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WHO PROPOSED IT?

  • Proposed by Dakota Access, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners. ETP is based in Houston, Texas, and owns and operates pipelines across the country. Phillips 66 has joined with ETP to finance the project. The company owns and operates many refineries on the Gulf Coast.
  • LS2 group is handling public relations for the project. Some of their employees have ties to Governor Branstad. Other out of state firms are helping ETP survey and assess land.

WHAT IS THE PROJECT?

  • “Dakota Access Pipeline Project” will transport North Dakota crude oil from the Bakken oil reserves to Patoka, Illinois. This in turn gives access to East coast markets by rail, or to pipelines which would carry Bakken crude to the Gulf Coast for refinement and export.
  • The pipeline is 1,134 miles long, 30 inch in diameter, 24 to 48 inches underground, and will transport up to 570,000 barrels daily.
  • Bakken crude is currently transported through nine Iowa counties via three freight trains per week. There is no guarantee that rail transport will stop. In fact, national business reports predict rail to be the future of Bakken crude because of the flexibility rail offers.
  • Bakken crude is more flammable because of a lower flash point to ignition. It poses a significant fire risk.
  • A 150 foot construction right of way and a permanent 50 foot easement is needed for the pipeline. No buildings or trees are permitted on the 50 foot easement.

WHEN WOULD IT BE BUILT?

  • The project surfaced in July of 2014.
  • The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) hosted public informational meetings in the 18 counties in December 2014. ETP filed for a permit with the IUB in January 2015. ETP hopes to be operational by the end of 2016.

WHERE WOULD IT BE BUILT AND WHO WOULD BE IMPACTED?

  • Iowa counties impacted: Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Sac, Calhoun, Webster, Boone, Story, Polk, Jasper, Mahaska, Keokuk, Wapello, Jefferson, Van Buren, and Lee.
  • Landowners in the path of the pipeline must comply with ETP or risk eminent domain.
  • The pipeline will cross all major watersheds in Iowa, including many of those with already impaired waterways.
  • Constructing this pipeline in Iowa endorses the environmental destruction at the Bakken shale extraction sites, which impact the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
  • The pipeline reinforces continued reliance on a fossil fuel economy that has overwhelmingly contributed to global climate change and the associated impacts on people across the globe.

WHY IS THIS BAD FOR IOWANS?

  • Landowners are not obligated to allow the survey of their land, but non-compliant landowners can have their property rights seized through eminent domain. Additionally, ETP has used coercion and misinformation to pressure landowners into signing easements.
  • Job creation and economic benefits are minimal: 8,000 construction jobs, with minimal guarantees for Iowa workers. Only a dozen permanent jobs in Iowa, so Iowa will bear the burden for the profits of a Texas oil corporation.
  • Oil will likely be transported to the Gulf Coast and exported. This is not about energy independence.
  • Spills and leaks from the pipeline would impact all Iowans, threatening wildlife, water quality, and land integrity. Iowa Code section 479B.13 currently requires pipeline operators to provide a surety bond of only $250,000, or have property in Iowa worth only $250,000, to provide financial protection for the state. Clean-up efforts at other crude oil pipeline spills have cost far more: Mayflower, Arkansas (2013): $70+ million; Yellowstone River, Montana (2011): $135+ million; Kalamazoo River, Michigan (2010): $1.2 billion.

PROCESS BEFORE CONSTRUCTION

  • ETP has filed petition with the Iowa Utilities Board for regulatory review.
  • The project needs approval from Iowa Utilities Board and the Iowa DNR. Members of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) are appointed by the Governor. They are: Geri Huser (Chair), Nick Wagner, and Elizabeth Jacobs. After regulatory review from the IUB, there will be an open public hearing, likely in Boone County.
  • Any party can testify at the public hearing, or file for judicial review in District Court.
  • If approved by state officials, ETP will have the right to seize land via eminent domain.
  • Permits are necessary for each road crossed. If a county road is crossed, the county must also get involved. Additional permits are required through Iowa DNR and the US Army Corps of Engineers in Rock Island.
  • Resistance to date: More than 2,300 petition signatures were presented to Governor Branstad in October 2014 with the demand that he block the project. The Coalition’s action teams are coordinating strategy. Objections are currently being filed by citizens statewide. County meetings and collaboration with regional groups are underway. Legislation to restrict eminent domain has been proposed to both the IA House and Senate.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

  • Submit an objection to the Iowa Utilities Board. Information on how to do this can be found at
  • Write to Governor Branstad, legislators, and County Board of Supervisors letting them know why we must stop stop this pipeline and how it impacts all Iowans. Ask your state senator and representative to support legislation to restrict eminent domain and raise the liability for such projects.
  • Circulate our petition in your neighborhood to help spread the word to neighbors and friends:
  • Share you objections to the pipeline as a letter to the editor in your local newspaper.
  • Visit nobakken.com to sign-up for updates and find more information.

RESOURCES

  • This Is Our Country: Living with the Wild West Oil Boom (short 30 min film from Dakota Resource Council)
  • “Downside of the Boom” by Deborah Sontag and Robert Gebeloff. New York Times. 11/23/14,