Pipeline firm gives state $15M for protest policing
BISMARCK, N.D. — The builder of the Dakota Access pipeline sent North Dakota $15 million on Thursday to help pay law enforcement bills related to months of sometimes violent protests over the project’s construction.
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners has wired the money, said Mike Nowatzki, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum. Company investors also contributed, he said.
The payment came as the Native American official who was the face and voice of the fight against the pipeline was voted out of office.
Unofficial results from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s general election Wednesday showed that Dave Archambault received only 37 percent of about 1,700 votes cast. His opponent, longtime tribal councilman and wildlife official Mike Faith, received 63 percent, according to the totals released Thursday.
The $3.8 billion pipeline began moving oil from North Dakota to a distribution point in Illinois in June. The project is still being contested in federal court by the Standing Rock Sioux and other American Indian tribes who fear a leak could endanger their water supply, and protests from August to February resulted in a large-scale police response and more than 700 arrests.
The state has arranged for a bank credit line of up to $43 million to cover policing costs, including $5 million just added this week. Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, who heads the North Dakota National Guard, has said costs shouldn’t exceed that figure.
North Dakota officials, including the state’s congressional delegation, have long pushed for federal reimbursement to cover all costs related to the protests. Burgum asked President Donald Trump for a disaster declaration earlier this year to cover the costs of the protest, but the request was denied.
The state Monday did get a $10 million grant from the U.S. Justice Department to help pay some of the policing bills.
State officials have argued the federal government should pick up the entire tab because the protesters based themselves on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land and federal officials declined on free-speech grounds to evict them.
ETP had a longstanding offer to help reimburse the state for law enforcement costs. Former Gov. Jack Dalrymple declined the offer, saying it was unclear whether the state could legally accept it.
Burgum had long said he was open to the offer.
Archambault, the Sioux leader, had upset some tribal members earlier this year when he called for the protest camps to disband before the spring flooding season.
Activist Chase Iron Eyes, who is a Standing Rock member, clashed with Archambault over whether the protests should continue. But he said that even though he and Archambault disagreed about tactics, they shared the same goal.
However, Iron Eyes said fresh voices in tribal leadership might bolster efforts to repair relations with county, state and federal officials strained during the protests.