North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Bismarck, seeking $38 million from the Corps of Engineers for costs associated with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
The suit says the Corps allowed protesters to illegally set up camps on Corps land. Protesters were there for about 8 months in three separate camps.
"These folks were all trespassers," Stenehjem said. "They were illegally on federal land. They did not have the permits that are required by the Corps own regulations."
Stenehjem said at one point, the estimated population of the camps was around 10,000.
"The camps had virtually no sanitation facilities," Stenehjem told reporters. "That, and the contamination of the land and water during their occupation were all in violation of federal and state laws that were designed to protect public health and safety, and the environment."
Stenehjem said the state incurred $38 million in costs for law enforcement, emergency response and clean-up of the camp sites.
"We think that we have an excellent claim, based in sound law," Stenehjem said. "We are looking forward to going to court and listen to the Corps attempt to explain why it did nothing. Any efforts they undertook were ether toothless, or hollow, but for the most part, they were non-existent."
The Corps has 60 days to respond to the state’s lawsuit.
