American Indian tribes who are still fighting the Dakota Access pipeline in court have dropped an appeal of a federal judge’s decision that allowed final construction to proceed.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in early March refused to stop completion of the pipeline based on the claims of Sioux tribes that it threatens water they consider sacred.
The Cheyenne River Sioux appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
That court refused an emergency order stopping oil from flowing.
The pipeline is now filled with oil and ready to begin commercial operations in two weeks.
With oil already in the line, Cheyenne River attorneys in late April submitted a motion to voluntarily dismiss their claim in the appeals court, and the motion was granted Monday.
