North Dakota to Receive $28M Federal Settlement 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 last week. The agreement finalizes a 2025 judgment from U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor and ends a lawsuit filed by the state in 2019.

The state alleged that the federal government, under the Obama administration, allowed protests against the crude oil pipeline to grow by unlawfully permitting demonstrators to camp on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land in south-central North Dakota. As part of the settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement acknowledging that, in hindsight, the federal government "could have done more to reduce the impacts to the people of North Dakota."

Attorney General Drew Wrigley stated the settlement prevents both parties from spending more public money on the nearly seven-year litigation. “An important chapter in our state’s history has been rendered indisputable and closed,” Wrigley said at a press conference, according to the North Dakota Monitor.

Governor Kelly Armstrong, in a separate statement reported by NewsDakota.com, called the settlement "long overdue." He said it "goes a long way toward making North Dakota whole, on top of the $10 million previously paid by the DOJ." Armstrong criticized the prior administration for "playing politics with a legally permitted pipeline that has now been operating for almost a decade without incident."

The state's emergency response was extensive. Trial testimony cited by NewsDakota.com indicated it lasted over 230 days, involved 178 response agencies across four counties, and resulted in 761 arrests. The cleanup of protest camps required over 600 dumpsters to remove 9.8 million pounds of garbage and hazardous materials.

For Bakken operators and the state's oil industry, the settlement resolves a longstanding financial and regulatory grievance. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a critical conduit for Bakken crude, and the protests represented a significant period of operational and political uncertainty. The final payment shifts the financial burden of policing the protests from North Dakota taxpayers to the federal government.

The settlement arrives amid ongoing energy market volatility. According to OilPrice.com, crude prices fell sharply late last week, with WTI trading around $85–$87 per barrel. While lower oil costs have provided some relief, inflation remains a concern, with several states preparing for inflation-indexed fuel tax hikes on July 1, though North Dakota is not among them.