North Dakota to Receive $28M Federal Payment for DAPL Protest Costs

North Dakota will receive approximately $28 million from the federal government to cover costs incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, according to a settlement announced Thursday. The payment matches a 2025 judgment awarded by U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor.

Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced the settlement at a press conference at the state Capitol on June 11, 2026. He stated the agreement prevents both parties from spending more public money litigating the nearly seven-year-old lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2019. The settlement requires the federal government to dismiss its appeal of Traynor's judgment to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit centered on demonstrations against the construction of the crude oil pipeline in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017. North Dakota alleged the federal government caused the protests to grow by unlawfully allowing demonstrators to camp on federal land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. State leaders had repeatedly called for their eviction.

As part of the agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement holding the Obama administration responsible for harms North Dakota incurred. The DOJ said that, while it disagrees with Traynor's legal findings, 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 federal statement also notes that some protesters engaged in unlawful and violent behavior. It maintained that officials at the time chose not to forcibly remove protestors from federal property "to avoid further escalation of unlawful behaviors," a choice it recognizes had "painful consequences for North Dakota and many of its residents."

Wrigley said North Dakota requested the formal statement to secure a public acknowledgement of wrongdoing. "An important chapter in our state’s history has been rendered indisputable and closed," he said.

The resolution provides financial closure for North Dakota taxpayers and the state government, which bore significant law enforcement and related costs during the prolonged protests that disrupted pipeline construction critical to Bakken shale oil producers. The Dakota Access Pipeline remains a key conduit for moving Bakken crude to market.