BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers has approved most of the final permits needed for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois.

American Indians in North Dakota who've been protesting the project for months say they'll continue their non-violent efforts to oppose it.

The 1,172-mile pipeline planned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners will pass through the Dakotas and Iowa on its way to Illinois. Corps spokeswoman Eileen Williamson tells The Bismarck Tribune the agency has approved crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Williamson says Energy Transfer Partners still needs approval of three more easements for corps property — one in South Dakota and one in Illinois.

The pipeline will carry nearly half a million barrels of crude from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields each day.

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