Last week, Chris Jundt, president of Envision Natural Resources, Inc., published an opinion piece in the Dickinson Press emphasizing the importance of the Dakota Access Pipeline and urging the North Dakota Public Service Commission to take the necessary steps to approve the project. “I urge the PSC to get through the approval process like Illinois and South Dakota have so the hundreds of workers who will build this pipeline can roll up their sleeves and get to work.” Jundt said.
Jundt, who has been involved in the pipeline business for more than 33 years, goes on to commend Dakota Access for its demonstrated commitment to landowners and communities along the pipeline’s route. “Ensuring that landowner concerns are respected has been embedded in the operating principles of Dakota Access from the outset, and continue to drive easement negotiations today, Jundt wrote adding that, “The company’s pipeline constructors will work extensively to ensure minimal impacts to the land by isolating fueling equipment or storing the fuels outside sensitive environmental areas to avoid spills, working with low weight-bearing equipment and separating the top soil from the subsoil to protect the land — our most precious resource.”
Furthermore, Jundt highlights millions of dollars in increased tax revenues the project will bring to North Dakota, saying that, “Dakota Access will pay an estimated $32.9 million in sales tax revenue to North Dakota during construction. Once operational, the pipeline will make an annual property tax payment to the traversed North Dakota counties each year in service. The estimated property tax to be paid in North Dakota in its first year in operation is $13.1 million.”
The Dakota Access Pipeline project has already received approval in both South Dakota and Illinois, it is time for Iowa and North Dakota to follow suit and issue the necessary permits for this important infrastructure project.