Above Photo: Trooopers escort Ronald Moyer of Des Moines from an Iowa DNR meeting Wednesday night in Des Moines after he allegedly became disruptive. The meeting was to discuss plans for a state environmental permit for a crude oil pipeline. William Petroski/The Register.
A ruckus developed Wednesday night when opponents of the proposed Bakken oil pipeline angrily accused Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials of trying to prevent them from publicly voicing objections at a meeting attended by about 150 people in Des Moines.
Many people stood in the audience and loudly complained, with some criticizing Gov. Terry Branstad and Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp while describing the proceedings as a sham. Gipp strongly rejected the allegations, saying the DNR was trying to be fair to all sides and follow Iowa law.
The Iowa DNR had called a public meeting on an application for a state environmental permit for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross through publicly owned lands and waters in Iowa. The pipeline, which would transport up to 570,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil daily, is proposed by Dakota Access LLC, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners. The oil would originate in North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch, passing through South Dakota and Iowa to Patoka, Ill.
Instead of conducting a traditional public hearing — where one person after another testifies before a microphone — Iowa DNR officials tried Wednesday night to funnel two people at a time to both sides of the auditorium at the Wallace State Office Building.
Rather than directly addressing the crowd, both supporters and opponents of the pipeline permit were instructed to sit at a pair of desks and to speak into recording devices so their comments could be transcribed later onto the public record.
Many pipeline opponents immediately rebelled, refusing to abide by the DNR’s meeting rules. As one man stood and tried to address the crowd, pipeline foes began to loudly chant, “Let him speak. Let him speak. Let him speak.”
Someone else yelled, “Who designed these rules?” Another shouted, “This is a public meeting. It’s not a public comment if the public can’t hear us.”
One disruptive pipeline opponent was escorted from the auditorium by Iowa State Patrol officers. Others either complied with the DNR’s instructions or simply ignored the rules and spoke directly to the audience.
Jonas Magram of Fairfield, who wore a shirt which read, “Stop the Pipeline,” stood and defiantly told the crowd, “This pipeline is an unacceptable threat to the public.” He expressed serious doubts the DNR has the ability to stop the pipeline from leaking crude oil.
However, dozens of pipeline supporters, including many union construction workers, expressed no criticism of the DNR’s meeting format and endorsed the environmental permit for the project. “This pipeline is about supporting American oil for American needs,” said Chad Carter of Des Moines, a business agent for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 234 in Des Moines.
Wallace Taylor of Cedar Rapids, chairman and legal counsel for the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, which opposes the pipeline, said later that the DNR’s approach to Wednesday night’s forum was ridiculous.
“This is a travesty. I have been to DNR meetings before and they have never been conducted like this,” Taylor said.
DNR Director Gipp told The Des Moines Register he was trying to treat all sides fairly. He said his goal was obtain testimony in an orderly process so it could be transcribed for the public record.
“Obviously, some people came to this with different ideas, not wanting public input. They wanted to have a public demonstration. That is not what this is for,” Gipp said.
Gipp strongly rejected allegations by critics that he and Branstad were trying to tilt the proceedings in favor of the pipeline project.
“I have been around a long time. Anybody can make an accusation. We do the best job that we can as a department with the code authority that we have. We are following the code authority, yet we get attacked all the time that we are not stringent enough on some and too stringent on others,” Gipp said.
The Iowa Utilities Board is currently weighing a request for a hazardous liquids pipeline permit for the Dakota Access project, which would pass for 343 miles through 18 Iowa counties while transporting oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to Patoka, Ill. But a separate DNR permit is needed to cross publicly owned lands and waters.
The proposed pipeline crossings in Iowa for the environmental permit are at the Big Sioux River and the Nelson Tract of the Big Sioux River Complex Wildlife Management Area in Lyon County, the Des Moines River in Boone County, and the Mississippi River in Lee County. All four crossings will be considered in a single permit and DNR officials said they expect to make a decision on the permit application later this winter.