PUC sets fall hearing for Dakota Access

A two-week hearing will take place this fall for consideration of the Dakota Access Pipeline in South Dakota, but it appears some local activity is taking place related to the project.

South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson said a two-week evidentiary hearing will take place the last week of September and the first week of October. Nelson said this is the time when parties on both sides of the issue will meet to present their case and from that point, the Public Utilities Commission will review that information, compare it to the statutory requirements and provide a final decision by mid-December.

If approved, the Dakota Access Pipeline line would move oil from the Bakken fields in North Dakota 1,133 miles to Illinois.

The pipeline would slice through 267 miles in South Dakota, including parts of McPherson, Edmunds, Campbell, Spink and Faulk counties.

Piping for the project has been staged in various locations including a section of land near Aberdeen. Recently, a legal notice was placed in the Aberdeen American News announcing an auction selling 2,000 sections of 80-foot-by-30-inch pipe.

The American News has reached out to the law firm that placed the advertisement and have not received comment at this time.

According to Vicki Granado, a media relations representative for Dakota Access, this notice is part of a dispute between other parties and the pipeline is not involved.

When contacted in March, the Dakota Access media relations representative said the pipe is being secured by ETC Intrastate Procurement Company and will ultimately be sold to Dakota Access.

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