BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - An online news organization is suing North Dakota regulators over documents the state holds related to the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the company that handled security during construction.
The lawsuit filed this week by First Look Media Works, Inc., the nonprofit publisher of The Intercept, is the second legal action over the documents.
Pipeline developer Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access LLC sued the board last month, seeking the return of some 16,000 documents that it said are “confidential, proprietary, and privileged documents.” The lawsuit said the disclosure of the records could present a security risk.
The most recent lawsuit accuses the North Dakota Private Investigative and Security Board of violating state law and both the North Dakota and U.S. constitutions in refusing to release documents sought by reporter Alleen Brown, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
The security company TigerSwan gave the documents to the state during a two-year-long battle over whether the company operated illegally in North Dakota while the pipeline was under construction in the state in 2016 and 2017.
The company agreed to settle the matter for $175,000, but did not admit to any wrongdoing.
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