Iowa Utilities Board Enters 4th Day On Bakken Pipeline
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa utilities regulators are meeting for the fourth day to consider whether to allow a Texas company to bury 346 miles of crude oil pipe under Iowa farmland and whether to give the company authority to force unwilling landowners to sign easements using eminent domain laws.
The three-member Iowa Utilities Board is considering a hazardous pipeline permit for Texas-based Dakota Access to build the so-called Bakken pipeline. The 2½-foot diameter pipe would carry a half-million barrels of oil per day from North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois.
Environmental and property rights groups oppose it. Owners of 296 land parcels refusing to sign easements could sue to challenge the use of eminent domain.
Pipeline advocates say it's the safest way to transport oil, and it will create jobs.
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