Given Scant Information, Activists Struggle to Fight New Pipeline in Iowa
“Farmers and environmental activists are trying to fight a proposed pipeline that would bring Bakken crude through Iowa. But with little information from the company or the government, they’re left in the dark – and are struggling to organize across ideological divides.
Apparently – supposedly – it caught everyone by surprise. Without any previous announcement or public consultation, Iowa media reported in July that a Texas company, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) plans to build a $5 billion, 1,100-mile pipeline to go through 17 Iowa counties.
It would bring at least 320,000 barrels of crude per day from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa and to refineries in Illinois before it’s finally shipped to the Gulf Coast, primarily for export.
The state’s governor, uber-conservative Terry Branstad, said he hadn’t heard of the proposed project before the news broke. (The office of his gubernatorial opponent, Jack Hatch, tells Truthout that Branstad had met with ETP before the pipeline was publicly announced. Upon seeking comment, Branstad’s office flatly denied this). The governor is supportive of the Keystone XL, but hasn’t yet made up his mind on the Iowa project. Hatch himself has noted that Bakken oil is “notoriously volatile,” but hasn’t come out with a specific stance on the project, saying he needs more information before doing so.”
Nelson, Mara Kardas. Truth Out 2 November 2014.