Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition calls on Iowa Utilities Board to halt Bakken pipeline permitting process until application is complete:
Iowa Utilities Board Utilities Regulation Engineer, Jeffrey O’Neal, has filed a 14 page letter detailing deficiencies in the engineered design of the proposed Bakken Pipeline, outlined in Dakota Access LLC’s petition for a permit to construct the pipeline.
Opponents of the Bakken Pipeline say Mr. O’Neal’s letter is further evidence that Energy Transfer Partner’s proposal is a terrible idea for Iowa.
Complaints outlined in Mr. O’Neal’s letter include misidentification of the Big Sioux Wildlife Management Area on route maps, misrepresentation of route location, mixing of cardinal directions, failure to account for a recently constructed road, and more (letter attached).
“On the heals of Mr. O’Neal’s letter detailing over 90 deficiencies in Energy Transfer Partner’s proposal, another Energy Transfer Partners pipeline exploded near Cuero, Texas just last weekend. These and other deficiencies further call into question Energy Transfer Partners’ ability to protect Iowa’s communities, natural resources, and agricultural heritage. -Jonas Magram, Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition
Although the Iowa Utilities Board has recently released a tentative timeline for the proposed pipeline’s permitting procedures, the project’s future is uncertain. Each of the 90-plus deficiencies identified by Mr. O’Neal must be addressed in order for the IUB’s processing of the pipeline permit petition to continue.
Energy Transfer Partners’ faulty petition to the IUB, coupled with its recent pipeline rupture in Texas, calls into question the IUB’s announced timeline for permitting procedures. Wally Taylor of the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition outlines these concerns:
“We are concerned that the IUB is not following the intent of its own rule that prohibits scheduling a hearing before the pipeline company’s application is complete. It appears that the IUB is rushing the process in order to accommodate Dakota Access’ self-imposed timeline for construction of the pipeline. The IUB should be serving the public interest, not the interest of Energy Transfer Partners/ Dakota Access.”
This post is posted by Kate McCoshen, Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition Communications Intern.