PSX Phillips 66

By Kris Maher 

Protests against a $3.8 billion oil pipeline under construction in four states that is opposed by groups of Native Americans, landowners and environmentalists flared up Wednesday as police in Iowa and North Dakota arrested protesters for blocking access to one site and chaining themselves to heavy equipment at another.

The Dakota Access pipeline would carry crude oil more than 1,100 miles from North Dakota's Bakken Shale formation to Illinois. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota has sued in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block the pipeline, alleging that it will harm cultural sites and endanger the tribe's water supply.

A federal judge is expected to rule around Sept. 9 on whether to issue a preliminary injunction in the case to halt construction. The tribe has argued that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly granted permits for the project.

In Boone County, Iowa, police arrested 30 people for trespassing on Wednesday after they formed a human chain to prevent workers from entering or leaving a site where land is being cleared to make way for the pipeline, according to Sheriff Gregg Elsberry.

Mr. Elsberry said there were about 100 protesters on the site in total on Wednesday. Some asked to be arrested but police didn't act until people began to block vehicles trying to enter and exit the location, he said.

"We're not in support of either side. We're just here to keep the peace and safety," Mr. Elsberry said. He said he would likely step up patrols of the site at night. "All we were told from some of the protesters was this will probably happen again."

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Des Moines denied a request from the pipeline company to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent protests in Iowa. The company had said that construction equipment was burned and vandalized earlier this summer in the state, causing $3 million in damage.

Meanwhile, in North Dakota, the Morton County Sheriff's Department arrested eight protesters Wednesday, including two men who chained themselves to the hydraulic arm of an excavator, after securing their arms around the equipment and covering them with PVC pipe.

The two men were charged with criminal trespassing, among other charges. One woman who stood next to the men on the equipment was arrested for refusing to get down. Others were arrested after they wouldn't leave the area.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said police used equipment including harnesses to ensure the safety of the protesters while they were removed from the equipment. "Deputies took every precaution to ensure the safety of the protesters who attached themselves to the equipment," he said in a statement.

Dakota Access is being built by Energy Transfer Partners LP and its affiliate, Sunoco Logistics Partners LP. Phillips 66, the refiner, owns a 25% stake. A spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners didn't respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Jan Hasselman, a Seattle-based attorney with Earthjustice, which is representing the Standing Rock Sioux, said he was surprised to learn at a court hearing last week that nearly all of the clearing and grading required for the pipeline has been completed.

He said that in the tribe's view the entire pipeline falls within the ancestral territory of the Sioux, and the tribe wants to protect sacred sites and other areas that can still be protected.

"Construction is much further along than anyone ever imagined," he said. "We are dismayed to see that their strategy of jamming this thing through without the appropriate protections looks like it's succeeding."

Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 01, 2016 11:56 ET (15:56 GMT)

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