North Dakota Wins $28M Judgment Over Federal Role in Pipeline Protests
The United States government has been ordered to pay North Dakota close to $28 million in relation to the 2016 and 2017 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The federal judge found that the executive branch “abandoned [by] the rule of law” in response to the protests, criticizing the U.S. Army Corps’ response.
North Dakota initially filed the lawsuit in 2019, requesting $38 million in damages for the cost of policing and cleaning up the demonstrations. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor filed the decision on Wednesday, siding with North Dakota and finding the Corps “at fault for negligence, public nuisance and civil trespass claims.”
Demonstrators set up camps and protested from the spring of 2016 until early 2017, when former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum ordered the protesters to leave. The ruling expands upon a prior order that found the Army Corps had violated its permitting procedures by not requiring protestors to obtain a permit.
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) praised the outcome, stating, “This ruling is a colossal win for the North Dakota taxpayers who were forced to bear the cost of our federal government’s abdication of its duties during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Even before neglecting their responsibilities, our government literally facilitated the violence. This $27.8 million judgment is a win for the rule of law, for sure, and it’s a win for the Constitution of the United States. It’s the result of nearly a decade of hard work from North Dakota’s Attorney General’s office and I really thank them for their efforts.”
The court’s decision is pivotal in the ongoing debate over accountability during large-scale protests on federal land. By holding the federal government financially responsible, the ruling reinforces the expectation that federal agencies must uphold permitting procedures and ensure public safety when their land is used for demonstrations.
