Emotional speakers lobby panel for and against Iowa pipeline

Emotional speakers lobby panel for and against Iowa pipeline

BOONE (AP) — After months of tension over the potential construction of an oil pipeline across Iowa, supporters and opponents lined up to speak two minutes at a time Thursday before the regulatory board that will decide if the project proceeds. People crammed into a building at the Boone County Fairgrounds for a public hearing organized by the Iowa Utilities Board, a three-member panel that is overseeing an application by Dakota Access LLC to build part of a roughly 1,100-mile pipeline from North Dakota through parts of South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.

The board is considering whether to allow Dakota Access, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the right to use private land for the pipeline, a process known as eminent domain. Some landowners have voluntarily agreed to easements that would allow for the pipeline to be built on their property, while others have been vocal about their opposition to it.

In Boone County, one of 18 counties where the pipeline would be constructed, large signs on highways encourage people to oppose the project.

'It looks like it's up to the three of you,' said Craig Peterson, of Dayton, who opposes the project.