Judge won't immediately stop pipeline construction

An oil-rich American Indian tribe has been handed a setback it its fight against a Texas company building oil and natural gas pipelines beneath a lake on its reservation.

The Three Affiliated Tribes ordered the project halted last month, saying Paradigm Energy Partners made no assurances that water supplies wouldn't be harmed. A federal judge temporarily allowed construction to continue.

On Thursday, the judge again refused to stop construction. He's expected to rule within the next two weeks on whether the company should've gotten tribal permission.

The company says it has federal permission to build under Lake Sakakawea, the largest of six Missouri River reservoirs.

Similar water-quality concerns are being cited to fight the Dakota Access pipeline, which would span four states and cross near another North Dakota reservation.