Update, 2/5: A decision on whether to approve a hazardous liquid pipeline permit for the Bakken pipeline project may come as early as next week, when the Iowa Utilities Board will hold a series of four livestreamed public meetings in Des Moines. You can find more information on that in our weekly news roundup.
Original post, 1/21: On Wednesday, the North Dakota Public Service Commission approved a permit for Dakota Access LLC’s controversial proposal to construct a crude oil pipeline from the state’s Bakken and Three Forks shales to a hub in Patoka, Illinois. The decision leaves Iowa as the only one of the four states the pipeline would be buried across (the others being South Dakota and Illinois) that has yet to approve a construction permit for the project.
With the protracted dispute involving union workers, energy companies, environmentalists, and landowners in its final stretch before a decision is announced by the Iowa Utilities Board — the state’s primary pipeline regulatory agency — on whether to allow Dakota Access to move forward with the project that it hopes to complete by the end of 2016, here’s a look at what’s transpired to get to where things stand today:
Featured image source: Energy Transfer Partners LP. Timeline created using Northwestern University’s Knight Lab TimelineJS tool.
