Dakota Access gets easement near landfill

The Sioux Falls City Council first rejected, then approved an easement for the Dakota Access pipeline on Tuesday.

The easement will run near the city landfill along the South Dakota route of the pipeline, which is designed to carry Bakken oil patch crude from western North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois.

The pipeline earned a permit from the Public Utilities Commission last fall, and has since earned approvals from regulators in North Dakota and Illinois. A decision in Iowa is expected this month.

City Council member Rex Rolfing made what he characterized as a symbolic vote against granting the easement initially, with the easement failing 4-3 in a decision that required a supermajority for passage.

Rolfing said he’d received several calls from people outside the city of Sioux Falls expressing frustration with Dakota Access' aggressive actions during negotiations. PUC member and former Sioux Falls mayor Gary Hanson voted against granting a permit to the company, based in part on the company's treatment of landowners prior to the hearing.

“My sole point in voting ‘no’ was basically to make sure people knew that I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls, and I think some of the others have too, about the way some people have been treated on this,” Rolfing said.

Rolfing was joined by Kermit Staggers and Kenny Anderson Jr. in the initial rejection of the easement deal, which will see Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners pay the city $24,638 for the right to dig near the landfill and maintain the pipe.

Rolfing called for a reconsideration of the easement vote shortly thereafter. The easement vote passed 5-2 the second time, with Anderson Jr. and Staggers maintaining their opposition.

Had the easement failed, the city could have faced an eminent domain action from Dakota Access. Assistant City Attorney Diane Best told the council that the city already had negotiated additional protections from the company during the PUC hearings, including a $10 million insurance policy to cover potential damage.

“That’s obviously not the most desirable thing for the city of Sioux Falls,” Best said of an eminent domain lawsuit.

Joey Mahmoud, a VP with Energy Transfer Partners, told the council that the company had initiated some eminent domain cases for the Dakota Access project. There are seven tracts of land and six landowners whose land use agreements remain unresolved, he said.

“You do reach an impasse in certain circumstances,” Mahmoud said.

Peggy Hoogestraat, a landowner who was sued prior to the hearings at the PUC, told the council that she felt the company had been less than truthful during negotiations. She told the council to carefully consider their votes.

“Have a clear conscience in your decision,” she said.

Council member Michelle Erpenbach said she understood the concerns of her fellow city council members, but that a vote against the easement would be a poor choice after having negotiated at the PUC.

“The reconsideration is the right move because we have been involved since the very beginning," Erpenbach said. ”Yes we’re independent, but no, we’re not able to go back on our word”

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617. You can tweet him@ArgusJHultor find him on Facebook at  www.Facebook.com/ ArgusReadersWatchdog