Native landlords appeal to 8th Circuit for entry into Tesoro pipeline trespass

Meanwhile, the U.S. Interior Department and it’s Bureau of Indian Affairs – representing the allotted landowners – and Tesoro are trying to hash out a settlement to MHA Nation allottees. The dispute arose after Tesoro’s lease on trust lands expired in June 2013 within reservation boundaries. The Native landowners say they have been excluded from negotiations and demand to enter the case.

“The United States is not adequately representing the interests of the allottees in the proceeding,” according to the allottee appeal. The ‘appellant allottees’ claim some $187 million as the amount of trespass damages through June 2020. They claim the July 2022 settlement scripted by the Interior and Justice departments would require Tesoro to pay only some 2% of a previously vacated government settlement offer.

Dissatisfied with the government’s lackluster support of their trust land interests in the pipeline trespass, MHA allottees filed to intervene at the District Court level a year ago in January. The lower court dismissed their motion in July. At least two allottee groups have filed separate complaints in district court.

Government Trust Questioned

Individual landowners argue that federal negotiators didn’t consult them when structuring the settlement. More so, the proposed settlement allowed the Interior Department to argue that if Indian landowners signed the offer, they would waive any breach of trust claim against the department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The appellants accuse Tesoro High Plains of illegally operating a crude oil pipeline on their trust lands for over three decades. Although the most recent lease expired in 2013, it’s been argued in court filings that the previous 20-year lease from 1993 is invalid because the BIA never secured approval from landowners affected by the pipeline, which has had several owners since 1951. The Tesoro High Plains Pipeline has been a subsidiary of several oil corporations since the allotted landowner suit erupted, including Andeavor, then Marathon Oil Corp., followed most recently by ConocoPhillips, which acquired Marathon Oil on Nov. 22, 2024.

In the meantime, landowners seek justice claiming the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs failed to protect their interests and knowingly allowed the trespass to continue unchecked for about seven years. They allege that the BIA mishandled the situation by failing to obtain proper consent for renewing the pipeline’s right-of-way, ignoring federal regulations requiring fair compensation, and delaying action until 2020. The landowners further argue the Interior Department, in its trustee role, has not adequately represented their interests in negotiations with Tesoro or in its broader handling of the situation.

Ongoing Legal Challenges

Individual allotments make up some 73% of the trust land on the Tesoro pipeline route, with the remainder 27% in the hands of tribal government. After the proposed $35-million settlement in 2022 – cut down from $187 million in 2021 – the allottees continue to fight for full compensation and accountability.

Their 2024 motion to intervene and the recent 2025 appeal of its denial follow a series of legal challenges, including Tesoro’s lawsuit against the Interior Department to contest penalties related to the pipeline’s trespass.

The Tesoro High Plains Pipeline crosses 500 miles of land. About 15 miles of the pipeline are located on the Fort Berthold Reservation. It became central to transporting oil from the Baken-Three Forks Formation during the most recent oil boom that launched North Dakota into position as a top U.S. oil producer.

Court records establish that although the pipeline’s right-of-way expired in June 2013, the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed to take action to halt Tesoro’s operations until 2020 when it issued a cease-and-desist order and formal notice of trespass. Up until then, the company continued profiting from its unauthorized use of the land and pipeline.

When the appellant allottees filed their motion to intervene in Jan. 2024, Tesoro opposed the landowners’ involvement, while the U.S. government indicated it was open to intervention but legal criteria did not give allottees an absolute right to it.

The North Dakota U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Tesoro in July 2024, granting a preliminary injunction to the company and denying the allottees’ motion to intervene. “Because this case involves the interpretation of federal law and touches on the Constitutional rights of the allottees, oral argument with 20 minutes for each side is appropriate,” according to the 8th Circuit appeal.