Post by Logan on May 14, 2016 3:48:58 GMT -6
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has asked Iowa utility regulators to block plans by a Texas-based company to start construction next week on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa.
Dakota Access LLC, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, asked the Iowa Utilities Board this week to permit construction to begin next Tuesday on the vast majority of the project to allow time for the pipeline to be completed this year. The company said it proposes to construct the project "at its own risk," except in areas where pre-construction notification is required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The state board has given other parties until Monday to file comments.
The Standing Rock Sioux in a brief filed with Iowa regulators Thursday said while it is not a party to the Iowa proceedings, it is significantly affected by the pipeline and the company's plans for Iowa construction.
"Specifically, the pipeline is currently facing regulatory delays and potential legal challenges in numerous areas along its nearly 1,200-mile length," the tribe said. "Individually and collectively, these challenges raise the question of whether the current proposed route, and even the pipeline itself, remain viable. Starting construction in the face of this uncertainty would be harmful to landowners, who could be hosts to a segmented and unfinished pipeline or an unnecessarily prolonged period of construction, as well as the Tribe."
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/12/sioux-tribe-trying-block-iowa-pipeline-construction/84273608/
Dakota Access LLC, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, asked the Iowa Utilities Board this week to permit construction to begin next Tuesday on the vast majority of the project to allow time for the pipeline to be completed this year. The company said it proposes to construct the project "at its own risk," except in areas where pre-construction notification is required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The state board has given other parties until Monday to file comments.
The Standing Rock Sioux in a brief filed with Iowa regulators Thursday said while it is not a party to the Iowa proceedings, it is significantly affected by the pipeline and the company's plans for Iowa construction.
"Specifically, the pipeline is currently facing regulatory delays and potential legal challenges in numerous areas along its nearly 1,200-mile length," the tribe said. "Individually and collectively, these challenges raise the question of whether the current proposed route, and even the pipeline itself, remain viable. Starting construction in the face of this uncertainty would be harmful to landowners, who could be hosts to a segmented and unfinished pipeline or an unnecessarily prolonged period of construction, as well as the Tribe."
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/12/sioux-tribe-trying-block-iowa-pipeline-construction/84273608/