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The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the
shale oil Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock ( kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting ...
fields of the
Bakken Formation The Bakken Formation () is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The formation was init ...
in northwest
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
and continues through
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
and
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
to an
oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these products are transported to end users or other stor ...
near Patoka, Illinois. Together with the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline from Patoka to Nederland, Texas, it forms the Bakken system. The pipeline transports 40 percent of the oil produced in the Bakken region. The $3.78 billion project was announced to the public in June 2014 with construction beginning in June 2016, creating approximately 42,000 jobs with a total of $2billion in wages. The pipeline was completed in April 2017 and became operational in May 2017. The pipeline is owned by Dakota Access, LLC, controlled by Energy Transfer Partners, with minority interests from
Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Company, helped ground the newly reconfigured Phillips 66. T ...
, and affiliates of Enbridge and
Marathon Petroleum Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil until a corporate spin-off in 2011. Following i ...
. Protests of the pipeline occurred organized by those opposing its construction, including the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.


History


Planning, 2014–2016

Prior to the Dakota Access Pipeline, light sweet crude oil from the
Bakken Formation The Bakken Formation () is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The formation was init ...
was transported mainly by rail during the North Dakota oil boom. Extraction from the area increased from 309,000 barrels a day in 2010 to more than 1 million in 2014, with insufficient pipeline infrastructure to transport the increased extraction. Plans for the pipeline were announced by Energy Transfer Partners in 2014, with Phillips 66 acquired 25% stake in the project later that same year. Energy Transfer Partners estimated that the pipeline would create between 12 and 15 permanent jobs and from 2,000 to 4,000 temporary jobs in Iowa. The $1.35 billion capital investment in Iowa was projected to generate $33 million
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...
in Iowa during construction and $30 million
property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...
in 2017. Energy Transfer hired "Strategic Economics Group" in West Des Moines to prepare this analysis. In September 2014, Dakota Access held an initial informational meeting with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council. Informational meetings for South Dakota and Illinois landowners were held in October 2014, and starting on December 1, 2014, in each of the affected counties in Iowa. Meetings in
Fort Madison Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along th ...
, Sioux Center, Oskaloosa and Storm Lake brought out hundreds of people expressing their support and/or opposition to the pipeline. A webinar for
Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...
and
Hancock County, Illinois Hancock County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,620. Its county seat is Carthage, and its largest city is Hamilton. The county is made up of rural towns with many farmers. H ...
took place in February 2015. On October 29, 2014, Dakota Access submitted the project to the
Iowa Utilities Board The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) is a 3-member public utilities commission, with beginnings in 1878. It is a quasi-judicial tribunal, which regulates services and rates of electric, natural gas, water and telecommunication providers in the U.S. state ...
(IUB), after Iowa Governor Terry Branstad rejected requests from community and environmental activists who asked him to block plans. In December 2014 Dakota Access submitted an application for a permit from the North Dakota Public Service Commission for the proposed route. In January 2015, Dakota Access filed the application with the IUB. In February 2015, it filed applications with the
Iowa Department of Natural Resources The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR or IA DNR) is a department/agency of the U.S. state of Iowa formed in 1986, charged with maintaining state parks and forests, protecting the environment of Iowa, and managing energy, fish, wild ...
for
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
land and
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
permits. In April 2015, Iowa Senate Study Bill 1276 and House Study Bill 249 advanced with both Senator Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, and State Representative
Bobby Kaufmann Bobby Kaufmann (born 1985) is the Iowa State Representative from the 82nd District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2013. In 2023, Kaufmann was appointed as a senior advisor on Donald Trump's 2024 preside ...
, R-Wilton, in support; it required Dakota Access "to obtain voluntary easements from 75% of property owners along the route before eminent domain could be authorized". The Iowa Utilities Board approved the pipeline on March 10, 2016, on a vote of 3 to 0, being the last of four states utility regulators granting its approval. The approval came after 18 public information meetings, pre-filled testimony, thousands of public comments, and 12 days of public hearings. Conditions of the approval included liability insurance of at least $25 million; guarantees that the parent companies of Dakota Access will pay for damages created by a pipeline leak or spill; a revised agricultural impact mitigation plan; a timeline for construction notices; modified condemnation easement forms; and a statement accepting the terms and condition's of the board's order." The IUB stated that with the conditions, the pipeline would promote public convenience and necessity. The following day, the company stated it had secured voluntary easements on 82% of the 1,295 affected Iowa land parcels.William Petrosk
Bakken pipeline secures 82 percent of Iowa land parcels
Des Moines Register, March 11, 2016
A week later, Dakota Access filed motions with the IUB requesting expedited and confidential treatment to begin construction immediately, saying it met the conditions and that its liability insurance policies were
trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily ...
s under Iowa law and "would serve no public purpose".William Petroski
Bakken pipeline firm seeks expedited construction permit
Des Moines Register, March 17, 2016
Dakota Access also filed 23 condemnation suits against 140 individuals, banks, and a coal mine to gain easements through North Dakota. A 2015 poll showed that fifty seven percents of Iowans favoring the construction of the pipeline. Construction of the pipeline was also estimated to create 42,000 jobs with a total of $2billion in wages.


Construction, 2016–2017

In March 2016, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
issued a sovereign lands construction permit. In late May 2016, the permit was temporarily revoked in three counties of Iowa, where the pipeline would cross the Big Sioux River and the Big Sioux Wildlife Management Area; these are historic and cultural sites of the Upper Sioux tribe, including graves in Lyon County. Also in May 2016, Iowa farmers filed lawsuits to prevent the state from using eminent domain. In June 2016, the IUB voted 2 to 1 (
Libby Jacobs Libby Swanson Jacobs (born October 1, 1956) is a former Iowa State Representative from the 60th District. Education Jacobs received her BA in political science from the University of Nebraska and her MPA from Drake University. Career Prior to h ...
and Nick Wagner in favor and Chairwoman
Geri Huser Geri D. Huser (born July 14, 1963) is a Democratic party politician. She served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1996 to 2011. Education Huser graduated from Southeast Polk High School and later received a BA in social work from Briar C ...
against) to allow construction on non-sovereign lands to continue. The
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...
said this action was illegal before the US Corps of Engineers authorized the project. In late June 2016, construction was allowed to resume in Lyon County after plans were changed to route the pipeline below the site using directional boring, instead of trenching and disturbing the soil on the surface. In December 2016, the approval was disputed in the Polk County District Court. In July and August 2016, The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) approved the water crossing permits and issued all but one permission necessary for the pipeline construction. On July 27, 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the USACE in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The motion for preliminary injuction was denied in the U.S. District Court in September 2016. In September 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed an appeal which was denied a month later. In August 2016, the joint venture of Enbridge (75%) and Marathon Petroleum (25%) agreed to purchase a 49% stake in Dakota Access, LLC for $2 billion. The deal was completed in February 2017 after the final easement was granted. In September 2016 the U.S Department of Justice received more than 33,000 petitions to review all permits and order a full review of the project's environmental effects. On September 9, 2016, the US Departments of Justice,
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, and Interior issued a joint statement to temporarily halt the project on federal land bordering or under the Lake Oahe reservoir. The
US federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a f ...
asked the company for a "voluntary pause" on construction near the area until further study was done in the region extending 20 miles (32 km) around Lake Oahe. Energy Transfer Partners rejected the request and resumed construction. On September 13, 2016, chairman and CEO of Energy Transfer Partners Kelcy Warren said concerns about the pipeline's impact on the water supply were "unfounded", that "multiple archaeological studies conducted with state historic preservation offices found no sacred items along the route" and that the company would meet with officials in Washington "to understand their position and reiterate our commitment to bring the Dakota Access Pipeline into operation." On November 1, 2016, President Obama announced his administration was monitoring the situation and had been in contact with the USACE to examine the possibility of rerouting the pipeline to avoid sacred lands. On November 14, 2016, the USACE announced that "the Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation's dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property." Energy Transfer Partners responded by criticizing the Obama administration for "political interference" and said that "further delay in the consideration of this case would add millions of dollars more each month in costs which cannot be recovered." North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple criticized the decision saying the pipeline would be safe and that the decision was "long overdue". Craig Stevens, spokesman for the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN) Coalition, called the Corps's announcement "yet another attempt at death by delay" and said the Obama administration "has chosen to further fan the flames of protest by more inaction." North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said in a statement that the delay "will only prolong the disruption in the region caused by protests and make life difficult for everyone who lives and works in the area." Speaking to
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...
in November, Kelcy Warren said that it would be "100 percent that the easement gets granted and the pipeline gets built" when newly elected president elect Donald Trump came into office on January 20, 2017. On December 4, 2016, the USACE announced, it would not grant an
easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...
for the pipeline to be drilled under Lake Oahe and was undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), Jo-Ellen Darcy said that "the best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing". Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners issued a same-day response saying that the White House's directive "is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency." They said that the companies "fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way." On January 18, 2017, the USACE filed its formal Notice of Intent to conduct the Environmental Impact Statement process. The notice opened a thirty-day comment on the scope of the EIS, addressing the crossing of Lake Oahe. The proposed EIS was to consider "Alternative locations for the pipeline crossing the Missouri River", direct and indirect risks and impacts, as well as their treaty
rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...
to the lake. The same day U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied ETP's request to delay the EIS process. Following the
inauguration of Donald Trump The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony ...
in January 2017, he signed a presidential memorandum to advance approval of pipeline construction, while stating his intention to "renegotiate some of the terms" of the pipeline bill. The order would expedite the environmental review that Trump described as an "incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible permitting process." These executive orders, which also included the Keystone XL Pipeline, outlined how the completion of the pipeline would create more jobs. On February 7, 2017, the USACE sent a notice of intent to the United States Congress to grant an easement under Lake Oahe 24 hours following notification of the delivery of the notification. On February 9, 2017, the Cheyenne River Sioux sued the easement decision, citing an 1851 treaty and interference with the religious practices of the tribe. The Dakota Access Pipeline had temporary workforce housing for the pipeline workers. Construction of the pipeline was completed in April 2017.


Operation, 2017 to present

The first oil was delivered through the pipeline on May 14, 2017. On June 1, 2017, testing was completed and the pipeline became commercially operational. After the pipeline's first year of operation, Forbes reported that it was transporting over and had transported approximately of oil. By 2021, the pipeline had the ability to transport 750,000 barrels of oil per day and was accounting for 40 percent of oil produced in the Bakken region. A United States District Judge James E. Boasberg, appointed by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, ruled in March 2020 that the government had not studied the pipeline's "effects on the quality of the human environment" enough, ordering the United States Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a new environmental impact review. In July 2020, Judge Boasberg ordered the pipeline to be shut down and emptied of oil pending a new environmental review. The temporary shutdown order was overturned by a U.S. appeals court on August 5, 2020 though the environmental review is expected to continue. In 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes that there should have had been a thorough environmental review (there was only a 2015 preliminary review) for the 2 mile pipeline section below Lake Oahe. In February 2022, the US Supreme Court agreed with this decision.


Technical description

The pipeline cost $3.78 billion, of which $1.4 billion was invested in the
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
portion, $820 million was invested in the
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
portion, $1.04 billion was invested in the
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
portion, and $516 million was invested in the
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
portion. The pipeline has a permanent
easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...
of and a construction right-of-way of up to . The diameter pipeline is at least underground from the top of the pipe or below any drain tiles. At the length of and diameter of , the entire pipeline volume is . At the stated daily transport volume of , the discharge time to empty the whole pipeline is estimated at 11.4 days. Capacity expansion construction was undertaken by Energy Transfer Partners in 2021, which increased the line's capacity from 570,000 bpd to its current nameplate of 750,000.


Comparison to rail transport

The developer argued that the pipeline improves the overall safety to the public, would help the US to attain energy independence, and is a more reliable and safer method of transport to refineries than rail or road. Proponents have argued that the pipeline will free up railroads, which will allow farmers to ship more Midwest grain. , Bakken shale oil was transported through nine Iowa counties exclusively via three freight trains per week. As of June 2014, 32 trains per week carrying Bakken oil traveled through
Jo Daviess County Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena. Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near D ...
in northwestern Illinois.


Ownership

The pipeline is owned by Energy Transfer (36.4% stake), MarEn Bakken Company LLC, and
Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Company, helped ground the newly reconfigured Phillips 66. T ...
Partners. MarEn Bakken Company LLC is an entity owned by MPLX LP (an affiliate of
Marathon Petroleum Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil until a corporate spin-off in 2011. Following i ...
) and Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. Bakken Holdings Company and Phillips 66 also co-own another part of the Bakken system, the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline which runs from Patoka to storage terminals in Nederland, Texas.


Financing

The pipeline project cost $3.78 billion, of which $2.5 billion was financed by loans, while the rest of the capital was raised by the sale of ownership in Dakota Access, LLC to Enbridge and Marathon Petroleum. The loans were provided by a group of 17 banks, including
Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
,
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
, BNP Paribas, SunTrust,
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster B ...
,
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is the largest bank in Japan. It was established on January 1, 2006, following the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. MUFG is one of the three so-called Japanese "megabanks" (along with SMBC and Mizuho). As such, ...
,
Mizuho Bank is the integrated retail and corporate banking unit of Mizuho Financial Group (; ), the third largest financial services company in Japan, with total assets of approximately $1.8 trillion in 2017. Mizuho is one of the three so-called Japane ...
,
TD Securities TD Securities is a Canadian investment bank and financial services provider that offers advisory and capital market services to corporate, government, and institutional clients worldwide. The firm provides services in corporate and investment ban ...
,
ABN AMRO Capital ABN or abn may refer to: Companies * ABN AMRO Group, a Dutch bank group * ABN AMRO, sometimes referred to as "ABN" in shorthand, is a Dutch state-owned bank * Algemene Bank Nederland, a now-defunct Dutch bank Radio, news and television organizat ...
, ING Bank, DNB ASA, ICBC, SMBC Nikko Securities and Société Générale. Due to pressure resulting from the
Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, also called by the hashtag # NoDAPL, began in April 2016 as a grassroots opposition to the construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States and ended on Fe ...
, some banks decided to pull funding in the project. This included DNB ASA Financial services group. In February 2017,
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
's city council unanimously voted not to renew its contract with
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
"in a move that cites the bank's role as a lender to the Dakota Access Pipeline project as well as its "creation of millions of bogus accounts" and saying the bidding process for its next banking partner will involve "social responsibility." The City Council in Davis, California, took a similar action, voting unanimously to find a new bank to handle its accounts by the end of 2017.2 Cities To Pull More Than $3 Billion From Wells Fargo Over Dakota Access Pipeline In March 2017, ING sold its stake in the loan, while retaining a potential risk in case of non-payment under the loan. Thirteen of the 17 banks that financed the pipeline were signatories to the Equator Principles. Despite concerns being raised that the project could threaten the water supply from Lake Oahe and the Missouri River if a leak occurred, project financing was still approved.


Route

The pipeline route runs from the northwestern North Dakota Bakken and Three Forks sites. It starts in
Stanley, North Dakota Stanley is a city in Mountrail County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Mountrail County. The population was 2,321 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st largest city in North Dakota. Stanley was founded in 1902. The town' ...
, and travels in a southeastward direction to end at the oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois. It crosses 50 counties in four states, and is built on private land with portions crossing waters of the United States and flood control areas managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In North Dakota, the route traverses seven counties. The project consists of of oil-gathering pipelines and of larger transmission pipeline. The route starts with a terminal in the Stanley area and runs west with five more terminals in Ramberg Station, Epping, Trenton,
Watford City Watford City (Hidatsa: abaʔaruʔush), founded in 1914, is a city in and the county seat of McKenzie County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 6,207 at the 2020 census, making it the thirteenth largest city in North Dakota. Becaus ...
and Johnsons Corner before becoming a transmission line going through Williston, the
Watford City Watford City (Hidatsa: abaʔaruʔush), founded in 1914, is a city in and the county seat of McKenzie County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 6,207 at the 2020 census, making it the thirteenth largest city in North Dakota. Becaus ...
area, south of Bismarck, and crossing the Missouri River again north of Cannon Ball. It also includes six tank farm locations and one electric pump station. In the early stages of route planning, it was proposed laying the pipeline northeast of
Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popul ...
. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) evaluated alternative routes as part of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, including one route north of Bismarck, North Dakota. This alternative was determined not to be a viable alternative because of multiple factors, including that it was not co-located with other infrastructure, the route's impacts to wellhead water resources, constraints on the route from the North Dakota Public Service Commission's 500-foot residential buffer requirement and the route's additional impacts to areas identified as High Consequence areas under Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulations. The Bismarck route was rejected by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
(USACE) before submitting a request to the North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC) for a permit. This decision was described by Jesse Jackson as
environmental racism Environmental racism or ecological apartheid is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionally placed in communities of colour. Internationally, it is also associated with ...
. The change of the route put the pipeline into the existing pipeline corridor parallel to the already existing Northern Border Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline built in 1982. The Dakota Access pipeline selected a "nearly identical route" and planned to cross the Missouri River near the same point. The plans called for the pipeline to be directionally bored so that it would not come in contact with the Missouri River. It is planned to be "as deep as " below the riverbed. In South Dakota, the pipeline travels through 12 counties: Campbell, McPherson, Edmunds, Faulk and Spink. The system includes one electric pump station. In Iowa, the pipeline extends about diagonally through 18 Iowa counties:
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
,
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...
, O'Brien,
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
,
Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan * Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...
Sac, Calhoun,
Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta * Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United Stat ...
, Boone, Story (which will have a pumping station),
Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missour ...
,
Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref ...
, Mahaska Keokuk, Wapello, Jefferson, Van Buren, and
Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
. The system includes one electric pump station. In Illinois, the route traverses 12 counties.


Federal agencies permissions

Most of the pipeline was built with permits issued under state law. Federal jurisdiction arises through the United States Army Corps of Engineers for 37 miles of the pipeline where it passes over or under streams, rivers, and federal dams. The USACE has conducted a limited review of the route, involving an environmental assessment of river crossings and portions of the project related to specific permits, and issued a finding of no significant impact. It did not carry out an area-wide full environmental impact assessment of the entire effects of the overall project through the four states. The USACE was authorized to grant the following: * verification of Nationwide Permit #12 permits for 202 crossings of jurisdictional waters under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
; * permissions for consent to cross flowage easements acquired and administered by USACE at Lake Sakakawea and Carlyle Reservoir, under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, codified 33 U.S.C. Section 408 (Section 408) * permissions to modify the Oahe Dam/Lake Oahe project by granting easements to cross federal property administered by USACE for the flood control and navigation project, under Section 408; * permissions to cross the McGee Creek Levee, the Illinois River navigation channel and the Coon Run Levees, under Section 408; * permission to horizontally directionally drill under the Mississippi River navigation channel, under Section 408. On June 14, 2017, a federal judge ordered the federal government to conduct further reviews of the pipeline but did not halt pumping operations. On March 25, 2020, a U.S. District judge ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full environmental review.


Concerns


Health and environment

Prior to construction, some farmers expressed concern about the disturbance of the land, including tiling,
soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, a ...
, and soil quality. They also expressed concerns about potential leaks in the pipeline caused by destabilization in certain areas prone to flooding, which could cause an environmental disaster, as well as the spread of invasive weeds into surrounding land. In 2014, conservation groups raised concerns about
safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...
, and the impacts on air, water, wildlife and farming, because of the risk of the pipeline disruption. Groups such as
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
, the Science & Environmental Health Network, and in 2016 a group of more than 160 scientists spoke out against the pipeline. In 2016, environmentalists and Native Americans expressed concerns the Missouri River might become contaminated in the event of a spill or leak.
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...
tribes expressed concern over leaks because the pipeline passes under Lake Oahe, which serves as a major source of water.


Eminent domain

In March 2015, a ''
Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the juncti ...
'' poll found that while 57% of Iowans supported the Dakota Access Pipeline, 74% were opposed to the use of
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
condemnation on behalf of a private corporation. and in 2016, landowners across Iowa expressed concern about allowing the use of eminent domain to condemn privately owned land, particularly agricultural land. In August 2016, Dakota Access, LLC stated that it had already executed easement agreements with 99% of the landowners whose properties were along the four-state route and, with regards to the landowners along the pipeline's route in Iowa, 99% had entered voluntary easements.


Tribal positions

The pipeline was opposed by the Standing Rock Sioux and the
Cheyenne River Sioux The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey ...
tribes, despite it not crossing tribal lands. In September 2014, Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II indicated the tribe's opposition to any pipeline within treaty boundaries encompassing "North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota." The tribe contended that the route would run across sacred sites and be a potential hazard to its water supply. Dakota Access stated the route was chosen based on it running alongside existing infrastructure including railways and other pipelines. The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (known as the Three Affiliated Tribes) originally supported the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in its protest of the pipeline. The tribe later argued against shutting down the pipeline, citing significant financial harm to the tribe who uses the pipeline to transport 60 percent of oil produced on its land. The Meskwaki tribe opposed the pipeline citing concerns that the pipeline could be used as a replacement if the
Keystone XL pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta ...
is not built. Saying that "the Corps effectively wrote off the tribe's concerns and ignored the pipeline's impacts to sacred sites and culturally important landscapes," the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has sued the USACE in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing the agency of violating the
National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...
and other laws, and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the pipeline. This claim was rejected by the court. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said in the ruling that the USACE "likely complied" with its obligation to consult the tribe and that the tribe "has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the Court could issue." On September 20, 2016, Dave Archambault II addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, where he called "upon all parties to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline." Citing the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, two treaties ratified by the U.S. Senate that recognize the Sioux's national sovereignty, Archambault told the Council that "the oil companies and the government of the United States have failed to respect our sovereign rights." On September 22, 2016,
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is a Filipino development consultant and an international indigenous activist of Kankana-ey Igorot ethnicity. As UN special rapporteur, she was tasked to investigate alleged violations of indigenous peoples rights and promo ...
, a United Nations expert on the rights of indigenous peoples, admonished the U.S., saying, "The tribe was denied access to information and excluded from consultations at the planning stage of the project, and environmental assessments failed to disclose the presence and proximity of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation." She also responded to the rights of pipeline protesters, saying, "The U.S. authorities should fully protect and facilitate the right to freedom of peaceful assembly of indigenous peoples, which plays a key role in empowering their ability to claim other rights." According to the USACE's data there had been 389 meetings with more than 55 tribes, including nine meetings with The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Kelcy Warren has stated that the company is not on any Native American property. In December 2016, Trump's Native American Coalition held a meeting where members, American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal leaders, and activists could be present to discuss a wide variety of topics that concerned the effects and implications of the pipeline construction as well as environmental protections and safety concerns.


Archaeological surveys

Several groups, including the Standing Rock Sioux and the
Society for American Archaeology The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D.C. , it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Deborah L ...
, have raised concerns over the thoroughness of archaeological surveys conducted along the pipeline's corridor. These surveys were carried out under the direction of the USACE, in compliance with the
National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...
(NHPA). The NHPA requires consideration of archaeological sites and traditional cultural properties. The initial survey showed 149 sites and the pipeline was subsequently moved to avoid 140 of them. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which oversees compliance with the NHPA, raised two primary concerns to the USACE about the surveys. They criticized the scope of the investigation, which defined each water crossing as a separate project, and therefore failed to consider the pipeline as a whole. They also criticized the lack of tribal involvement in the surveys. Tribal consultants help archaeologists identify sites that may be harder to see within the archaeological record, such as traditional cultural properties. A traditional cultural property is a property whose "significance derived from the role the property plays in a community's historically rooted beliefs, customs, and practices." The USACE reached out to the Standing Rock Sioux on several occasions for consultation, but were denied. The Sioux refused to participate unless they could consult on the whole pipeline. One instance of tribal consultation at Lake Oahe pointed out several cultural sites and a cemetery that the USACE were previously unaware of. On September 2, 2016, Tim Mentz, a former historic preservation officer for the Standing Rock Sioux, testified in DC District Court that 27 graves and 82 sacred sites were to be disturbed by the Cannonball river section of the pipeline. That weekend this area was bulldozed. On September 21, 2016, 1,281 anthropologists, archaeologists, museum officials, and others signed and released a letter in support of the tribal community, calling for further study of the area to be affected by the pipeline in South Dakota. The Society for American Archaeologists also sent a letter to the USACE, detailing their organizations concerns over the project. According to the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, the areas highlighted by Tim Mentz were evaluated by state officials on both September 21 and October 20, 2016. They found that only four stone features would be directly impacted by the pipeline. However, many are still concerned about the cumulative effect the project may have on sites that lie outside the 150 ft corridor. Jon Eagle, a Historic Preservation Officer for the tribe, was invited to participate in the evaluation on Sept. 23, but was not allowed access to the areas of the corridor on private property. The tribe insists that evidence was destroyed by the construction company, as grading had gone on in the area previously.


Political ties

According to his federal disclosure forms, filed in May 2016, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
held between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Energy Transfer Partners – down from $500,000 to $1 million in 2015 – and between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66. ''The Washington Post'' reported that Trump sold off his shares in Energy Transfer Partners in the summer of 2016. The senior Democrat on the Public Resources Committee,
Raul Grijalva Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
, called this appearance of conflict of interest "disturbing". Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren contributed $6 million to the Rick Perry 2016 presidential campaign, as well as $103,000 to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.


Protests

In the spring of 2016 protests began at pipeline construction sites in North Dakota and drew indigenous people, calling themselves water protectors and land defenders, from throughout North America as well as many other supporters, creating the largest gathering of Native Americans in the past hundred years. In April 2016, a Standing Rock Sioux elder established a camp near the Missouri River at the site of Sacred Stone Camp, located within the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, as a center for cultural preservation and spiritual resistance to the pipeline, and over the summer the camp grew to thousands of people. In July, ''ReZpect Our Water'', a group of Native American youth, ran from Standing Rock in North Dakota to Washington, DC to raise awareness of what they perceive as a threat to their people's drinking water and that of everyone who relies on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers for drinking water and irrigation. While the protests drew international attention and were said to be "reshaping the national conversation for any environmental project that would cross the Native American land", there was limited mainstream media coverage of the events in the United States until early September 2016. At that time, construction workers bulldozed a section of land that tribal historic preservation officers had documented as a historic, sacred site, and when protesters entered the area security workers used
attack dog An attack dog (guard dog, patrol dog, or security dog) is a dog trained to attack a person on command, sight, or by inferred provocation. They are used to defend people, territory, or property. Attack dogs have been utilized throughout history ...
s, which bit at least five of the protesters. The incident was filmed and viewed by several million people on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and other social media. In late October, armed soldiers and police with riot gear and military equipment cleared an encampment that was directly in the proposed pipeline's path. According to state and federal authorities, there were several cases of arson that damaged pipeline construction equipment in Iowa during 2016. One deliberately set fire caused nearly $1 million in damage to construction equipment in August in
Jasper County, Iowa Jasper County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,813. The county seat is Newton. The county was organized in 1846 and is named after Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero. Jasper ...
. Two other fires involving pipeline construction equipment were set around the same time in the same county and another was set in
Mahaska County Mahaska County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,190. The county seat is Oskaloosa. Mahaska County comprises the Oskaloosa, IA Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Mahaska Cou ...
. In October, another arson fire caused $2 million worth of damage to pipeline construction equipment in
Jasper County, Iowa Jasper County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,813. The county seat is Newton. The county was organized in 1846 and is named after Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero. Jasper ...
.


See also

* List of natural gas pipelines in North America * List of oil pipelines in North America *
List of pipeline accidents The following is a worldwide list of pipeline accidents. Belgium * 2004: A major natural gas pipeline exploded in Ghislenghien, Belgium near Ath ( southwest of Brussels), killing 24 people and leaving 122 wounded, some critically on July 30 ...
* List of oil refineries in North America


References


External links


Dakota Access Pipeline - Official Website
- Energy Transfer

- Energy Transfer
Frequently Asked Questions DAPL
US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Division
SRS Tribal Council Meeting
(Sept. 2014) audio. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe meeting with DAPL representatives
Combined application of Dakota Access LLC for a Waiver or Reduction of Procedures and Time Schedules and for a Corridor Certificate and Route Permit
Dakota Access, LLC (Dec. 2014)
Map of Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines in the United States
(Sept. 2015) - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Memorandum Opinion of "Standing Rock Sioux Tribe vs U.S. Army Corps of Engineers"
(Sept. 2016) - United States District Court
Environmental assessment: Dakota Access Pipeline Project, crossings of flowage easements and federal lands
Dakota Access, LLC; US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Division
Chronology of Opposition to Dakota Access Pipeline from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
{{Trump executive actions Crude oil pipelines in the United States Proposed pipelines in the United States Environmentalism in the United States Oil pipelines in Illinois Pipelines in Iowa Pipelines in South Dakota Oil pipelines in North Dakota