S.D. troopers spent thousands of hours at pipeline protests

South Dakota is still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for assisting North Dakota law enforcement during pipeline protests, and the bill keeps getting bigger.

South Dakota’s state troopers have gone to North Dakota four times to assist in the policing of opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannonball. Troopers are in Morton County, N.D., now for their second rotation of 2017.

So far, South Dakota has been repaid $83,653 of the $303,242 it is owed for the first two deployments in October and November. The bill represents 6,392 man hours for state troopers, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Tony Mangan.

Payments are trickling in as North Dakota lawmakers debate funding for the ongoing operations and lawmakers in both Dakotas debate how to handle future protests. Legislators in both states have proposed penalties for protesters during their respective legislative sessions.

Cost has been a major issue for North Dakota officials during the months-long uprising.

►More News: Trump weighs mobilizing National Guard for immigration roundups

The most recent figures posted by the Morton County Sheriff’s Office put the cost to state and local agencies at $32.9 million. South Dakota is one of nine states to offer assistance to Bismarck-area law enforcement since protests ramped up last August.

Each South Dakota Highway Patrol deployment came after a request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact or EMAC, which allows agencies to call in assistance from other states when needed.

States who invoke EMAC are expected to pay back the assisting states after the work is performed.

The department is not concerned about the time frame of the payment, Mangan said. The cost of the current deployments, which began on Jan. 27, has yet to be calculated.

“We submit it to North Dakota, and they deal with it,” Mangan said. “It takes us some time to get all the expenses totaled up and sent to them.”

►Watch: A closer look at the pipeline protests

South Dakota does not release the number of troopers sent for security reasons.

The appearance of South Dakota troopers at the protest sites is not meant as a signal of support of the pipeline, he said.

If a participating state has the ability to assist an EMAC member after an emergency is declared, there’s an expectation of mutual aid, he said.

“That’s part of the agreement – you go if you’re able,” Mangan said. “You don’t have to say yes, but most states do."

Thousands of people traveled to the site of North Dakota encampments to express opposition to the four-state pipeline in late summer and early fall, sparking an emergency declaration from then-Governor Jack Dalrymlple.

►Related: How did Dakota Access become world's largest pipeline protest?

Law enforcement from 33 out-of-state agencies traveled there to help contain protests, but the deployments were controversial. Pipeline opponents decried the law enforcement responses as aggressive violations of civil rights.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department saw hundreds of protesters converge on its Minneapolis headquarters in October, for example, and lawmakers criticized Sheriff Rich Stanek that EMAC protocols don’t require him to send deputies unless there’s a natural disaster.

The Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council in South Dakota voted to cut ties with South Dakota law enforcement and rescind a tax agreement last fall in response to the highway patrol’s cooperation with Morton County, N.D.

The camps thinned considerably as winter set in. The Obama Administration blocked the final easement for the nearly-completed pipeline in December, but President Donald Trump has since issued executive orders clearing the way for the completion of drilling beneath Lake Oahe.

The current deployment requests came shortly after President Donald Trump issued an executive order meant to clear the way for construction of the stalled pipeline. The first group of troopers came home on Feb. 9, the day after a second deployment began.

The protests have prompted talk of emergency response plans in South Dakota. Gov. Dennis Daugaard is backing a bill that would criminalize the blocking of a highway and make it easier for out-of-state attorneys to represent activists in the event of similar events in the state.