Construction has begun on one of two major natural gas pipelines in Virginia and state and local officials have already reported spending almost $126,000 responding to protests aimed at halting work. Unlike the state, officials there are evaluating whether they will seek reimbursement, according to The Roanoke Times. In either case, it’s not clear that local officials actually have an obligation to respond to the protests in the first place. Some pipeline construction is on federal land, such as the domain of the U.S. Forest Service, which has its own law enforcement arm. But he said while the federal government has no power to require local agencies to enforce federal law, grant funding is often used as leverage.