Pipeline protesters say they will stay at encampment

CANNON BALL, N.D. — Industry leaders are urging President-elect Donald Trump to make approval of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline a “top priority” when he takes office next month, while opponents who have protested the project for months are vowing to stay put on their sprawling North Dakota encampment despite harsh winter weather and a tribal leader’s call to leave.

The moves come after the Army Corps of Engineers declined to issue a permit for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. While the Corps’ decision doesn’t end the debate over the pipeline, industry analysts and the chairman of the Native American tribe that has led the protests said Monday they don’t expect any developments for months.

Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault lauded the decision as taking “tremendous courage,” and National Congress of American Indians President Brian Cladoosby said it showed “respect for tribal sovereignty.”

Archambault on Monday urged protesters to go home as dangerous wintry weather sets in.

The Standing Rock tribe believes the 1,200-mile pipeline to transport North Dakota oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois threatens drinking water and cultural sites. Dallasbased developer Energy Transfer Partners has denied that and said the pipeline will be safe. The segment under Lake Oahe is the only remaining major piece of construction.

Trump supports construction of the pipeline, spokesman Jason Miller said Monday, but Miller wouldn’t say whether Trump would reverse the Corps’ decision.

SCOTT OLSON/GETTY Protesters get a presentation on cold-weather safety Monday near Cannon Ball, N.D.