North Dakota Wants Judge to Void Its $28M Win in Pipeline Protest Case in Favor of Fed Settlement

(Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Attorneys for North Dakota and the United States have asked a judge to toss a nearly $28 million judgment against the federal government related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests so the parties can pursue a settlement instead.

In exchange, North Dakota would receive a “substantial monetary payment” from the United States and the federal government would drop its pending appeal, according to court records filed late last month.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, concerns demonstrations against construction of the crude oil pipeline, also known as DAPL, that took place in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017.

North Dakota in the suit alleges that the federal government caused the protests to grow in size and intensity by unlawfully allowing demonstrators to use U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land. The state was then forced to pay millions of dollars to police and clean up the demonstrations, North Dakota claims. The United States denies the state’s allegations.