MANNING, N.D. -- Weathered by years of oil activity, Dunn County commissioners warned of the importance of landowner relations Wednesday as they met with representatives of a company proposing a huge oil pipeline that would cut through the county on its way from Stanley to Patoka, Ill.
The $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, also known as the Bakken Pipeline, will carry up to 570,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude. It will be Texas-based Energy Transfer's first North Dakota line. The company hopes the pipeline will be operational in late 2016.
The company has firm commitments from shippers for 450,000 barrels per day and is in the middle of a second open season to gather clients, project spokeswoman Vicki Granado said. The main line will stretch 992 miles through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois, including 203 miles in North Dakota. The project will also include 142 miles of gathering lines around northwestern North Dakota.
ADVERTISEMENT
The gathering line will wind through North Dakota from Stanley around to Epping, Trenton, Williston, Watford City and Johnson Corner, where it will become a transmission line straight to Patoka, Ill., a hub with other pipelines down to Gulf Coast refineries. The company plans to file for its permit from the North Dakota Public Service Commission later this year.
Commissioners grilled company representatives with questions and warned them of the importance of landowner relations, wary from past experiences.
Energy Transfer held an open house in Killdeer on Tuesday, in New Town on Wednesday and will hold a final North Dakota event in Watford City today. In Killdeer, many questions centered on land reclamation, said Tammy Ibach, a marketing professional hired by Energy Transfer to help with outreach.
She asked commissioners for recommendations on good local contractors.
"We're open to suggestions as to who, in your opinion, has done it the best (so) that we can pick up the phone and call and say, 'Landowners out here in the Bakken are saying you've done it the best,'" she said.
Ibach and Engineering Director Mark Bullock said Energy Transfer isn't like other operators that may have scarred the county, and assured commissioners that good landowner relations are part of the company's values.
But, as Commissioner Donna Scott said, "We hear that from everybody."
So commissioners urged them to show, not tell.
ADVERTISEMENT
Commissioners brought up a disconnect there can be between landmen, who make first contact with landowners, and the company itself later in the project, which can lead to "some really hard feelings," Scott said.
Commissioner Daryl Dukart said Energy Transfer needs to make sure all employees working on the project, regardless of if their direct employer is Energy Transfer, are respectful.
"Having your subcontractors of subcontractors being responsible for damages and being honorable to the landowners is very important," he said, "because one or two screw-ups and it'll haunt you."
Dukart said exclusive easements, or agreements prohibiting any other underground lines from crossing the Bakken Access line, can be inconvenient for the county.
Because it is so underdeveloped, the county needs the freedom to lay future lines across where this one would be, he said.
"You guys try to protect your interests; we need to protect our interests," he said.
Dunn County State's Attorney Ross Sundeen said some easements for Enbridge Energy's Sandpiper line have exclusivity clauses. The company is currently surveying the proposed route and hasn't started negotiating for easements yet.
"Especially out here ... that can really hamstring a lot of development opportunities," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Responding to the concerns, Bullock said the company would be more concerned about development above-ground around the pipeline, in case of an emergency with the line below ground.
"We don't want anything in the way," Bullock said.
