North Dakota's lawsuit seeking $38M in DAPL protest cleanup costs can proceed, judge rules
BISMARCK — A judge has rejected the federal government's request to throw out North Dakota's lawsuit seeking $38 million in cleanup reimbursements related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
The decision, announced Wednesday, Aug. 19, by Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, is the latest development in a years-long dispute between North Dakota and the Army Corps of Engineers over responsibility for damages caused by the 2016-2017 protests at DAPL's Lake Oahe crossing near the Standing Rock Reservation.
The two sides debated the requested dismissal in a Bismarck courtroom last month, where the state attorney general's office claimed that the Army Corps "invited" protesters onto federally-managed lands, an act of negligence that resulted in millions of dollars in damages.
Multiple protester camps were located on Corps-managed lands, and while the Corps claims that it established so-called "free speech zones" to help contain the demonstrations, Traynor ruled that the federal agency skipped a crucial permitting process when it allowed protesters onto its land.
Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/6624821-North-Dakotas-lawsuit-seeking-38M-in-DAPL-protest-cleanup-costs-can-proceed-judge-rules