Gov. Kelly Armstrong and North Dakota’s congressional delegation responded to Thursday’s announcement of a final settlement in which the U.S. government will pay North Dakota more than $27.8 million for law enforcement and other costs incurred by the state during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016-17.

“This settlement is long overdue and goes a long way toward making North Dakota whole, on top of the $10 million previously paid by the DOJ to the state for protest-related costs,” Armstrong said. “The Obama administration not only enabled but in fact encouraged these unlawful protests by failing to evict protestors from Army Corps of Engineers’ land – instead playing politics with a legally permitted pipeline that has now been operating for almost a decade without incident. We’re thankful for the efforts of the Attorney General’s Office and other attorneys who worked on the state’s behalf to secure a favorable ruling in U.S. District Court and ultimately reach a settlement that removes the financial burden from North Dakota taxpayers and places it on the shoulders of the federal government where it belongs.”

“North Dakota has finally been made whole for the intentional inaction of the Obama administration during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests,” U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer said. “The DOJ’s abdication under Obama of its duty is what got us into this mess, but I am grateful the Trump administration rectified it. This settlement kills two birds with one stone. It reimburses the state for policing costs and ensures North Dakota will never spend another minute in court over this case.”

“The Obama administration refused to enforce the law and properly police illegal activity on federal lands, causing significant costs to the state,” U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said. “This settlement, along with the $10 million that we previously secured to reimburse the state, will help to recoup costs and ensure accountability from the federal officials who neglected their responsibilities during the DAPL protests.”

“The Dakota Access Pipeline was legally permitted, has operated safely for nearly a decade, and remains critical to North Dakota’s economy, energy industry, and America’s energy security,” Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak said. “More than 30 hours of public hearings were held with input from hundreds of people, yet, for more than 230 days, North Dakota communities, law enforcement officers, and taxpayers carried the burden of responding to unlawful activity while the federal government failed to act responsibly on federal land. The people of North Dakota should never have been left footing the bill for the Obama administration’s failure to enforce the law during the protests.”