Pipeline opponents upset by eminent domain meet in Newton

About 30 landowners and opponents of a 1,164-mile, $3.4 billion crude oil pipeline, which recently completed construction across 18 Iowa counties, met at the Newton Public Library on Saturday to discuss eminent domain and a Dec. 15 court hearing challenging its use to obtain land for the Dakota Access, LLC project.

The meeting was organized by Bold Iowa, one of the lead opposition groups to the Dakota Access Pipeline in the state.

Bold Iowa representatives served warm homemade pie while reviewing a history of the project, including opponents’ concerns with Dakota Access’ use of non-Iowa construction labor, challenging the company’s economic claims and use of eminent domain.

The Newton meeting was the second of three stops for Bold Iowa — with two other meetings held Saturday in Storm Lake and Grinnell — as the group tries to gather pipeline opponents to attend an upcoming court hearing in Des Moines in which 13 Iowa landowners and the Sierra Club are challenging the Iowa Utilities Board’s ruling to allow the use of eminent domain for the crude oil pipeline.

The lawsuit claims Iowa Code was misinterpreted by the IUB and argues the three-member panel did not have the right to allow a non-public utility to use eminent domain to gain easements for the project. The IUB stated in its final decision and order on March 10 the pipeline “will promote the public convenience and necessity as required by Iowa Code § 479B.9.”

Groups both for and against the proposed pipeline expect appeals to be filed in the case regardless of District Court Judge Jeffery Farrell’s ruling.

Among the attendees on Saturday were two landowners involved in the lawsuit. Bill and Pam Alexander have two parcels of land in Mahaska County that were taken for the project by eminent domain.

“I just hate the abuse by these corporations and the greed that they have,” Bill Alexander said. “The IUB is the same. They just did not even follow the code of Iowa. They’ve abused that so many times it’s unbelievable.”

Carl VanZee is a Colfax resident who’s against the pipeline and spoke Saturday about his experience with Dakota Access. VanZee has one acre of land on the pipeline route between Sully and Reasnor. He’s concerned since topsoil on his farmland has not been covered, seeded or completely restored by Dakota Access, an unseasonable rain or thaw could wash it away.

“I was down there at the farm yesterday. They’re putting the top soil back on but it’s all clotted — big clots. It’s not going to be real good. They haven’t put any cover on it yet and it’s too late to seed it,” Van Zee said.

Several in the room were quick to point out that VanZee’s observations appear to be in contradiction to construction progress reports filed in November with the IUB by Dakota Access stating back-fill is 100 percent complete in Jasper County. Although, a statewide construction report the company filed Dec. 7 states, while back fill is done, cleanup and restoration is only 51 percent complete from the Jasper County line to Interstate 80 — a process which includes topsoil restoration.

The meetings were, in part, a strategic move for Bold Iowa. The group wants to keep affected landowners and, Iowans who disapprove of the project, engaged and encourage them to put continued pressure on the IUB, state elected leaders and the media to listen to dissenters’ concerns of alleged eminent domain abuse.

Bold Iowa Director and former democratic state legislator Ed Fallon recently returned from a week at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation protest camps in North Dakota. He was one of the earliest public figures to speak out against the pipeline. At the Newton library he applauded the indigenous peoples for capturing the national media spotlight and bringing attention to the project. But Fallon said the court hearing on Dec. 15 could be a chance for Iowa landowners to include their dissent on the national stage.

“What’s happening (in North Dakota) is a cultural and spiritual revival that we’ve never seen in the history of this country. It’s really wonderful to see that,” Fallon said. “But I want to make sure that the cultural presence of Iowa farmers and landowners is taken as seriously. Because a lot of people here are being treated the way Native Americans have been treated for a long time.”

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com