Bakken gets another Iowa green light

State utility regulators said Friday that construction can begin on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa as soon as federal permits are obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and two other plans are filed.

But it doesn't appear that construction of the underground pipeline will begin in Iowa until at least June. Ward Lentz, regulatory bureau chief for the Rock Island District of the Corps, told The Des Moines Register that federal agencies are conducting reviews of the project and there is significant work to accomplish.

"It is probably safe to say that we are probably a couple of months out" before federal permits are approved for the Iowa section of the pipeline project, Lentz said.

The Iowa Utilities Board voted 3-0 on Friday to issue an order declaring that Dakota Access LLC has substantially complied with conditions established last month when the state panel approved the pipeline project. But construction can't begin until federal permits are obtained from the Corps, said Don Tormey, a board spokesman. In addition, Dakota Access must file a stormwater pollution prevention plan and an "unanticipated discovery" plan, he said.

The board agreed that Dakota Access can continue placing stakes along the 346-mile pipeline route in Iowa, and clear trees and shrubs with hand-held tools. But Dakota Access must receive permission from landowners where there is a voluntary easement, and the company must also give advance notice to landowners and county inspectors about the timing and location of the work.

Dakota Access, a unit of Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas,  has  received state regulatory approval in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois for a 1,168-mile pipeline that will transport up to 570,000 barrels of oil daily from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch to a distribution hub at Patoka, Ill. Groups representing business and labor unions in Iowa have recently complained that Iowa utility regulators weren't moving fast enough to allow the pipeline to be built in one construction season in Iowa.

Dakota Access issued a statement Friday night that said the company is preparing to begin construction of the pipeline in all four states and it has started construction on tank farms in North Dakota.

As of Friday, Dakota Access said it has secured voluntary easement agreements on 93 percent of the properties across the four-state route, with 99 percent in North Dakota, 97 percent in South Dakota, 85 percent in Iowa and 96 percent in Illinois. "Dakota Access will continue to work with landowners to negotiate voluntary easement agreements as construction begins," the company said.

The Corps of Engineers is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state historic preservation officials and Indian tribes to address issues that include endangered species, environmental issues, cultural resources and historical preservation, Lentz said.  But he said the vast majority of the pipeline route through Iowa does not require the Corps' approval.

Lentz said a biological assessment was submitted last week to the Fish and Wildlife Service and Indian tribes must still conduct surveys of certain sites in cooperation with Dakota Access. But a consultation has been completed with state historic preservation officials in Iowa, he added.

The pipeline project, which is expected to take about nine months, has an estimated total cost of $3.78 billion in four states. An army of 2,000 to 4,000 union workers is expected to be hired to build the Iowa section of the pipeline, which has an estimated cost of $1 billion.

Iowa business interests see the pipeline as contributing to the nation’s energy security and a robust state economy. They also say it will free up railroads now used to transport crude oil so they can more expeditiously haul shipments of Midwest grain. In addition, they say it is safer to transport oil through pipelines instead of using railroad tank cars.

Ryan Hollinrake, coordinator for apprenticeship and training for Operating Engineers Local 234 in Des Moines, said Friday that about 400 heavy equipment operators are expected to be employed on the Iowa pipeline project and that they are anxious to start work. "We also don't want this project to be impacting farmers" over two crop-growing seasons, he said.

The pipeline project has been opposed in Iowa by environmental and community activists, farmers, American Indians and others. Opponents believe it’s inevitable that oil spills will occur, and they say a major spill in Iowa could damage farmland for generations, cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage and pollute Iowa’s waterways. They also say the pipeline could harm wildlife and sensitive natural areas in its path.

Adam Mason, state policy organizing director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said the battle over the Bakken pipeline is far from over. "We will be pressuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service to take a holistic view of this pipeline and to do an environmental impact statement of the entire project," which isn't the case now, he said.

Wallace Taylor, a lawyer for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, said Friday his organization is considering a legal challenge to the Iowa Utilities Board's approval of the pipeline project. In addition, lawsuits are expected from farmers opposed to the board's decision, which grants Dakota Access the right of eminent domain to take private land in exchange for fair market compensation.

Indian tribes in South Dakota and North Dakota have been protesting the Bakken pipeline project, raising environmental issues and cultural concerns. Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation  all sent letters to the Corps in March, urging an expanded review of the project's impacts, particularly affecting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

Eileen Williamson, a Corps of Engineers spokeswoman in Omaha, said Friday that all comments received by the Corps are considered before making a decision, and that responses are being developed to letters from the EPA and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.  She said the Corps is aware of the pipeline company's schedule, but the Corps has jurisdiction over a small portion of the pipeline, and must comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations before reaching a decision.

Pipeline critics have noted that TransCanada Corp. has confirmed that a leak occurred  last weekend on its Keystone crude oil pipeline in Hutchinson County, S.D. The company has estimated about 16,800 gallons of oil leaked into a field. TransCanada originally reported fewer than 200 gallons were spilled.