U.S. to pay ND Nearly $28M for DAPL Related Cost

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(KNOX) – North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Attorney General Drew Wrigley today applauded a federal judge’s decision ordering the United States to pay North Dakota nearly $28 million in damages for law enforcement and other costs the state incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016 and early 2017.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor found that North Dakota established its claims for negligence, gross negligence, civil trespass and public nuisance against the United States. He specifically noted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the impression that it had issued a Special Use Permit for DAPL protestors when that was not the case.

“This is a major win for North Dakota taxpayers and the rule of law,” Armstrong and Wrigley said in a joint statement. “As outlined in trial testimony and Judge Traynor’s ruling, decisions made by the Obama administration emboldened protestors and ultimately caused millions of dollars in damage to North Dakota, while endangering the health and safety of North Dakota communities, families and law enforcement officers who responded to the protests.”

In his ruling, Traynor found that the United States “had a mandatory procedure, it did not follow that procedure, and harm occurred to the state of North Dakota.”