The following letter to the editor was written by Jonas Magram of Fairfield, Iowa. Jonas is a member of Fairfield’s No Bakken Here group and the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition’s steering committee.
I am writing to urge local landowners, across whose properties the proposed Bakken Pipeline would run, to resist Dakota Access LLC’s pressure to sell access to their farms.
First and foremost, despite rumors to the contrary, there is absolutely no certainty that the Iowa Utility Board will grant the Dakota Access the power of eminent domain. Many groups across Iowa, including landowners who have organized against the pipeline, are preparing to vigorously challenge the Company’s application for eminent domain at the Utility Board’s hearings later this year.
Second, assuming for the moment that the IUB eventually grants the power of eminent domain, it is quite possible that landowners who wait to sell access rights will get more for their land, not less, as Company salesmen would have them believe. In fact, farmers who withhold their agreement will have their properties valued by a commission comprised of their neighbors, who would place the highest possible fair market value on affected properties.
Third, the Bakken Pipeline will not guarantee any relief for farmers seeking rail access for their harvests, as pipeline salesmen have implied. In its public meetings at the end of last year, Company salesmen admitted that they have absolutely no control over how much oil is transported by rail, nor could they give any assurances that the pipeline would result in greater access for grain shipments. Given the history of the industry, it is much more likely that the pipeline would simply facilitate the extraction of an additional 500,000-plus barrels per day of toxic, fracked crude oil and leave farmers without relief.
Fourth, the presence of the pipeline on a farm will almost certainly reduce the value of not just the affected acreage, but of the entire farm. The paltry amount being offered to landowners now could easily be wiped-out by the drop of property values the pipeline’s presence would cause.
Fifth, if built, the Bakken Pipeline, like all oil pipelines, will eventually break, causing incalculable and long-term damage to soil and water. Let me say that again. The Bakken Pipeline, if built, definitely will break. The only questions are exactly where and exactly when these breaks will occur. Anecdotal reports by individuals, that a particular gas pipeline on a particular property has never leaked, are completely irrelevant. Liquid pipelines like the proposed Bakken are subject to corrosion and high-pressure that eventually causes them to break. In fact, the particular type of crude oil the proposed pipeline would carry is far more corrosive and explosive even than conventional crude. Just google “oil pipeline leaks.”
Similarly, claims related to jobs creation and our Country’s energy independence are just more examples of misleading talk and overstated benefits. Iowans in general and farmers in particular are too smart to fall for these kinds of self-serving, slick-sales tactics. Please, join with other Iowa landowners, and just say “no” to exploitation, and “yes” to preserving your rights and the value and sanctity of your land.
Respectfully,
Jonas Magram