CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson says he is going to North Dakota to join the protest against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

Jackson says Native Americans who oppose the pipeline have a "moral claim to be heard" and that their burial grounds "must be honored."

The civil rights leader says he plans to arrive in Bismarck on Wednesday and will stand with pipeline opponents and "if necessary, go to jail with them."

Jackson has been campaigning for Hillary Clinton, but says he is diverting to North Dakota "because their case is that precious to me."

Pipeline opponents worry about potential effects on drinking water on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation and farther downstream on the Missouri River, as well as destruction of cultural artifacts, including burial sites.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline has numerous safeguards.

Meanwhile, actor-activist Mark Ruffalo has traveled to North Dakota to support the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's opposition to the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline.

Ruffalo is co-founder of The Solutions Project, which promotes clean and renewable energy. He says he plans to deliver a pair of Navajo-made solar trailers on Wednesday to help power the encampments established to protest the pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes and environmental groups say that the pipeline could threaten water supplies for millions, since it will cross the Missouri River, as well as harm sacred sites and artifacts. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline has numerous safeguards.

Ruffalo is one of the movie industry's most outspoken advocates for environmental causes. He says "water is life."

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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