The Iowa Utilities Board has not yet decided whether to grant a permit for a pipeline that would carry North Dakota crude oil across the state. IUB permission is necessary for pipeline company Dakota Access to use eminent domain, so that it can construct the pipeline through private land.
At the beginning of the week it seemed four afternoons of deliberations could give the board enough time to reach a decision. But the IUB has scheduled an additional meeting for next Friday, Feb. 19, to discuss terms and conditions of a possible permit. The board also reserved March 9 and 10, if more time is needed.
Before it recessed, the board weighed the general economic and environmental benefits and detriments a pipeline would present to Iowa.
At least two members of the three-person panel agreed that regulating a pipeline fell under the board’s purview. Opponents of the pipeline posited that since crude oil is neither produced not refined in the state, the board had no role in granting a permit.