Feds Pay North Dakota $28M Settlement Over DAPL Protest Costs

North Dakota will receive $28 million from the federal government to cover costs from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, according to a settlement announced Thursday. The payment resolves a nearly seven-year lawsuit and matches an award previously granted by a federal judge in 2025.

The state's lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleged that the federal government unlawfully allowed demonstrators to camp on U.S. Army Corps-managed land during the 2016 and 2017 protests in rural south-central North Dakota, causing the demonstrations to grow. As part of the settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement acknowledging shortcomings by the Obama administration.

"While the United States continues to disagree with the district court’s legal findings in this case, it 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 Dakota Access Pipeline protests," the Department of Justice stated Thursday. The agency also noted some protesters engaged in unlawful and violent behavior, but said the choice not to forcibly remove them from federal property was made "to avoid further escalation."

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said the state sought the formal statement as a public acknowledgement of federal wrongdoing. “An important chapter in our state’s history has been rendered indisputable and closed,” Wrigley said at a Capitol press conference Thursday. His office noted the settlement covers nearly $7.5 million in state legal fees.

The settlement ends the litigation by having the United States dismiss its appeal of the 2025 judgment from U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor. As a condition, the parties asked Judge Traynor to void his 120-page ruling and three other orders against the federal government. The Department of Justice maintained its actions were taken for safety reasons, but recognized the "painful consequences for North Dakota and many of its residents."

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a critical piece of infrastructure for moving Bakken crude oil to market. The prolonged protests, which centered on the pipeline's crossing near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, created significant operational uncertainty for Bakken operators and led to massive state law enforcement expenditures. This financial recovery directly compensates North Dakota taxpayers for those costs.

Wrigley emphasized the settlement prevents both sides from spending more public money on further litigation. The federal payment provides fiscal closure for the state on a defining event that disrupted oil and gas operations and strained local resources in the heart of the Bakken region.