The Latest: North Dakota activates Guard for protests

The Latest on the legal challenges and coordination of the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline (all times local):

12 p.m.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple is activating the North Dakota National Guard ahead of a federal judge's impending ruling on a request by the Standing Rock Sioux to stop the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline.

Dalrymple says a handful of Guard members will help provide security at traffic checkpoints near the site of a large protest.

Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, the head of the Guard, says another 100 Guard members will be on standby if needed to respond to any incidents.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is expected to rule by Friday on the tribe's request to temporarily stop construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.

The tribe has been leading a protest for weeks at a site where the route passes near its reservation near the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The protest has included tense confrontations at times, and violence broke out Saturday between private security guards and protesters.

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9:50 a.m.

North Dakota's chief archaeologist plans to inspect an area along the route of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline where Standing Rock Sioux officials say they've identified cultural artifacts.

Paul Picha (PEE'-kuh) told The Associated Press that the trip likely won't happen until next week. If any artifacts are found, pipeline work would cease.

Picha says state officials earlier surveyed the route, but not the disputed site, which is on private land west of State Highway 1806.

Last weekend, tribal officials said crews bulldozed several sites of "significant cultural and historic value" in that area, which Texas-based pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners denies.

A federal judge allowed construction to continue there earlier this week, but is expected to rule by Friday on the tribe's lawsuit challenging federal permits.

The pipeline starts in western North Dakota and crosses through South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.