South Dakota Patrol Reimbursed for Pipeline Protest Duty

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota has been paid for its help policing protests in North Dakota against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers racked up 8,800 hours during the protests. Spokesman Tony Mangan tells the Argus Leader that the agency has been reimbursed $518,000 for hours and mileage.

American Indian tribes and environmental groups protested the pipeline because they fear environmental harm, a claim Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners rejects. There were 761 arrests in North Dakota between August and February.

The $3.8 billion pipeline began moving North Dakota oil to a distribution point in Illinois last month.