Landmark ruling awards state $28 million for feds’ role in pipeline protests
Photo: Fibonacci Blue via Flickr (licensed under CC BY 2.0)
In the second major court ruling stemming from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in recent weeks, a judge in Bismarck has ordered the federal government to reimburse the State of North Dakota nearly $28 million, due to the Obama administration’s refusal to prevent thousands of protesters from setting up a basecamp on federal property and creating chaos for months in 2016-2017.
In the conclusion of state litigation that was filed more than five years ago, the North Dakota Monitor notes the federal judge presiding over the case did not hold back in his findings on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s role in the notorious DAPL protests that spun out of control.
In a long-awaited decision filed Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor sided with the state, finding the Corps at fault for negligence, public nuisance and civil trespass claims.
“While North Dakota was drowning in the chaos of the protests, the United States dropped an anvil into the pool and turned up the turmoil,” he wrote in a nearly 120-page order.
Thousands came to south-central North Dakota to protest the construction of the crude oil pipeline in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which views the project as a looming environmental hazard and an encroachment upon Native territory. It has also accused the pipeline of disrupting sacred cultural sites.
The decision builds on Judge Traynor’s earlier finding that the federal agency failed to follow its own permitting procedures for controlling protests, leading to chaos and property damage that should never have happened.
Had the Corps followed through with the permit, the agency could have prevented millions in damages to the state, Traynor continued. Such a permit could have required demonstrators to handle cleanup, incentivized protest leaders to prevent damage to the land and prohibited protesters from establishing permanent structures at the campsites, he reasoned. He said the agency could have closed its land if protesters refused to comply with these requirements.
The state originally sought $38 million in the lawsuit for enforcement and cleanup costs, but Traynor reduced the award by $10 million, due to a federal grant already in hand. Top state officials were quick to applaud what Inforum indicated appears to be a precedent-setting decision against the federal government.
This marks the “first time in history” that a court has ruled in favor of a state against the federal government in trial, according to a release from U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
“This ruling is a colossal win for the North Dakota taxpayers who were forced to bear the cost of our federal government’s abdication of its duties during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests,” he said. “Even before neglecting their responsibilities, our government literally facilitated the violence. This $27.8 million judgment is a win for the rule of law, for sure, and it’s a win for the Constitution of the United States. It’s the result of nearly a decade of hard work from North Dakota’s Attorney General’s office and I really thank them for their efforts!”
The dramatic conclusion to the case comes a month after a Morton County jury directed the activist group Greenpeace to pay Dakota Access Pipeline owner, Energy Transfer, $660 million for its role in the DAPL debacle.