Years after oil pipeline protests, North Dakota and the federal government settle policing lawsuit

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The federal government will pay North Dakota nearly $28 million to settle a lawsuit over the costs of policing massive protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline nearly a decade ago, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.

The final settlement agreement's sum is the same amount a federal judge determined last year after trial. The government also agreed to dismiss all of its appeals and to issue a statement that recognizes "that the people of North Dakota, including, centrally, our law enforcement officers, endured repeated acts of intimidation, violence, property destruction, unlawful conduct associated with encampments established on federal land without authorization," Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley told reporters.

“We deeply appreciate those acknowledgments. They’re a long time coming," he said, joined by attorneys and investigators from his office.

North Dakota is now “made financially whole,” Wrigley said. The settlement money will finalize the debts of loans taken from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, he said.

Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong welcomed the settlement as “long overdue” and thanked Wrigley's office and others who worked on the case and reached the settlement "that removes the financial burden from North Dakota taxpayers and places it on the shoulders of the federal government where it belongs.”

In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department said it disputes the court's legal analysis, “but acknowledges in hindsight that, under the Obama Administration, the federal government could have done more to reduce the impacts to the people of North Dakota” from the protests, which included “unlawfulness and confrontational violence" at times.

“To avoid further escalation of unlawful behaviors, the federal government at the time chose not to forcibly remove the protestors from the encampment on federal property. The United States recognizes that this difficult choice had painful consequences for North Dakota and many of its residents,” the department said.

The settlement comes more than a year after U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor found the federal government liable on all claims, including negligence, gross negligence, civil trespass and public nuisance, and determined it owed the state about $27.8 million.

For months in 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested on and around federally managed land near the pipeline's Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline's risk to its water supply.

The protesters included people from around the U.S. and even the world; supporters of the tribe, Native rights and the environment; and opponents of fossil fuels. Figures such as actors Shailene Woodley and Mark Ruffalo and the Rev. Jesse Jackson traveled to North Dakota to support the tribe.

The protests resulted in sometimes-violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers. An attorney for the state said the protests prompted a response that stretched over seven months and involved 178 agencies, resulted in 761 arrests, and required four days of cleanup of the camp to remove millions of pounds of trash.

The state sued in 2019, seeking $38 million. In 2017, the pipeline company Energy Transfer donated $15 million to help cover the response costs. That same year, the Justice Department gave a $10 million grant to the state for reimbursing the response.

The judge found that Energy Transfer’s contribution was a gift and subtracted the $10 million already paid by the federal government when calculating the nearly $28 million award.

Last month, he vacated several previous orders, including his 2025 ruling, at the request of both sides as they negotiated the settlement.

“The Court does not believe it should stand in the way of a satisfactory settlement between the Parties but should encourage litigants to pursue settlements even when federal government conduct is at its worst,” Traynor wrote.

The pipeline has been operating since mid-2017. It transports about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or approximately 540,000 barrels a day.

In May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave final approval for the pipeline's Missouri River crossing near the reservation, six years after a federal judge had ordered a more rigorous environmental review. Tribal Chairman Steve Sitting Bear said Standing Rock will consider its options to uphold its treaty rights, ensure safe water, and hold the government and corporations accountable.