as “non-confrontational but unco-operative.” He credited Standing Rock Sioux tribal members for helping to ease tensions on the bridge.
Officers arrested one person, but no details were released.
