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North Dakota borrowing another $4M for protest costs

In this Oct. 26, 2016 file photo, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, front, listens to Brian Wesley Horinek, of Oklahoma, outside the New Camp on Pipeline Easement in North Dakota. Kirchmeier has been the face of law enforcement through the protest to block construction of the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline designed to carry oil from western North Dakota to Illinois. (Tom Stromme / AP)
Associated Press
In this Oct. 26, 2016 file photo, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, front, listens to Brian Wesley Horinek, of Oklahoma, outside the New Camp on Pipeline Easement in North Dakota. Kirchmeier has been the face of law enforcement through the protest to block construction of the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline designed to carry oil from western North Dakota to Illinois. (Tom Stromme / AP)

BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota legislators will review an emergency request to borrow another $4 million to cover policing costs for the protest of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The state’s Emergency Commission borrowed $6 million from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota in September. But officials say that money has already been spent, as protest encampments have at times attracted thousands of people trying to halt construction of the four-state pipeline.

The commission, headed by the governor, will vote Tuesday on whether to borrow more money.

North Dakota officials have asked federal officials to reimburse the state for the additional law enforcement costs.

American Indian tribes and others who oppose the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline say, among other things, that it threatens water supplies. The Texas-based company building the pipeline insists it’s safe.