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Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 079 ~ 13 of 40
by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners to move North Dakota oil to Illinois. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of opponents camped in southern North Dakota, often clashing with police and National Guard soldiers. There were 761 arrests in the region between early August and late February.
Dohrmann said $2.4 million of the updated loan amount will be used to cover court and attorney fees for “indigent defense,” though those costs could decrease with many of the cases getting dismissed.
The pipeline began moving crude in June.
Also Monday, the commission formally accepted a $10 million grant from the U.S. Justice Department to help pay some of the law enforcement bills. North Dakota of cials, including the state’s congressional delegation, have long pushed for federal reimbursement to cover all costs related to the protests.
State Rep. Al Carlson, the majority leader in North Dakota’s House and a member of the commission, called the $10 million grant “a nice start.” But he said the federal government is obliged to pick up the en- tire tab because the protesters based themselves on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land without a permit, and federal of cials wouldn’t evict them due to free speech reasons.
“They owe us the rest of the money,” Carlson said of the federal government. “This should not fall on the backs of North Dakotans.”
Burgum asked President Donald Trump for a disaster declaration to cover the costs of the protest, but the request was denied.
Burgum also hasn’t ruled out taking up Energy Transfer Partners’ longstanding offer to pay the state costs.
“Everything is on the table,” the Republican governor said. “I’m open to whatever source of money and where it may come from.”
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This story has been corrected to re ect that the total line of credit is $43 million.
Black Hills residents oppose company’s gold search
ROCHFORD, S.D. (AP) — Some private landowners are opposing a Canadian company’s search for gold in a remote area of South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest.
Mineral Mountain Resources has submitted an operating plan to the forest for more than 20 drilling sites on federal land a couple miles south of Rochford. Another dozen sites will be drilled on nearby private land, where the company already has a permit from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Rapid City Journal reported .
Landowners near the proposed sites are asking the U.S. Forest Service to reject the project. But the agency can only add conditions to the company’s plan of operations, said Gary Haag, a geologist with the Forest Service.
“There isn’t an option to turn it down,” Haag said. “What they’re doing is covered under the 1872 min- ing law.”
The federal General Mining Act upholds the right of virtually everyone — including foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries — to explore for minerals on federal public land. Mineral Mountain Resources meets the law’s criteria because although its main of ce is in Canada, it also has a registered corporation in South Dakota.
Illinois resident Doug Rees said he owns a cabin near one of the proposed drilling sites. He wrote a letter to the Forest Service opposing the project for reasons including his desire to protect creek drainage areas from proposed withdrawals for the drilling rigs; his aversion to the project’s potential noise and equipment traf c; and the project’s likelihood of becoming an unsightly mine if the company nds gold.
Mineral Mountain CEO Nelson Baker said there’s currently no permit issued for drilling on federal lands.
Haag said it’ll take months for the Forest Service to fully analyze the company’s operation plan and the public’s comments.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com