Illinois court vacates approval of Dakota Access pipeline capacity expansionhttps://energynow.com/2022/01/illinois-court-vacates-approval-of-dakota-access-pipeline-capacity-expansion/?source=de&wtv=geology@nemont.net
Jan 12 (Reuters) – An Illinois appellate court on Wednesday vacated approval given by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to allow the expansion of the Dakota Access oil pipeline capacity up to 1.1 million barrels per day.
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) can transport about 570,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from North Dakota to the Midwest, though the company said in August it had completed a capacity expansion to 750,000 barrels per day.
The pipeline out of North Dakota’s Bakken shale basin had been a source of controversy prior to its completion in 2017. Opponents said its construction destroyed sacred artifacts and posed a threat to pollute Lake Oahe, a critical drinking water supply, and the greater Missouri River.
Of course, the premises for the 'objections' were false, used in the national media to justify over a million dollars in damages done to construction equipment and another million to livestock and neighboring farms.
The real issue was when the pipeline was rerouted around Tribal lands. According to local (unofficial) sources that happened when the tribe had cut a deal, but before signing, suddenly demanded three times as much for the easement across the corner of the reservation. That demand made it more economical in the near term to go around Tribal Lands entirely, and would avoid future contention over the right of way.
Archaeological crews surveyed the entire route, and were on hand as the trenches and other earthwork were done to avoid disturbance of cultural assets. The pipeline route had over 100 changes made to avoid disturbing archaeological sites. In addition, the pipe laid beneath the Missouri river was emplaced in a borehole 90 feet below the bottom of the old riverbed, was double the thickness of the pipe laid elsewhere, and thoroughly inspected before being put in place. Of all the pipeline crossings of the Missouri River, this one is the newest and least likely to contaminate the river water.
None of those facts were pointed out in the National Media, who love a great protest for 'gaia', Nor did they focus on the trash remaining and damage done by those protesting to "protect the water".
When the site of the protester's camp was cleaned up, 720 semi loads of trash and debris were hauled out, along with a human body which had been wrapped in a tarp and abandoned in a creek. In all, some 24,000 tons of garbage and debris were hauled off, from a campsite that would be well within the area inundated by lake level rise during spring runoff, at a cost of over $1 million.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/1/dakota-access-protest-camp-crews-haul-48-million-p/Of the protesters arrested, 95% of them were from out of state.
In conjunction with the protests, valves were tampered with on three active pipelines (other, existing lines, where enclosures were broken into and valve settings changed) but those actions were caught by pipeline operators and the lines shut down before any damage or leakage occurred.
But part of the takeaway from these events is that if any of the major mass media take up the standard of the protestors, regardless of whether those protests are justified, the project or other matter becomes branded as "controversial". A pipe to pump oil through may not seem less than straightforward, no more a source of contention than a drinking straw, but either, given the opportunity for someone to complain, can become "controversial".
