DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Utilities Board voted 3-0 on Thursday to approve a permit that allows Texas-based Dakota Access Co. to build an oil pipeline across 18 Iowa counties.
The proposed Bakken pipeline, which would run from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa and end in Illinois, is projected to carry a half-million barrels of oil a day, bisecting some 1,300 parcels of land in Iowa alone. Even after extensive public hearings and 3,700 letters of protest, Adam Mason, state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said he isn't surprised by the board's action. Iowa had been the only state that had not approved its permit for the project.
"I think the biggest concern is still the fact that the IUB just made a decision that benefits an out-of-state corporation over the interests of everyday Iowans," Mason said. "The IUB used their decision-making authority to benefit an out-of-state corporation that's purely concerned about its own profit."
An Iowa Poll taken last month showed that while 47 percent of Iowans supported pipeline construction, that number was down 10 points from the year before. The pipeline will span 346 miles beneath Iowa farmland.
Total cost of the project is $3.78 billion, with about $1 billion to be spent in Iowa. While most property owners directly affected have signed voluntary easements, some 300 have refused, which Mason said could result in eminent-domain proceedings.
"We're going to be organizing, fighting tooth and nail," he said, "supporting the landowners in the pipeline path who want to fight this, and who want to fight the eminent-domain process."
The board cast a voice vote in a public meeting, then released a written decision about an inch thick, stating its reasons. One is that from 2,000 to 4,000 construction workers will be employed building the pipeline.
The potential impact of oil spills is another major concern. Iowa CCI is part of a coalition that Mason said will keep fighting the project.
"Obviously there's going to be legal challenges," he said, "both from members of the coalition, including the Sierra Club, as well as individual groups of landowners that plan on filing legal challenges to the IUB."
The project also crosses some publicly owned land. After the IUB decision, Iowa Department of Natural Resources director Chuck Gipp said his agency approved the permit to cross state-owned land, adding that he found no long-term, negative impact to the environment or natural resources.
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A new report found four dams in the Columbia River Basin are big emitters of methane.
Research from the organization Tell The Dam Truth showed the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington emit the equivalent of 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Robin Everett, deputy western region field director for the Sierra Club, said it undercuts some of the claims the dams are helping provide the region with clean energy.
"It's really clear from this report that we have to take this a lot more seriously that there are some real impacts as far as emissions go from these dams," Everett asserted.
The reports showed the dams produce the equivalent emissions of burning 2 billion pounds of coal annually. Defenders of the dams counted they are important for barging and irrigation for the area's agricultural lands.
But Everett pointed out the dams have another effect on the region: they block the dwindling population of salmon and steelhead from traveling upstream on the Snake River. She noted it not only hurts fish populations but the tribes relying on them.
"We have an obligation for them to be able to fish and if there are no fish to fish, we have broken the treaties," Everett contended
Chinook salmon are also an important source of food for orca on the West Coast. Everett added protecting salmon is important for tribes and the region as a whole.
"Our moral obligation to the salmon and the orca that depend on them are met as well," Everett concluded.
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A proposed pumped-storage hydroelectric facility for Cuffs Run near the Susquehanna River in York County has been challenged by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The foundation filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is considering granting a preliminary permit to build a 1.8-mile-long dam for the project.
Harry Campbell, science policy and advocacy director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said they are working to stop the project in order to protect the unique Cuffs Run area and its ecological benefits for future generations.
"If approved, this project would destroy it about 580 acres of prime farmland, fields and forests, some of which have not been disturbed in about 100 years," Campbell pointed out. "Those farms, fields and forests exist harmoniously with and in support of a plethora of plant and animal life."
The foundation is circulating an online petition and encouraged Pennsylvanians to provide comments before Sunday.
The stream is home to naturally reproducing brook trout. Advocates worry the $2.5 billion project would also be harmful to the Susquehanna River. Campbell noted about 40 families would be displaced.
"For those who call Cuffs Run home, it's more than just a place to live. It's their heritage and they want it to be part of their legacy," Campbell asserted. "This project just simply is the wrong idea in the wrong place. In order to honor that heritage and that legacy, we need to preserve this area."
Campbell emphasized the Cuffs Run project is about 993 acres of land draining into a 2.5-mile unnamed tributary. He added in terms of stream habitat, the rocks, pebbles and woody material have been identified as among the best in the region for supporting critters living in the water.
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Tennesseans want more say in how the Tennessee Valley Authority plans for their future electricity needs and a bill now in Congress could give the public more influence.
The "TVA Increase Rate of Participation Act," would require a more open decision-making process for the utility.
Brianna Knisley, director of public power campaigns for Appalachian Voices, said the TVA is currently developing its new Integrated Resource Plan to meet future energy demands. The bill would require more public participation in the plan's proceedings.
"Right now the stakeholders who get to provide input early on in the IRP process are all hand-selected by TVA," Knisley pointed out. "You can't choose to be in that IRP working group. And those are the only folks who get substantial input in the architecture of the IRP, as it's being designed."
The utility serves more than 10 million people across six states. The TVA said it is reviewing the legislation. A draft of the plan will be published at a later date. The TVA said it already has a "robust stakeholder engagement plan."
After the plan is released, Knisley noted public input happens during what's known as the scoping phase of the National Environmental Policy Act. Open houses are set up, where the TVA answers questions from the public. Knisley encouraged Tennesseans to raise any of their concerns during the public and virtual hearings.
"I think additional public input into our region's long-term energy plan is only going to strengthen outcomes," Knisley contended. "And make that long-term energy plan better meet the needs of the Tennessee Valley, as a whole."
She added it is important for Tennesseans to work with Congress on the best way to improve public input in the TVA decision-making process.
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