Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota's chief archaeologist says a report of possible human remains being found at a pipeline construction site is unfounded.

Paul Picha says authorities were notified on Friday by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and others that human remains might have been unearthed near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in southern North Dakota.

Opponents of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline being built from North Dakota to Illinois are protesting the project in the area and several arrests have been made for interfering with the work.

Picha says he and others inspected the site and found no evidence of "human remains, a burial, or other cultural remains."