North Dakota Secures Final $27.8M from Feds for DAPL Protest Costs

North Dakota has secured a final $27.8 million payment from the federal government, closing a years-long legal effort to recoup costs from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. According to a settlement announced this past week by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, the payment brings the state's total recovery to nearly $38 million when combined with a previously secured $10 million.

The settlement reimburses North Dakota for law enforcement, emergency response, and cleanup expenses incurred during the nearly 10-month demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 2016-17. State officials had argued that North Dakota taxpayers should not bear the financial burden of the protests, which involved responses from 178 agencies over more than 230 days and resulted in 761 arrests.

The protests began on April 1, 2016, when members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and allies established the Sacred Stone Camp near the proposed pipeline route. The movement grew into one of the largest Indigenous-led protests in modern history, with participants arguing the pipeline threatened tribal water supplies and sacred sites. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially denied a key easement in December 2016, a decision reversed after President Donald Trump took office and directed the Corps to expedite the project. Remaining protest camps were cleared by late February 2017.

In a statement, Attorney General Wrigley credited the work of his office and the efforts of former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who pursued the reimbursement before his death in 2022. The settlement resolves the state's lawsuit against the federal government over the costs.

For Bakken operators and the state's oil industry, the settlement represents the closing of a contentious chapter for a critical piece of infrastructure. The Dakota Access Pipeline, which transports crude oil from the Bakken formation to Illinois, was completed and entered service in 2017 despite the massive opposition. Its operation has provided a major outlet for North Dakota oil, and the financial resolution alleviates a lingering state cost associated with its construction.

The final payment ensures North Dakota recovers costs from a period of unprecedented civil unrest that strained local and state resources. The resolution allows the state to move forward from the fiscal impacts of the protests, which were centered on federal land management decisions related to the pipeline's route.