CANNON BALL, N.D.—A few dozen people still occupying a sprawling encampment on federal land to protest construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline will have another chance to leave peacefully Thursday, North Dakota’s governor said, after public officials pleaded with the self-named “water protectors” to leave so the site can be cleared.
Most of the protesters marched out of the area ahead of the 2 p.m. Wednesday deadline imposed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Authorities arrested 10 people who defied the order in a final show of dissent. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said law enforcement officers remained outside the camp.
“They will have every opportunity again to leave tomorrow without arrest,” Burgum said Wednesday evening, referring to the estimated 25 to 50 remaining protesters.
Burgum said law enforcement will decide Thursday morning what to do, noting that cleanup of the site was scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Corps Col. John Henderson said the taxpayer-funded cleanup could take about a month and cost as much as $1.2 million. The Corps had warned that the protesters need to leave the site before the spring melt floods the land.
