Dakota Access Pipeline

For the protest activity regarding the pipeline, see Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

Dakota Access Pipeline
Dakota Access Pipeline route (Standing Rock Indian Reservation is shown in orange)
Location
Country	United States
General direction	Southeastward
From	Stanley, North Dakota
Passes through	States of North Dakota (Bismarck) South Dakota (Redfield, Sioux Falls) Iowa (Sioux Center, Storm Lake, Ames, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Fort Madison Illinois (Jacksonville)
To	Patoka, Illinois (oil tank farm)
General information
Type	Crude oil
Partners	Energy Transfer Partners Sunoco Logistics Partners Phillips 66 Enbridge (agreed) Marathon Petroleum (agreed)
Operator	Dakota Access Pipeline, LLC (development phase) Sunoco Logistics Partners, L.P. (operational phase)
Construction started	2016
Expected	2017
Technical information
Length	1,134 mi (1,825 km)
Maximum discharge	0.45 million barrels per day (~2.2×10^7 t/a)
Diameter	30 in (762 mm)

The Dakota Access Pipeline or Bakken pipeline is a 1,172-mile-long (1,886 km) underground oil pipeline project in the United States. The pipeline is currently under construction by Dakota Access, LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. The minor partners involved in the project are Phillips 66, Enbridge, and Marathon Petroleum. The route begins in the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota and travels in a more or less straight line south-east, through South Dakota and Iowa, and ends at the oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois. The project was planned for delivery by January 1, 2017. On November 26, 2016, the project was reported to be 87% completed.

The $3.78 billion project was announced to the public on June 25, 2014 and informational hearings for landowners took place between August 2014 and January 2015. Dakota Access submitted its plan to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) on October 29, 2014, and applied for a permit in January 2015. The IUB was the last of the four state regulators to grant the permit in March 2016, including the use of eminent domain, after some public controversy. As of March 2016, Dakota Access had secured voluntary easements on 82 percent of Iowa land.

The pipeline has been controversial regarding its necessity, and potential impact on the environment. A number of Native Americans in Iowa and the Dakotas have opposed the pipeline, including the Meskwaki and several Sioux tribal nations. In August 2016, ReZpect Our Water, a group organized on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, brought a petition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. and the tribe sued for an injunction. A protest at the pipeline site in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation has drawn international attention. Thousands of people have been protesting the pipeline construction, with confrontations between some groups of protesters and law enforcement, along with disputes over the facts.

On December 4, 2016, under President Barack Obama's administration the Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement through Lake Oahe and will begin "undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes"

Description

The pipeline has a permanent easement of 50 feet (15 m) and a construction right-of-way of up to 150 feet (46 m) . The 30-inch (760 mm) diameter pipeline is at least 48 inches (1.2 m) underground from the top of the pipe or 2 feet (0.61 m) below any drain tiles.

The pipeline will carry 470,000 barrels per day (75,000 m³/d) of crude oil "based on contractual commitments to date". The capacity may be increased up to 570,000 barrels per day (91,000 m³/d).

The company estimated the pipeline would cost $3.78 billion, of which $1.4  billion would be invested in the North Dakota portion, $820 million in the South Dakota portion, $1.04  billion in the Iowa portion, and $516 million in the Illinois portion. Of this, $189 million would be paid to landowners. The company estimates that the pipeline would create up to 40 permanent jobs, besides to 8,200-12,000 temporary jobs.

Purpose

Bakken Oil being shipped by rail in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, a few feet from the Mississippi River.

Dakota Access, LLC's planning applications argued that the pipeline was needed to improve the overall safety to the public, would help the US to attain energy independence, and was a more reliable method of transport to refineries than rail or road. The company also estimated pipeline construction would provide 8,200-12,000 temporary jobs and 40 permanent jobs. Proponents have argued that the pipeline will free up railroads which will allow farmers to ship more Midwest grain.

Energy Transfer said it expected that the project would create between 12 and 15 permanent jobs and from 2,000 to 4,000 temporary jobs. The $1.35 billion capital investment in Iowa was projected to generate $33 million in Iowa sales tax during construction and $30 million in property tax in 2017. According to the Des Moines Register, Energy Transfer hired "Strategic Economics Group" in West Des Moines to prepare this analysis. Dave Swenson, an Iowa State University economics professor, said that "a strong fraction of work will accumulate to out-of-state employers who will bring in their skilled labor and then subcontract what they can along the way" to local concerns.

In January 2014, after recent rail derailments in Alabama, North Dakota and in Quebec, the US Department of Transportation's PHMSA issued a safety alert because the resulting fires suggested that the Bakken crude might be more flammable than other grades of oil. As of July 2014 Bakken shale oil was transported through nine Iowa counties exclusively via three freight trains per week. As of June 2014, 32 trains per week carrying Bakken oil traveled through Jo Daviess County in northwestern Illinois. At that time, 70% of Bakken oil was being transported by rail because of pipeline limitations.

Which method of transport is best is a topic of ongoing discussion. Evaluating which is best for cost of transport and human and environmental safety is difficult and involves a a variety of factors. Rail offers greater flexibility and adaptability, and has had fewer spill volume per Billion-Ton-Miles, but costs significantly more than pipeline transportation and similar to pipeline, still requires additional investment.

Ownership

Dakota Access, LLC, a fully owned subsidiary of Bakken Holdings Company, LLC which is a joint venture of Energy Transfer Partners LP (60%) and Sunoco Logistic Partners LP (40%), owns 75% of the pipeline, while Phillips 66 owns a 25% stake. Bakken Holdings Company and Phillips 66 also co-own another part of the Bakken system, the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline which runs from Patoka to storage terminals in Nederland, Texas. Energy Transfer Partners and SunocoLogistic Partners, both subsidiaries of Energy Transfer Equity LP, announced their merger in November 2016.

In August 2016, the joint venture of Enbridge (75%) and Marathon Petroleum (25%) named MarEn Bakken Company agreed to purchase a 49% stake in Dakota Access, LLC for $2 billion. It gives Enbridge and Marathon indirect stakes in the pipeline of 27.6% and 9.2% respectively. As of October 31, 2016, the deal was not completed.

Financing

The pipeline project costs $3.78 billion, of which $2.5 billion was financed by loans while the rest of the capital would be raised by the sale of a 49% stake in Dakota Access, LLC (36.8% indirect stake in the pipeline) to Enbridge and Marathon Petroleum. The loans were provided by a group of 17 banks. One activist group claimed the creditor group included Citibank, Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, SunTrust, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Mizuho Bank, TD Securities, ABN AMRO Capital, ING Bank, DNB ASA, ICBC, SMBC Nikko Securities and Société Générale.

Due to protests against the pipeline, DNB ASA, which has provided over $342 million credit to the project, announced it will use its position as a lender "to encourage a more constructive process to find solutions to the conflict that has arisen."

Route

Map of Bakken wells in the Dakotas

The pipeline route runs from the northwestern North Dakota Bakken and Three Forks sites. It starts in Stanley, North Dakota, and travels in a southeastward direction to end at the oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois. It crosses 50 counties in four states.

Dakota Access Pipeline reroute, Carl Sack.

In North Dakota, the 346-mile (557 km) route traverses seven counties. The project consists of 143 miles (230 km) of oil gathering pipelines and 200 miles (322 km) of larger transmission pipeline. The route starts with a terminal in the Stanley area, and runs west with five more terminals in Ramberg Station, Epping, Trenton, Watford City and Johnsons Corner before becoming a transmission line going through Williston, the Watford City area, south of Bismarck, and crossing the Missouri River again north of Cannon Ball. It also includes six tank farm locations, one electric pump station.

In the early stages of route planning, Dakota Access proposed laying the pipeline northeast of Bismarck. According to the North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC), the Bismarck route was 10 miles (16 km) longer and was rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers in an early environmental assessment before a request was made to the NDPSC for a permit. The route that was selected parallels the already existing Northern Border Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline built in the 1980s. The Dakota Access pipeline selected a "nearly identical route" and planned to cross the Missouri River near the same point. The plans call for the pipeline to be directionally bored so that it will not come in contact with the Missouri River. It is planned to be "as deep as 90 feet (27.4 m)" below the riverbed.

In South Dakota, the planned pipeline route travels 274 miles (441 km) through 12 counties: Campbell, McPherson, Edmunds, Faulk and Spink. The system includes one electric pump station.

Dakota Access Pipeline being built in central Iowa

In Iowa, the pipeline is projected to extend about 347 miles (558 km) diagonally through 18 Iowa counties: Lyon, Sioux, O'Brien, Cherokee, Buena Vista Sac, Calhoun, Webster, Boone, Story (which will have a pumping station), Polk, Jasper, Mahaska Keokuk, Wapello, Jefferson, Van Buren, and Lee. The system includes one electric pump station.

In Illinois, the 177-mile (285 km) route traverses 12 counties.

History

Energy Transfer Partners approved and announced the pipeline project on June 25, 2014.

On July 29, 2014, Energy Transfer Partners had sought to meet with Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) members but had not yet filed a petition for regulatory review. Dakota Access, LLC wrote to landowners in the path of the pipeline requesting visits to survey in preparation for voluntary easement. The Iowa attorney general's chief deputy said he would advise letter recipients not to sign anything before consulting an attorney, but also said that if the utility board approved, Dakota Access, LLC would have the right to use eminent domain.

Fort Laramie Treaty boundary which Dave Archambault II invoked, opposing any pipeline construction within that area.

In September 2014, the Dakota Pipeline, LLC held an initial informational meeting with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council. Prior to the presentation, Dave Archambault II indicated the tribe's opposition to any pipeline within treaty boundaries encompassing "North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota."

In October 2014, Phillips 66 acquired 25% stake in the project.

Dakota Access held informational meetings for South Dakota landowners in October 2014. In February 2016, it approved the pipeline. By March 11, 2016, Dakota Access had secured voluntary easements on 93 percent of South Dakota land.

In October 2014, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad "rejected pleas from a coalition of Iowa community and environmental activists who asked him to block plans" and on October 29, 2014 Dakota Access, LLC submitted the project to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB).

Open House meetings for landowners took place in October 2014 in Illinois. A webinar for Brown and Hancock County, Illinois took place in February 2015. Per filings before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), though Dakota Access, LLC still had no definite route and had secured voluntary easements from only nine of 908 Illinois landowners, the company requested the ICC grant it eminent domain. As of 12 March 2014, no documents had been filed with the ICC. and in February 2016, it approved the pipeline. As of February 2016, all state regulators but Iowa had approved the pipeline. In March 2016, Dakota Access said it had secured voluntary easements on 92 percent of Illinois land.

Starting on December 1, 2014, informational meetings in each of the affected counties began taking place, with an official from the IUB, one from PMHSA, and one from Dakota Access, LLC presenting information. Some 350 people showed up for the informational meeting in Fort Madison, Iowa, which "required some crowd control". More than 300 people attended Sioux Center's informational meeting. About 200 people attended in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Some attendees expressed opposition to the pipeline, and many questions remained unanswered at the meeting in Storm Lake, Iowa.

In January 2015, Dakota Access, LLC filed its pipeline application with the IUB. In February 2015, it filed applications with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for sovereign land and floodplain permits.

In April 2015, Iowa Senate Study Bill 1276 and House Study Bill 249 advanced with both Senator Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, and State Representative Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, in support; it required Energy Transfer's subsidiary Dakota Access "to obtain voluntary easements from 75 percent of property owners along the route before eminent domain could be authorized".

In May 2015, a private landowner along the path of the pipeline accused a contractor of trying to negotiate land rights for the pipeline by offering the services of a teenage prostitute in return for the landowner's cooperation.

On November 12, 2015, the Iowa Utilities Board heard public testimony during one day with more than 275 people signed up opposing the pipeline. There were 10 days scheduled for hearings by Dakota Access.

In January 2016, Dakota Access filed 23 condemnation suits in North Dakota "against 140 individuals, banks and a coal mine". As of February 2016, all state regulators but Iowa had approved the pipeline. As of March 2016, Dakota Access had secured voluntary easements on 97 percent of North Dakota land, the highest proportion of the four affected states.

In February 2016, the IUB had not made a decision after four days of hearings. Nick Wagner, one of the three members of the Iowa Utilities Board and a former Republican state legislator, was asked to recuse himself for a conflict of interest, but refused to do so.

On March 10, 2016, the IUB approved the Bakken Pipeline, on a vote of 3-0. under the following conditions: "liability insurance of at least $25 million; guarantees that the parent companies of Dakota Access, LLC will pay for damages created by a pipeline leak or spill; a revised agricultural impact mitigation plan; a timeline for construction notices; modified condemnation easement forms; and a statement accepting the terms and condition's of the board's order." One day later, the company stated it had secured voluntary easements on 82 percent of the 1,295 affected Iowa land parcels.

In March 2016, Dakota Access, LLC filed motions with the IUB requesting expedited and confidential treatment to begin construction immediately, saying it met the conditions and that its liability insurance policies were trade secrets under Iowa law and "would serve no public purpose".

In March 2016, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued a sovereign lands construction permit. In late May 2016, the permit was temporarily revoked in three counties of Iowa, where the pipeline would cross the Big Sioux River and the Big Sioux Wildlife Management Area; these are historic and cultural sites of the Upper Sioux tribe, including graves in Lyon County. In late June 2016, construction was allowed to resume in Lyon County after plans were changed to route the pipeline 85 feet (26 m) below the site using directional boring, instead of trenching and disturbing the soil on the surface.

In May 2016, Iowa farmers filed lawsuits to prevent the state from using eminent domain to take their land.

In June 2016, the IUB voted 2 - 1 (Libby Jacobs and Nick Wagner in favor and Chairwoman Geri Huser against) to allow construction on non-sovereign lands to continue. The Sierra Club said this action was illegal before the US Corps of Engineers had authorized the project.

On July 27, 2016 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the pipeline. The tribe also sought a preliminary injunction.

In August 2016, 30 demonstrators were arrested in Boone, Iowa.

On September 9, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied the motion for preliminary injunction. Later the same day, a joint statement was issued by the US Departments of Justice, Army, and Interior temporarily halting the project on federal land bordering or under the Lake Oahe reservoir. The US federal government asked the company for a "voluntary pause" on construction near that area until further study was done on the region extending 20 miles (32 km) around Lake Oahe. In closing the agency representatives said:

Finally, we fully support the rights of all Americans to assemble and speak freely. In recent days, we have seen thousands of demonstrators come together peacefully, with support from scores of sovereign tribal governments, to exercise their First Amendment rights and to voice heartfelt concerns about the environment and historic, sacred sites. It is now incumbent on all of us to develop a path forward that serves the broadest public interest".

Energy Transfer Partners rejected the request to voluntarily halt construction on all surrounding private land and resumed construction within 48 hours.

On September 13, chairman and CEO of Energy Transfer Partners Kelcy Warren responded to the federal government's request, saying concerns about the pipeline's impact on the water supply were "unfounded." Warren said that "multiple archaeological studies conducted with state historic preservation offices found no sacred items along the route". They did not indicate that they would voluntarily cease work on the pipeline. Warren wrote that the company will meet with officials in Washington "to understand their position and reiterate our commitment to bring the Dakota Access Pipeline into operation."

On October 5, federal appeals judges heard arguments over whether to stop work on the pipeline; a ruling was not expected for several weeks. At that time the Army Corps of Engineers had not yet made a final decision on whether to grant an easement to build under the Missouri River. Under questioning, a pipeline attorney said that "if the court allowed it, the company would continue building up to the lake's edge even before the easement decision, because each extra month of delay will cost the company more than million.

According to state and federal authorities, there were several cases of arson that damaged pipeline construction equipment in Iowa during 2016. One deliberately set fire caused nearly $1 million in damage to construction equipment in August in Jasper County, Iowa. Two other fires involving pipeline construction equipment were set around the same time in the same county and another was set in Mahaska County. In October, another arson fire caused $2 million worth of damage to pipeline construction equipment in Jasper County, Iowa.

Army Corps of Engineers delays decision

On November 14, the Army Corps of Engineers said it needed more time to study the impact of the plan. In a news release they said: "The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation's dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property."

Energy Transfer Partners responded by criticizing the Obama administration for "political interference" and said that "further delay in the consideration of this case would add millions of dollars more each month in costs which cannot be recovered." North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple criticized the decision saying the pipeline would be safe and that the decision was "long overdue". Craig Stevens, spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a labor group, called the Corps’s announcement "yet another attempt at death by delay" and said the Obama administration "has chosen to further fan the flames of protest by more inaction." North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said in a statement that the delay "will only prolong the disruption in the region caused by protests and make life difficult for everyone who lives and works in the area."

Speaking on the PBS Newshour on November 16, Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren responded to questions about the Tribe's two main concerns, damage to ancestral sites and the potential of water contamination if a leak occurred:

Well, first of all, I think this is well known by now. We’re not on any Indian property at all, no Native American property. We’re on private lands. That's number one. Number two, this pipeline is new steel pipe. We’re boring underneath Lake Oahe. It's going to go 90 feet to 150 feet (27.5-45.7 m) below the lake's surface. It's thick wall pipe, extra thick, by the way, more so than just the normal pipe that we lay. Also, on each side of the lake, there's automated valves that, if in the very, very unlikely situation there were to be a leak, our control room shuts down the pipe, encapsulates that small section that could be in peril. So, that's just not going to happen. Number one, we’re not going to have a leak. I can’t promise that, of course, but that — no one would get on airplanes if they thought they were going to crash. And, number two, there is no way there would be any crude contaminate their water supply. They’re 70 miles (110 km) downstream.

On December 4, the Army announced that it would not grant an easement for the pipeline to be drilled under Lake Oahe. The announcement was made by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), Jo-Ellen Darcy:

Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.

Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners issued a same-day response:

The White House’s directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency. As stated all along, ETP and SXL fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.

Federal agencies permissions

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a limited review of the route, involving an environmental assessment of river crossings and portions of the project related to specific permits, and issued a finding of no significant impact. It did not carry out an area-wide full environmental impact assessment of the entire effects of the overall project through the four states. Citing potential effects on and lack of consultation with the Native American tribes, most notably the Standing Rock Sioux, in March and April 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation asked the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a formal Environmental Impact Assessment and issue an Environmental Impact Statement. In July, however, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the water crossing permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline under a “fast track” option, and construction of the disputed section of pipeline continued. Saying "the Corps effectively wrote off the tribe’s concerns and ignored the pipeline’s impacts to sacred sites and culturally important landscapes," the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe then filed suit against the Army Corps of Engineers, accusing the agency of violating the National Historic Preservation Act and other laws. As of November 14, 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers has stated that, "construction on or under Corps land bordering Lake Oahe cannot occur because the Army has not made a final decision on whether to grant an easement".

In September the U.S Department of Justice received more than 33,000 petitions to review all permits and order a full review of the project’s environmental effects. On November 1, President Obama announced that his administration is monitoring the situation and has been in contact with the Army Corps to examine the possibility of rerouting the pipeline to avoid lands that Native Americans hold sacred.

Concerns

Environmental concerns

Cannonball River, North Dakota

Greenpeace and a group of more than 160 scientists dedicated to conservation and preservation of threatened natural resources and endangered species have spoken out against the pipeline. The Science & Environmental Health Network also rejects the pipeline. Conservation groups worry about safety, and the impacts on air, water, wildlife and farming, because, they say, "pipelines break". The Iowa Environmental Council has stated it is "concerned whether the state has enough protections — from state government oversight to ensuring the company has enough money in reserve to address any harm caused by a spill". Iowa state laws require pipeline owners to have only a $250,000 reserve fund. The Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club is "worried about the rights of landowners [...] concerned about [their] Dakota Access LLCs economic projections and whether there are really any benefits to Iowa." Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) has called the pipeline "all risk and no reward" and the $250,000 surety bond "fiscally irresponsible". It has suggested raising it to at least $1 billion, indexed to inflation, which would match Alaska's precautions of protection.

Environmentalists and Native Americans have expressed their fears that the Missouri River might become contaminated in the event of a spill or leak, jeopardizing a source of drinking and irrigation water that affect thousands of people who depend on clean water. They claim that the environmental review that has been performed to analyze the impact of the pipeline on its surroundings was incomplete, claiming that even much smaller, less risky development projects require more rigorous impact analysis than has been completed for the Dakota Access Pipeline. They accuse the US Army Corps of Engineers of hastily approving each stage of the review process and ignoring federal regulations and established treaties between Native American tribes and claim there is a lack of environmental foresight and consideration.

It remains unclear what specifically happens if the pipeline leaks, how residents would know of a leak, why the company asks for a permanent easement of farmland when oil rights can be obtained only for 25 years at a time, who the majority shareholders of Dakota Access are, where Energy Transfer's guarantee of liability for newly established Dakota Access, LLC is, and if it is required to have only a $250,000 bond in case of damages. Sunoco Logistics, the future operator of the pipeline, has spilled crude oil from its onshore pipelines more often since 2010 than any other US pipeline operator, with at least 203 leaks disclosed to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, with a total of 3406 net barrels of crude oil spilled.

Disturbance of land

Trenching to install drainage tile in Iowa during the 1980s.

Farmers are concerned about the disturbance of the land, tiling, soil erosion, and soil quality. Iowa fields contain a lot of drain tiles, which can be damaged. The pipeline company said they would repair any tile damaged during construction and place the pipeline 2 feet (.6 m) below drainage tiles. Some farmers were concerned about soil disturbance, but a Dakota Access spokesman noted that the soil had already been disturbed during the installation of drainage tile in all of the contested farms the pipeline planned to cross. Farmers are also concerned about leaks in the pipeline caused by destabilization in certain areas prone to flooding, which could cause an environmental disaster.

Eminent domain

Highway sign objecting to the pipeline in Iowa

Landowners across Iowa have expressed concern about the implications of allowing the state to use eminent domain to condemn privately-owned land, particularly agricultural land, on behalf of a company that has not demonstrated any substantial public benefit to the residents of Iowa. In March 2015, a Des Moines Register poll found that while 57% of Iowans supported the Dakota Access Pipeline, 74% were opposed to the use of eminent domain condemnation on behalf of a private corporation.

For pipelines, eminent domain is most often invoked to grant a legal "right of way" easement for a certain tract of land with a parcel owned by a private landowner(s) as is necessary for the pipeline to pass through the parcels along its route. While many people believe the invocation of "eminent domain" inherently means land is being taken away completely from landowners, landowners do retain ownership of property affected by a pipeline right of way - however, those landowners lose certain rights to the portion of their property encumbered by the easement, including the right to freely use that portion of their property. Because US law requires landowners receive "just compensation" when eminent domain is invoked, landowners whose property rights are affected by the pipeline are compensated for the long-term use of their land, and they are paid for the loss of the current crop on farmland, replacement of fences, and re-seeding of grass. When a landowner voluntarily enters an easement agreement granting a right of way for the pipeline in exchange for compensation, the easement is called a voluntary easement.

In August 2016, the pipeline's operator stated that it had already executed easement agreements with 99% of the landowners whose properties lie along the four-state route and, with regards to the landowners along the pipeline's route in Iowa, 99% had entered voluntary easements.

Tribal opposition

The Meskwaki tribe opposes the Bakken pipeline through Iowa for numerous reasons; tribal chairwoman Judith Bender told the Iowa Utilities Board that she is concerned that the Bakken pipeline could be used as a replacement if the Keystone XL pipeline is not built. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have also stated their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline on the grounds that the pipeline and its construction threatens the tribe's "way of life, [their] water, people, and land". The decision to reroute the pipeline closer to the reservation was described by Jesse Jackson and other critics as "environmental racism". According to the statement by Alvaro Pop Ac, Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, “the project was proposed and planned without any consultation with the Standing Rock Sioux or others that will be affected by this major project.” According to the U.S. Army Corps data there had been 389 meetings with more than 55 tribes, including nine meetings with The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Political ties

According to his federal disclosure forms, filed in May 2016, President-elect Donald Trump held between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Energy Transfer Partners – down from $500,000 to $1 million in 2015 – and between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66. This creates a conflict of interest when making presidential decisions affecting the pipeline project. The senior Democrat on the Public Resources Committee, Raul Grijalva, called this appearance of conflict of interest "disturbing". The Washington Post reported that Trump sold off his shares in Energy Transfer Partners in the summer of 2016.

Trump is also indirectly linked to the project because Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren contributed $103,000 to the Trump campaign. Trump has said that he supports the completion of the pipeline project. According to his transition team this position "has nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans."

In 2013, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad held a campaign fundraiser in Houston. He has subsequently said that he was unaware of Energy Transfer Partners pipeline proposal. Texas governor Rick Perry, who is a close friend of Branstad and who has helped him draw donors, is on ETP's board of directors. A former Branstad re-election campaign staffer, Susan Fenton, who is now the director of government affairs with the Des Moines public relations firm LS2, is handling public relations for Energy Transfer.

Protests

Standing Rock solidarity march in San Francisco, November 2016.

Main article: Dakota Access Pipeline protests

Many Sioux tribes say that the pipeline threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance. Protests at pipeline construction sites in North Dakota began in the spring of 2016 and drew indigenous people, calling themselves water protectors and land defenders, from throughout North America as well as many other supporters, creating the largest gathering of Native Americans in the past hundred years.

In April 2016, a Standing Rock Sioux elder established a camp near the Missouri River at the site of Sacred Stone Camp, located within the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, as a center for cultural preservation and spiritual resistance to the pipeline, and over the summer the camp grew to thousands of people. In July, ReZpect Our Water, a group of Native American youth, ran from Standing Rock in North Dakota to Washington, DC to raise awareness of what they perceive as a threat to their people's drinking water and that of everyone who relies on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers for drinking water and irrigation.

While the protests have drawn international attention and have been said to be "reshaping the national conversation for any environmental project that would cross the Native American land", there was limited mainstream media coverage of the events in the United States until early September. At that time, construction workers bulldozed a section of land that tribal historic preservation officers had documented as a historic, sacred site, and when protesters entered the area security workers used attack dogs, which bit at least five of the protesters. The incident was filmed and viewed by several million people on YouTube and other social media. In late October, armed soldiers and police with riot gear and military equipment cleared an encampment that was directly in the proposed pipeline's path.

On November 15, protesters in Chicago, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Denver, and other cities held protests against the pipeline in a coordinated protest which organizers called a "National Day of Action." As of December 2016, the protest at Sacred Stone Camp is ongoing.

See also

• List of natural gas pipelines in North America
• List of oil pipelines in North America
• List of oil refineries in North America
• Pipeline transport

External links

• Dakota Access Pipeline - Official Website - Energy Transfer
• Dakota Access Pipeline - Project Maps - Energy Transfer
• Frequently Asked Questions DAPL US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Division
• SRS Tribal Council Meeting (Sept. 2014) audio. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe meeting with DAPL representatives
• Combined application of Dakota Access LLC for a Waiver or Reduction of Procedures and Time Schedules and for a Corridor Certificate and Route Permit Dakota Access, LLC (Dec. 2014)
• Map of Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines in the United States (Sept. 2015) - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
• Memorandum Opinion of "Standing Rock Sioux Tribe vs U.S. Army Corp of Engineers" (Sept. 2016) - United States District Court
• Environmental assessment: Dakota Access Pipeline Project, crossings of flowage easements and federal lands Dakota Access, LLC; US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Division