FARGO, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – North Dakota East Central District Judge Stephannie Stiel today dissolved a temporary restraining order placed upon Spiritwood Energy Park Association, LLC (SEPA) in August in connection with a lawsuit filed against the organization by North Dakota Soybean Processors, LLC (NDSP). In a decision from the bench, Judge Stiel found that NDSP had failed to meet the legal and factual standards required to keep the TRO in place. The ruling came at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing in which both parties presented arguments to the Court.

“We very much appreciate the Court’s ruling today as both a matter of law and as a matter of common sense,” said Connie Ova, SEPA’s Chief Operations Officer. “Our goal remains unchanged: to build and to bring to life North Dakota’s first soybean processing facility that will create new jobs and new economic opportunities for North Dakota farmers.”

Judge Stiel’s ruling today affirms SEPA’s decision to terminate its preliminary agreement with NDSP and to continue its efforts to seek a new construction partner for what would be North Dakota’s first soybean processing facility.

Ova continued: “Our sole purpose is to create jobs and economic activity for Jamestown, for Stutsman County and the surrounding area, and for North Dakota. We have no interest in defending unfounded lawsuits when our time and resources could be better spent creating jobs for our residents and markets for our farmers. This ruling lets us achieve those goals.”