U.S. to Pay North Dakota $28M Settlement Over Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

North Dakota will receive a $28 million payment from the federal government to settle a lawsuit over costs incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, according to an announcement made Thursday. The amount matches a 2025 judgment awarded by U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the state in 2019 concerning demonstrations against the construction of the crude oil pipeline, also known as DAPL, in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017. North Dakota alleged the federal government allowed the protests to grow by unlawfully permitting demonstrators to camp on federal land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Attorney General Drew Wrigley said at a Thursday press conference at the Capitol that the settlement prevents both parties from spending more public money litigating the nearly seven-year-old lawsuit. The state's legal fees, totaling nearly $7.5 million, are covered by the settlement, according to Wrigley's office.

As part of the agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement Thursday afternoon. While maintaining it disagrees with Judge Traynor's legal findings, the DOJ "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 statement also notes some protesters engaged in unlawful and violent behavior.

The DOJ defended its decision at the time, stating that to avoid further escalation, "the federal government at the time chose not to forcibly remove the protestors from the encampment on federal property." It added, "The United States recognizes that this difficult choice had painful consequences for North Dakota and many of its residents."

Wrigley said North Dakota sought 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 United States had initially appealed Traynor's 2025 judgment to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals but agreed to dismiss that appeal as part of the settlement. Another condition requires the parties to ask Judge Traynor to void his judgment and three other orders in which he ruled against the United States, including a 120-page ruling from April 2025.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a critical piece of infrastructure for moving Bakken crude oil to market. The prolonged protests, which disrupted the pipeline's construction and required a massive state law enforcement response, highlighted the operational and security challenges energy infrastructure projects can face.