Fallon pipeline walk to arrive in Newton

Former Iowa lawmaker Ed Fallon is walking along the length of the proposed Bakken Oil Pipeline, discussing the pipeline with local communities as he travels. He will stop in Newton for a Saturday morning Jasper County public meeting from 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday at Uncle Nancy’s Coffee House on the square. Both landowners and the general public are welcome to attend.

During the first week of his 400-mile walk through Iowa, Fallon covered 91.4 miles, averaging about 15-16 miles per day. Because he wants to be able to spend more time talking with landowners along the pipeline route, Fallon announced earlier this week that he has decided to cut back to about 10 miles per day.

“Even at three miles per hour, I feel rushed,” wrote Fallon. “I realized during Saturday’s walk from Bladensburg to Hedrick that I was moving too fast, that I needed to slow down. Even if it means extending the walk another two weeks, the decision to walk shorter distances will give me an additional 2-3 hours of potentially quality conversation time with landowners along the route.”

Fallon also said, “Now that I’ve walked through four counties and talked with dozens of landowners, I feel it would be helpful to carry with me a letter laying out my concerns and the concerns of others I have met along the way. I want something I can give to people I meet, or at least leave at their doors if they aren’t home.”

A copy of that letter is available fallonforum.com/letter-to-landowners on Fallon’s website.

Fallon began his walk on March 2 from near Montrose. The latest Iowa Pipeline Fallon served in the Iowa House for 14 years before running for governor (2006) and U.S. Congress (2008). Since 2009, he has hosted the Fallon Forum, a talk show available online and on three Iowa radio stations.