MT Pays $60k, Settles Public Records Case Over Pipeline Docs
The state of Montana has paid $60,000 to the ACLU of Montana as part of a settlement over its initial refusal to release documents related to its preparations for anticipated protests against the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Feb. 28, 2022, at 4:21 p.m.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The state of Montana has paid more than $60,000 to the ACLU of Montana to settle a case over its refusal to release documents related to the state’s preparations for anticipated protests against the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline that was to cross northeastern Montana.
State records show the settlement between the Division of Criminal Justice, the Department of Disaster and Emergency Services and the ACLU was approved last September, the Montana State News Bureau reported. The case was dismissed in October.
The payment covered the ACLU's attorney's fees and court costs.
The ACLU sued in February 2020 after records it requested in 2018 were provided in heavily redacted form, while other documents were withheld without legal justification, the ACLU said. The state attempted to place a gag order on the information it did provide, the ACLU said.
The ACLU alleged that public records requests it filed with federal agencies in 2018 showed that Montana's Division of Criminal Investigation and Disaster and Emergency Services were working with federal and local agencies to clamp down on potential protests over the now-defunct Keystone XL project.
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