Bakken pipeline firm seeks expedited construction permit
A Texas company planning to build the Bakken oil pipeline through 18 Iowa counties is asking state utility regulators to expedite a state permit to begin construction, saying it wants to complete the project within one crop-growing season to minimize the impact on farmers.
The request drew immediate objections from the pipeline's opponents, with Adam Mason, state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, calling it an "outrageous attempt" to circumvent the rule of law and to keep Iowans in the dark.
The Iowa Utilities Board voted 3-0 last week to approve plans by Dakota Access LLC for a pipeline that would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to Patoka, Illinois.
Iowa was the last of four states to grant regulatory approval, with Iowa officials saying they would not issue a state permit until conditions were met.
They include providing liability insurance of at least $25 million; guarantees that the parent companies of Dakota Access will pay for damages created by a pipeline leak or spill; a revised agricultural impact mitigation plan; a timeline for construction notices; modified condemnation easement forms; and a statement accepting the terms and condition's of the board's order.
Dakota Access, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, told the Iowa Utilities Board this week it has fulfilled the requirements.
"Now that weather conditions would permit construction, and the adjoining states have already issued all necessary authorizations, every day the project is delayed in Iowa has a very real cost that will quickly reach the millions of dollars," Dakota Access said.
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Dakota Access also is asking the Iowa Utilities Board for confidentiality of all its liability insurance policies, totaling about $26 million.
Joey Mahmoud, senior vice president for engineering for Energy Transfer Partners, told the Iowa Utilities Board in a filing that Dakota Access is in a highly competitive industry and that such information constitutes trade secrets under Iowa law and would serve no public purpose.
A spokesman for the Iowa Utilities Board didn't immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
The Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, which has fought the pipeline project, filed documents Thursday with Iowa utility regulators opposing the Dakota Access request for expedited treatment.
"The conditions the board placed on the permit authorization were obviously important and deserve thorough scrutiny" that will take time to analyze, the Sierra Club said.
"Iowa CCI is calling on the Iowa Utilities Board to do the right thing and deny Dakota Access any expedited treatment and demand that they open all records to the public," said Mason of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. "We know the Army Corps of Engineers has yet to issue permits, and we understand several other entities must sign off as well."
Ward Lentz, regulatory bureau chief for the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told The Des Moines Register Thursday that the Corps has not approved permits for the Bakken pipeline project in Iowa. However, he added that the vast majority of the 346-mile pipeline route through Iowa does not require the Corps' approval.
"For 99 percent of the pipeline, they can go ahead and construct it," Lentz said.
Lentz said the Corps does not have a timeline for making a decision on the federal permits. He said the Corps is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state historic preservation officials and Indian tribes to address issues that include endangered species, cultural resources and historical preservation.