Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Utilities Board will hear arguments Thursday at 10 a.m. on a request by some landowners to stop the construction of the Bakken oil pipeline until a lawsuit on the use of eminent domain is completed. The pipeline is being installed in northwest Iowa’s Lyon, Sioux, and O’Brien counties, on its way to a connection in Illinois.
A Polk County District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday filed by 14 landowners who sought to stop the construction on the pipeline — saying the landowners must first ask the Iowa Utilities Board to stop the work. The landowners then filed an emergency motion with the I-U-B, and the board will hear oral arguments in the case Thursday.
The I-U-B says there is a possibility that the next phase of pipeline construction could begin to affect at least some of the properties before it can take final action on the motion. So, the board is temporarily prohibiting Dakota Access from any construction or pipeline-related activities on the properties in the emergency motion until Monday at 9 a.m.
