HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Montana State News Bureau reports that the state has agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana $60,000 to settle a lawsuit over record releases related to protests of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The case was officially dismissed in October, and the settlement covers attorneys’ fees and related costs.
The ACLU initiated the lawsuit in February of 2020, arguing that the state government failed to properly release public records they were seeking regarding protests of the pipeline. The state government, the ACLU alleges, provided heavily-redacted documents and claimed that what was not released was “confidential criminal justice information.”
Construction on the project was officially terminated last June by TC Energy after the Biden Administration revoked its permit.
