DES MOINES, Iowa - The Bakken Pipeline poses serious risks to Iowa's farmland and waters.
Yet the project's impacts have not been fully assessed by the Army Corps of Engineers, despite what the MAIN Coalition claims in a recent opinion piece and in a letter sent to President Barack Obama ("Multistate coalition urges president to allow pipeline," Viewpoint, Page A4, Apri 28).
The Corps has a stated responsibility "for investigating, developing and maintaining the nation's water and related environmental resources" on projects such as the Bakken Pipeline. That includes the Corps' responsibility to the entire area affected by the pipeline, not merely segments of it.
This charge demands a thorough Environmental Impact Statement to assess the full range of impacts, including on climate change and tribal cultural resources.
Landowners, advocates and the tribal nations are not the only ones urging the Corps to do its job. The Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency stated their concerns as well. Yet the Corps so far has refused to conduct a full and comprehensive EIS.
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Without an EIS, the threat to primary water sources for farmers, ranchers, tribes and city dwellers throughout the four-state region and beyond can never be fully assessed. Without an EIS, the likely impact on climate change won't even enter the conversation.
Without an EIS, concerns raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribes about potential damage to the Missouri River watershed and other waters of the United States won't be heard.
From what I can gather, the MAIN Coalition exists solely to promote the Bakken Pipeline. So, it should come as no surprise that fossil-fuel interests dominate MAIN's membership.
MAIN's letter to Obama was sent exactly one week after I sent a letter on the same subject to the president. The letter has since been signed by more than 20 Iowa organizations opposed to the pipeline - organizations that MAIN characterizes as "outside groups" and as "environmental groups opposed to all forms of energy."
Sorry, but that's ridiculous. MAIN is on extremely shaky ground to disparage criticism of the pipeline as agitation from "outside groups." I'll remind Herald readers that Dakota Access, the company proposing the pipelne, is from Texas.
Further, our letter's signatories stand with tribal leaders who claim the Corps failed to properly consult with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on the pipeline's impacts.
The letter reads: "{T}he Corps is mandated to initiate consultation with tribes whose historic properties may be affected by the pipeline route. This includes consulting and coordinating with the aforementioned tribes on the identification of historic and tribal properties that may be adversely affected by pipeline construction and route."
Back to Obama and his role in the Bakken Pipeline. I'll quote from our letter: "Dear President Obama. Your rejection of the Keystone Pipeline was truly historic, and we again commend you for that bold act of foresight and leadership. Your decision sent a strong statement about the importance of protecting land, water and property rights. It also conveyed the message that climate change is a clear and present danger demanding America's full commitment to ending our reliance on fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
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"With that frame of reference, we ask you in the strongest possible terms to exert the same clarion leadership with regards to the proposed Bakken Pipeline."
I wish I were a fly on the wall of the president's office as he considers our letter and the letter from MAIN. These letters sum up his options.
Will the president tell the Corps to ignore its historic responsibility of "maintaining the nation's water and related environmental resources," thus allowing Dakota Access to rush forward on a pipeline that has generated so much public backlash?
Or will he hear the plea of those with no vested financial interest in oil or pipelines - those who will suffer the destruction of farmland, water and habitat?
Given the legacy the president has built, I believe he will side with the people, our water, our land, our property rights and our planet.
Fallon is director of Bold Iowa.
