A group of canoes and kayaks will travel down the Des Moines River on Saturday in protest of the Bakken Pipeline.
Organizer Angie Carter expects at least 40 people to show up for the flotilla.
She describes the aquatic protest as a family-friendly way to encourage the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the pipeline permission to begin construction and issue an environmental impact statement.
"Right now an environmental impact statement is not required for this pipeline, even though it would transport 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day, which means that it could spill about a million gallons of oil in just an hour," says Carter. "We're asking the U.S. Army Corps to require a full environmental impact statement and ultimately to reject the permit."
The Army Corps of Engineers says it’s in the process of verifying whether or not the pipeline construction will create a permanent loss to Iowa’s wetlands and rivers.
Texas based Dakota Access, which is constructing the pipeline, says the chance of a spill is very remote. The company says that pipelines are the safest, most efficient method for transporting oil.
