Statewide Iowa — The Dakota Access Pipeline, the underground pipeline that carries crude oil from the Bakken oilfields in North Dakota 350 miles diagonally across Iowa to Illinois, has received a reprieve.
Last month a federal judge gave the pipeline’s owners, Energy Transfer Partners, orders to shut down the pipeline by August 5th. The company said it would take 90-days to shut down and drain the pipeline.
On the day that the federal judge had set for the pipeline to be shut down, a federal appeals court issued an order allowing the company to keep pumping oil through the pipeline. At the same time, the court tore up the agreement that allowed the pipeline to pass beneath Lake Oahe, which means, technically, that the pipeline is being operated illegally. Now it’s up to the Army Corps of Engineers to decide whether to shut down the pipeline, with the case probably going back to court again.
But for now, the oil will keep flowing under the feet of some folks in Lyon, Sioux and O’Brien Counties here in northwest Iowa.
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Original post 12:35pm, July 9, 2020
Statewide Iowa — The company that runs the Dakota Access oil pipeline is appealing a federal judge’s order that the pipeline be shut down.
On Monday, the judge gave Energy Transfer Partners 30 days to shut down the pipeline that carries North Dakota oil. The pipeline runs 350 miles through Iowa on its way to Illinois. Yesterday, the company said the pipeline can’t be shut down and drained by August 5th, that the process will take 90 days. The company argued a shut down will have serious consequences on a large number of “innocent actors” and it’s seeking a delay of the shut down order until the appeal is decided.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has sued to get the pipeline’s federal permit rescinded. The federal judge on the case ruled the shutdown was needed, so an environmental review of a section of the pipeline could be conducted. The pipeline has been operating since June of 2017.
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Original story posted 9:23 am, 7/7/2020
Statewide Iowa — A federal judge has ordered the Dakota Access oil pipeline that runs through Iowa to shut down until an environmental review is completed.
The pipeline carries oil from North Dakota to Illinois. It runs 350 miles through 18 Iowa counties, entering the state in northwest Iowa’s Lyon County and exits from Lee County in the southeast. Oil began pumping through the pipeline more than three years ago. The company that runs the pipeline is seeking permits to double its capacity.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s lawsuit asks the court to throw out the federal permit for the pipeline. In 2016, the Sierra Club and more than a dozen Iowans who owned land along the pipeline’s route unsuccessfully sued in state court to try to block operation of the pipeline.
