Just hours after being sworn into office, North Dakota’s new governor, Doug Burgum, made clear that he wants the Dakota Access Pipeline completed and the rule of law restored. In a video message, Burgum called on the Obama administration to issue the final easement needed to complete the project and provide federal resources to assist local law enforcement.
“For months, the Obama administration has politically stalled a legally permitted project that had already been through an exhaustive review process and has twice been upheld by the federal courts,” Burgum said. “Failure to finish it would send a chilling signal to those in any industry who wish to invest in our state and play by the rules.”
Burgum also addressed the hefty price tag of the months long protests in Morton County, saying that North Dakota taxpayers should not be responsible for the $17 million the state has spent to counter unlawful activities.
The message came a day after now former Gov. Jack Dalrymple defended the multibillion dollar infrastructure project and blasted protesters for ignoring straightforward facts and trampling the legal process.
“It is unacceptable that the facts of the permitting process were not only omitted in much of the discussion among those who disagreed with the pipeline, but were twisted in order to paint the state of North Dakota and federal government as reckless and racist,” Dalrymple wrote in an opinion piece published in the Billings Gazette.