Amid a number of lawsuits, as well as growing public opposition to the $3.78 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, also known as the Bakken Pipeline, its developer is halting construction until a federal court hearing on August 24 in Washington, D.C.

Things looked grim for the Oceti Sakowin, more commonly known as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, just yesterday (August 18) after a North Dakota federal court ordered them to stop blocking construction. The Sioux have been battling the pipeline for months and recently began occupying the site to suspend construction. In order to stop the growing movement, Dakota Access LLC, under the greater Energy Transfer Crude Oil Company, sued protestors. This occured after 12 tribal members were arrested the week before.

The company, however, has now changed tactics. It is going to wait until the tribe stands before a judge to defend the lawsuit they filed last month against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lawsuit claims that there was violation of environmental laws when the Corps approved final permits for the pipeline to cross Sioux tribal waters. 

About 1,200 activists, mostly Native American, have joined the Sioux in North Dakota, reports Inside Climate News. The Winnebago Tribe in Nebraska is researching how to get supplies to protestors up north. In Iowa, landowners are back in court today (August 19) fighting for their land rights, which the state is seizing under eminent domain for pipeline construction.