Federal government ordered to pay $27M over Dakota Pipeline protests

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the federal government owed North Dakota $27.8 million in damages for failing to respond to extreme protests around the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017. U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor agreed with the state’s accusations of negligence and slammed former President Barack Obama’s executive branch throughout his 117-page ruling, specifically the Army Corps of Engineers. North Dakota needed the federal government to step in and protect its citizens during dangerous protests, but the federal government abandoned that duty, Traynor wrote. He added that the federal government ignored standard procedures, which resulted in harm that North Dakota deserved reimbursement for.

How was the government negligent? The corps was negligent and unlawfully claimed to have granted a special use permit to demonstrators, despite failing to follow the proper procedure, according to Traynor. The unlawful special permit protected protesters by stifling police intervention. The corps invited and encouraged violent protests on and off corps-managed land, and left North Dakota to clean up the mess, Traynor wrote. He highlighted the resulting damage to both public and private properties from protesters creating pits for human waste, burning public vehicles, and clashing with state officers.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Attorney General Drew Wrigley released a joint statement on Wednesday, describing the ruling as a win for state taxpayers. The Obama administration emboldened protesters and caused millions of dollars in damage to the state, while also endangering the safety of residents and responding law enforcement, the statement said. The ruling came weeks after a North Dakota jury found the environmental group Greenpeace liable for more than $660 million in damages to the company building the pipeline.

Dig deeper: Read my report for more about the lawsuit and ruling against Greenpeace.