US tribe objects to Dakota Access oil pipeline expansion

Hearing on expanding Dakota Access Pipeline begins as Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protests.

A hearing on whether the Dakota Access pipeline can double its capacity through North Dakota in the United States has begun.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and environmentalists have expressed fears that it could contaminate indigenous land, especially since the nearby Keystone pipeline leaked recently.

But the company has defended its actions saying that it needs to meet the demand for more oil.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports from Linton in North Dakota.