Public DNR Dakota Access permit meeting brings vocal detractors

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Dec. 16 public comments session at the Wallace Building near the State Capitol in Des Moines was — at the very least — lively.

The agency will use meeting testimony to determine if Dakota Access, LLC should be allowed to bore under three Iowa rivers and trench 3.52 acres of a public wildlife area to complete a proposed crude oil pipeline slated to cross 18 Iowa counties.

Unlike the Iowa Utilities Board public comments session Nov. 12 at the Boone County Fairgrounds, chanting and heckling from detractors was a presence Dec. 16. The IDNR meeting saw a group of pipeline opponents who were defiant of meeting rules.

This appeared to be due to the format. Two tables were set up on either side of the room where people were asked to give their statement to two IDNR representatives with a hand-held voice recorder. This differed from the IUB meeting where each commenter addressed the panel through a microphone, one at a time. Many detractors ignored the format, stood and yelled their statements to address the auditorium.

Jonas Magram of Fairfield was one of the first to comment on behalf of the No Bakken Resistance Coalition — a conglomerate of 27 environmental and community activist organizations. He criticized the IDNR for the hearing format and urged the agency to deny Dakota access permit.

“The DNR cannot even prevent their roof from leaking over here,” Magram said following a chant of ‘let him speak’ from protesters. “This pipeline represents an unacceptable threat to Iowa’s natural resources, and the DNR must — in exercising its sacred duty to the people and resources of Iowa — reject this permit clearly and unequivocally.”

At one point, a pipeline opponent with 1,000 Friends of Iowa yelled in the hall that she wasn’t being allowed to speak as she grabbed the recorder from an IDNR representatives hands. The rep was visibly shaken, got up and left the room.

Energy Transfer Partners — the parent company of Dakota Access— has been pushing the development of the Bakken oil pipeline — stretching from North Dakota to a hub Patoka, Ill. and gulf coast refineries— for the last year. The pipeline would carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the state. ETP is hoping to lay 343.43 miles of underground pipe in Iowa, with 33.73 miles in rural areas of Jasper County from Mingo through rural Reasnor.

But supporters of the pipeline, including labor union members and project contractors, defended the proceedings. Ryan Hollinrake of Ellston, training engineer for Operating Engineers Local 234, defended Dakota Access’ environmental standards and addressed detractors behavior at Wednesday’s meeting.

“I’m also appalled by some of the antics and disrespect is being showed to the Department of Natural Resources this evening,” he said. “You need to respect their agenda, the way they’re doing things and structuring this comment session. I have the utmost respect for the DNR. I’m not going to to pander to a small group of constituents in the audience with applause catchy chants, hoopla and heavy or antics that can resemble a high school pep rally.”

But not all pipeline opponents used distracting methods to get their point across. Bonnie Pitts is Co-President of the Iowa League of Women Voters and a Jasper County resident. She sat at the table to record her statement behalf of the League — which also opposed development of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“An oil spill at the crossing north of Boone, proposed by Dakota Access, could have dire consequences for the water supply for Boone and Des Moines,” she said. “It also would impact small towns and rural users — all or portions of 11 counties and 14 communities.”

Many agricultural landowners have come out against the pipeline since it was initially proposed in early 2014, but Kellogg resident and Iowa State Grange President Dwight Baldwin told the Newton Daily News after his testimony Wednesday he feels Dakota Access is sincere about environmental protection.

“If eminent domain comes in to play, it needs to be done in a fair way,” he said. “One thing about this project — it isn’t taking the land from the producer. It’s going to be a disruption for maybe the first or second year, but there’s thousands of miles of pipeline that run underground in the state right now. There’s been very few leaks to my knowledge.”

Iowa Code gives the IDNR authority regulate and secure permits to construct private projects on public land. The agency has to asses the pipeline’s impact on animal and plant life, habitat and threatened or endangered spices.

In a presentation prior to public comments, IDNR Sovereign Lands Coordinator Seth Moore gave an overview how the three pipeline river crossings would be constructed. If the permit is granted, Dakota Access contractors plan to use horizontal directional drilling to bore beneath the rivers — 59 feet below the Big Sioux River, 58 feet below the Des Moines River in Boone County and 72 feet below the Mississippi.

Moore said entry and exit points for the boring will be located on private lands and all entry points will start from 750 to 800 feet from the river banks.

Construction would also affect 3.52 acres of the Big Sioux River Wildlife Management Area Nelson Track in Lyon County, proposing a 1,500 open-cut trench. The wildlife area is a total of 1,113 acres of timber and upland separated into four sections. Moore said the trench would be 8 feet deep with at least 3 feet of fill over the pipe. IDNR documents state the trench would be 12 inches wider than the pipe’s width.

Additional comments can still be made in the permit process until 5 p.m. Jan. 5, 2016 by email at SLER@dnr.iowa.gov; or by sending written comments to: Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Sovereign Lands Construction Permit Program, 502 E. Ninth St. Des Moines, IA 50319. A date has not been announced for the IDNR's decision and the IUB is could release its decision on granting Dakota Access eminent domain privileges and the right to construct in Iowa by February 2016.

Wednesday’s hearing comes on the heals of a decision by the Illinois Commerce Commission to approve Dakota Access construction permits in that state. Illinois becomes the second state behind South Dakota — which public utilities commission approved the pipeline permits in November — to give go ahead for the project.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com