Iowa regulators deny environmentalists' bid to revoke permit for $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline

Iowa regulators have rejected a request by two environmental groups to revoke a state permit and shut down oil shipments on the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline.

The Iowa Utilities Board said Friday it was clear a federal court has not withdrawn the pipeline's authority to operate and the groups' motion was based on an incorrect premise. The decision was signed by Chairwoman Geri Huser and board member Nick Wagner.

The Sierra Club of Iowa and the Science and Environmental Health Network had claimed that a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., invalidates the company's Iowa permit. They noted that the Iowa permit was conditioned on Dakota Access obtaining all necessary state and federal authorizations for the project.

The pipeline began transporting crude oil on June 1 from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch to a distribution hub at Patoka, Ill. It crosses diagonally through 18 Iowa counties and has a capacity to ship about 520,000 barrels of oil daily.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/07/21/iowa-regulators-deny-environmentalists-bid-revoke-permit-3-8-billion-dakota-access-pipeline/500243001/