The US Army Corps of Engineers will be holding meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Bismarck concerning its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
The Corps has issued a preliminary EIS for the pipeline.
It crosses Lake Oahe south of Bismarck, near the Standing Rock Reservation.
The pipeline went into service in 2017. It carries up to 750,000 barrels of Bakken oil per day. It was the subject of mass protests during construction. Tribes have been concerned about the potential of leaks, and what that might do to the Missouri River and Lake Oahe.
The owner — Dakota Transfer Partners — maintains it is one of the safest pipelines ever built.
The Corps is only looking at the easement for the pipeline to cross underneath Lake Oahe. Corps operations division chief Sheila Newman of the Omaha District said the Corps has five alternatives – abandon the pipeline under the lake and remove it, abandon that section of pipeline in place and stop the oil flow, reissue the easement, add more conditions to the easement, or moving the route to north of Bismarck.
"In the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review process, we really are trying to make the best possible decisions," Newman told reporters. "That means that we are listening to everyone. And we want to know if we have missed something critical in our analysis — what is it, tell us, and provide information to help us include it."
The meetings are scheduled Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the Bismarck Ramada Inn.
The comment period on the EIS has been extended until Dec. 13th.
