Northwest Iowa — A group that has made several unsuccessful efforts to stop construction of the Bakken Pipeline, the pipeline that will move crude oil from the North Dakota oil fields to Illinois, passing through parts of Lyon, Sioux and O’Brien counties, has decided to try a different tactic in their quest to block the pipeline’s construction.
A spokesman for the group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement says they plan to use Civil Disobedience to continue trying to block the construction of the Bakken oil pipeline. I-C-C-I state policy director, Adam Mason, says the protest Wednesday could include members being arrested.
The Iowa Utilities Board awarded the permit for the pipeline construction to Dakota Access after several meetings and hearings on the issue. And the I-U-B denied a request from 15 landowners last Thursday to stay construction until a lawsuit is decided over the use of eminent domain on the project. Mason says members are prepared to be arrested if necessary, a step he says is unusual.
He says the group feels this is something they have to do after not having success in stopping the pipeline in other ways.
I-C-C-I will hold a training session for volunteers Wednesday morning near Pilot Mound in Boone County before the protest in the afternoon.
He says he hopes the protest will cause more people to join them in speaking out against the pipeline.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad was asked if the Iowa State Patrol will be available to react to the protest.
He was also asked if he would call up the Iowa National Guard to deal with the protest.
The Bakken pipeline is cutting across 18 Iowa counties from the northwest corner to the southeast, including Lyon, Sioux and O’Brien.
