IUB Meets On Pipeline Status

At today’s Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) meeting the Board Members received an update on the progress of permitting for the Dakota Access Pipeline. What remains for the Board to decide is whether or not construction can begin in areas that are under Board jurisdiction even if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not issued a permit for their areas of jurisdiction.

According to coverage in the Des Moines Register, “The state board didn’t set a date to make a decision, but it could meet as soon as Friday to issue an order to approve or deny the Dakota Access request.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is still conducting reviews for federal permits on waterway crossings along the 346-miles of the pipeline route that runs through Iowa, but the federal permit areas only account for 2.5 percent of the entire Iowa portion of the route.

It’s imperative that the Board makes this decision to allow construction to begin where the corps does not have jurisdiction, as they already ruled that the project would move forward in Iowa. As we continue to move later into the calendar year, we risk construction delays that could push construction up against the winter season and the first frost. That would make separation of soil much more difficult, a key point of contention during the review process. We urge the IUB to allow Dakota Access to begin construction on private lands so that this pipeline project will not adversely affect our agricultural communities for an extended period of time.