States unite against Bakken Pipeline

Bakken Pipeline Fighters call for State Utility Commissions to be held accountable to the demands of concerned citizens and landowners across state lines

Partners in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois band together to fight back against proposed Dakota Access Pipeline in the Midwest

 A group of 13 organizations from across the route of the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois banded together to  issue an indictment of the Bakken Oil Pipeline in each state impacted by the proposal.

The groups emphasized the common threat that the pipeline proposal poses to each of the impacted states, and called for stronger representation of public opinion in the decision making process of the Utility Boards and Commissions.

This included demands for evidence against the proposal to be considered across state lines in evidentiary hearings, recognition of tribal treaties in the region, and for legal representation through a guardian ad litem in the hearings to defend the interest of future generations. The full list of demands, which were submitted to the North Dakota Public Service Commission, the South Dakota Public Utility Commission, the Iowa Utilities Board, and the Illinois Commerce Commission, can be found at this link.

This list of demands is the first collective action taken against the Bakken Pipeline across state lines, and is indicative of the immense opposition the Dakota Access proposal is facing. People in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois know that this project is all risk and no reward for their states and for future generations. They are demanding accountability from not only the company proposing it, but from the government agencies that will make the ultimate decision on whether the pipeline is built.“

Big Oil hopes to get their way at the expense of our farmland, our waterways, and our communities.” said Dick Lamb, an Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement member impacted by the pipeline. “We are standing against the proposed Bakken Pipeline- it’s time for folks across the United States to pay attention to what is happening in the Midwest and see that the fight against crude oil pipelines is far from over."

The group added that the concerns about this pipeline are also a moral and ethical issue. Domestic production of Bakken crude has led to negative impacts on communities from the Bakken region and the Fort Berthold Reservation of North Dakota.

“I was born and raised in North Dakota- because of the Bakken oil extraction crime rates, drug abuse and environmental disasters are skyrocketing.  Building the Dakota Access pipeline only serves to exacerbate the negative impacts and continue to encourage a continued lack of oversight or regulations” shared Kandi Mosset, the Native Energy and Climate Campaign Organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network who is from New Town, ND on the Fort Berthold Reservation in the heart of the Bakken oil boom. “We stand in solidarity with everyone fighting back and resisting this cancerous pipeline which only serves to spread the poison that is already impacting us in North Dakota.”

The groups also shared an equal frustration with the manipulation and coerciveness demonstrated by Dakota Access, LLC and Energy Transfer Partners, the companies behind the risky proposal. They claim that the misinformation campaigns of the pipeline company has translated to a lack of transparency on the part of the government agencies overseeing the permitting process for the pipeline.

“The South Dakota government and leaders across the state have fallen short of their duty to inform landowners and citizens about their rights, the process of application by Dakota Access Pipeline, and the facts and truth of what is to come if the pipeline is installed.” said Peggy Hoogestraat, a Dakota Rural Action member and landowner affected by the proposed pipeline. “Responses from the general public prove there has been a lack of information in regards to the proposed pipeline.

”In addition to fighting back against the proposal, the groups have a shared interest in defending the status of their states as leaders in the renewable energy sector. They noted that Iowa, North Dakota, and Illinois are all national leaders in wind energy, which has positively impacted the economies of the region.

“We would rather see our respective  government officials investing in renewable energy infrastructure and maximizing our true resources in the Midwest: wind, solar, and fertile farmlands for future generations” shared Tabitha Tripp, founder of the Shawnee Forest Sentinels in Illinois. “One way to help that process along is to deny any new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure.”

The groups also drew connections between a recent proposal from TransCanada that would connect North Dakota bakken crude to existing pipeline infrastructure known as the Upland Pipeline. Opponents of the Bakken Pipeline recognized that if the Upland Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline were to succeed, that TransCanada would easily be able to negotiate the easements to transport dirty tar sands oil throughout the Midwest with little regulatory oversight. For that reason, the groups are committed to stopping the Bakken Pipeline, as well as any other new fossil fuel infrastructure in the region.

The group included representatives of the indigenous communities impacted by the pipeline and the bakken crude oil boom in North Dakota, as well as folks involved in the pipeline fight from Dakota Rural Action of South Dakota, the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition of Iowa, and the Shawnee Forest Sentinels in Illinois. The pipeline fighters intend to mobilize further actions in solidarity against the Bakken Pipeline across state lines as the fight against the proposal grows stronger.