Judge rules federal government owes nearly $28 million to North Dakota for pipeline protests

By Jack Dura BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday found the state of North Dakota entitled to nearly $28 million for responding to protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in 2016 and 2017 — a win for the state in its multiyear effort to recoup the costs from the federal government. The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million for policing the protests. The sometimes-chaotic demonstrations drew international attention for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to the pipeline’s Missouri River crossing upstream of the tribe’s reservation. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing an oil spill polluting its water supply. A trial played out over several weeks in early 2024 in federal court in Bismarck, the state capital. People who testified included…

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