Dozens of environmental activists and union laborers turned out in force Thursday morning for the Illinois Commerce Commission hearing on the proposed expansion of the Dakota Access pipeline, which transports crude oil from North Dakota to a terminal in central Illinois.
Opponents of the expansion, which would increase the flow of oil through the pipeline from a daily average of 560,000 barrels to 1.1 million barrels, argue the increased amount is dangerous to the environment and an unnecessary reliance on fossil fuel. Proponents, including members of the Laborers’ International Union who wore bright orange sweatshirts, jackets and shirts to the meeting at the Bilandic Building in the Loop, say the pipeline expansion is safe, a boost to the American economy and will create construction jobs in Illinois.
The evidentiary hearing that began Thursday is much like a court proceeding. The pipeline company, which is petitioning the Illinois Commerce Commission for approval to expand capacity and build new pump stations, and environmental groups, which are protesting the plans, can call upon witnesses and ask questions in front of an administrative law judge. A final decision on the fate of the proposed pipeline upgrades is still months away.
While the public is able to attend, there is no time allotted for public comment. That restriction did not prevent activists and pro-pipeline union members from packing the eighth-floor hearing room. People stood along the side of the room, which holds about 100 people, and the crowd overflowed into the hallway.
Deni Mathews, chairwoman of the group Save Our Illinois Land, among the groups which has filed a series of objections to the plans, said she is not sure what effect activists’ presence will have on the future of the project but that transparency in the process and bringing the plans to the public’s attention are part of activists’ goal.
“This hearing is bone-dry in terms of content, but I think it’s important to open up these different commissions and make sure the public knows what’s going on,” Mathews said.
SOIL board member Paul Berland said he wished the hearing focused more on the overarching issue of climate change, instead of the intricacies of the specific pipeline proposals. Still, he said the fight against the pipeline is part of an overall effort to stand up to the oil and gas industry.
“The fact is that there is more and more global warming occurring across the world and this pipeline is going to have devastating consequences and it’s just going to get worse,” Berland said. “But we’re also concerned about the environmental damage, as well. So it’s multiple facets.”
Several labor unions have formally filed support for the plans with the commerce commission. The presence of dozens of members reinforced that support.
Craig Stevens, spokesman for a coalition of businesses, trade associations and labor groups called Grow America’s Infrastructure Now, said the pipeline is “incredibly important to Illinois and our nation’s economy.” Increasing Dakota Access capacity will allow more American crude oil to be transported to market while also freeing up Midwestern rail cars to transport more commodities such as corn and soybeans, he said.
“Really the question, I think, that the American electorate needs to think about is, ‘What are we going to do to power our nation?'” Stevens said. He argued the pipeline is safe and “one of the most technologically advanced pipelines ever constructed.”
The company that operates Dakota Access, Energy Transfer, says the expansion will not increase the risk of ruptures or spills. The pipeline, the company says, was initially built to handle the flow of more oil than the current amount.
“Our plan to optimize the pipeline’s capacity is well within the design parameters of the current system,” a company spokeswoman wrote in response to previous questions from the Tribune. “The additional pumps and the enhanced safety controls along the route, i.e., surge tanks, will not change the risk profile of the pipeline or the maximum operating pressure. The Dakota Access pipeline will continue to operate safely at the optimized capacity.”
Dakota Access, in a June filing with the commerce commission, detailed its desire to increase pipeline volume and upgrade pumping infrastructure along the route. The simple reason for the changes, they say, is increased production and demand for crude oil. In order to handle the increased flow, the company wants to build a $35 million to $40 million pump station near Carthage in western Illinois and add two pumps and replace two others at the pump and tank hub near the towns of Patoka and Vernon along U.S. Highway 51.
Those upgrades, the company says, will allow it to increase the daily flow through the pipeline to as much as 1.1 million barrels per day. The Williston Basin in North Dakota, which includes the Bakken region, is producing about 1.4 million barrels per day, up 29% from when the Dakota Access pipeline began operating in June 2017, according to a recent company filing for the commerce commission.
The company forecasts that production will continue to increase over the next five years because of advances in “recovery and drilling technology.”
Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline engineer tapped for written testimony by the environmental groups, said during a phone interview prior to the hearing that he’s not convinced the pipeline can safely handle the increased pressure that will come with increased flow.
Federal regulations, Kuprewicz said, don’t govern these specifics, so the company “better know how to do this and it better not allow the pipeline to fail.”
The potential for a 15-feet-per-second rate of flow is higher than the 5 to 8 feet per second that is customary for similarly designed pipelines, said Kuprewicz, the president of a company that investigates gas and liquid pipelines who has been called for testimony at the federal level and has consulted with numerous government agencies on pipeline spills.
“That’s a pretty high velocity,” Kuprewicz said. “That gets my attention. … You are at a velocity where the surge risk is real. I really want the company to be able to show that they have designed stuff that will prevent this.”
The hearing comes after Dakota Access has been filling the airwaves with advertisements, touting the benefits of the pipeline for Illinois and the Midwest. Dakota Access ads have been running on local Chicago television and radio stations, and this week the company took out a half-page ad in the Chicago Tribune as well as a digital ad on the Tribune’s homepage.
The pipeline was also showcased during a regional spot that ran on Fox-32 during the Super Bowl in early February. The Super Bowl ad reached 1.8 million people (ages 18 and older), according to Fox spokeswoman Victoria Gurrieri.
Illinois and Iowa must still approve the plan before it can move forward.
After the hearing, which could stretch into Friday, the administrative law judge will consider the testimony and issue a proposed order, which usually occurs several weeks after the hearing. Then each side will again have the ability to respond to the order before the case finally heads to the full panel of ICC commissioners. Eventually, the commissioners will vote on whether the oil companies can increase capacity on the pipeline and issue a final order.
