Tribes suing to stop the Dakota Access pipeline are asking a federal appeals court to head off the imminent flow of oil.
The move comes after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg rejected a similar request Tuesday and a motion last week to halt the final stage of construction for the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil to Illinois.
The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Attorney Nicole Ducheneaux on Wednesday asked the appeals court for an emergency order preventing oil through the pipeline until the appeal is resolved.
Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners is wrapping up construction and says it could be moving oil as early as Monday.