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Dakota Access Stockpiling Canadian Steel in Brown County

Hey, Charlie Johnson! I found the pipeline that Dakota Access wants to run under your organic farm:

Pipeline waiting on rail at Mina-Hwy212 junction, 2015.03.21
Pipeline waiting on rail at Mina-Hwy212 junction, 2015.03.21
About a dozen rail cars at Mina hold pipeline for the Dakota Access project, bound for stockpile six miles west of Aberdeen.
About a dozen rail cars at Mina hold pipeline for the Dakota Access project, bound for stockpile six miles west of Aberdeen.

Bryan Horwath reports that Dakota Access has rented land from a farmer six miles west of Aberdeen to stockpile pipe for the Bakken oil pipeline, which is planned to run northwest to southeast across East River… assuming, of course, that the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission permits the pipeline to be built… which it hasn’t yet… which would make ordering 200 to 300 miles of steel rather premature, wouldn’t you think?

Ah, but Dakota Access probably got a good deal on this steel…

Close-up of "Made in China" pipeline at Mina-212 junction, 2015.03.21.
Close-up of “Made in Canada” pipeline at Mina-212 junction, 2015.03.21.

…since the Canadian dollar has dropped significantly since last July (peaked right when we took our vacation in Vancouver—figures!).

22 Comments

  1. Richard Schriever 2015-03-21 23:13

    There is also a large stockpile 1/2 mile West of the Worthing (SD 44) Exit off I-29, South of Sioux Falls. This is the same location that was used to stockpile pipe for the original Keystone Pipeline a few years ago.

  2. leslie 2015-03-22 02:24

    nice photography. seriously. on another note….

    Did KOCHS have anything to do w falsifying the country of origin of the steel, or is it still Chinese steel wrapped into pipe in Canada? is it just GOP spin? do they stockpile pipe ect. in weakly regulated states only, like SD?

  3. mike from iowa 2015-03-22 07:17

    At least the pipe is painted green so it looks environmentally friendly. Knowing that-wingnuts can sleep much better at night.

  4. Nick Nemec 2015-03-22 07:21

    Why would any farmer rent out land for the stockpiling of pipe? They must pay a ton of rent. If it’s pasture the pipe on the ground and traffic from the heavy equipment will kill any grass out there, and if it’s pasture the traffic from the heavy equipment will pack the field to the consistency of concrete. It will take years to restore the tilth of the land. Unless the rental agreement includes restoration and at least three years rent past the end of the project you’re getting screwed.

  5. Nick Nemec 2015-03-22 07:22

    Is there any further proof needed that the SD Public Utilities Commission is a rubber stamp for corporate interests?

  6. Nick Nemec 2015-03-22 07:24

    Meant to say farm ground will be packed to the consistency of concrete.

  7. Lynn 2015-03-22 07:29

    MFI,

    At least that nice black sweet North Dakota crude oil will blend in nicely with the nice rich black fertile soil around there when that pipe eventually leaks. Wouldn’t be so good for our groundwater especially with a forecasted drought.

  8. Lynn 2015-03-22 07:34

    Nick,

    Not a good sign about the process is it? I was thinking the same thing earlier. Next we will see all these rail cars sitting at a railroad siding in the southern less populated part of the state that just happened to be lead lined.

  9. Loren 2015-03-22 08:01

    We moved back to SD a few years back when the wife and I retired. We are still trying to figure out the politics. The PEOPLE told the legislators they wanted them to leave the abortion issue alone, so every year, some “people’s representative” try to further restrict a women’s right to choose. We recently voted to raise minimum wage to $8.50/hr, but our officials seemed to think we didn’t really mean it. Now we have pipe moving in to an area where a pipeline company was told they could NOT build a pipeline. Must be waiting for a Republican decision maker that knows better than the electorate.

  10. mike from iowa 2015-03-22 09:23

    Lynn,in regards to all that nice black stuff getting into the soil and water,wingnuts will just say it has occurred for 6000 years and god put it in there for a reason. We need to disabuse wingnuts of the notion that their religious beliefs trump the laws of the land. I suggest burning them at the stake after a nice warm bath in boiling crude oil. Ironically,we can fuel the burning with tons of campaign cash leftover from the months of lying to their constituents.

  11. mike from iowa 2015-03-22 09:25

    Obama sent out new regs for fracking on gubmint and Indian land,including revelation of all chemicals used in the fracking process. Of course,this is already under attack by industry.

  12. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-03-22 09:26

    Richard! Send us some pix of the Worthing depot! Is that pipe stamped “Made in Canada” also?

  13. rollin potter 2015-03-22 09:50

    hey Nick, get out of your yard and drive around south Dakota and look at all piles of over run,rock ,and gravel piles the highway contractors leave after they are done with there highway job!! I tried to get the state to hold up there payments to the contractors until the landowners
    were satisfied with there agreement but guess who won that argument!!!!!!!!!
    Rollin Potter
    reliance,sd 57569
    remember me Nick?

  14. Paul Seamans 2015-03-22 09:52

    Dakota Access stockpiling pipe even before they obtain a permit in South Dakota or Iowa shows the arrogance of these pipeline companies. TransCanada has a yard full of pipe near Gascoyne ND that has been “racked and waiting” as TransCanada would put it for over three years now. Let’s hope it remains “racked and waiting… and waiting.. and waiting”.

  15. Roger Elgersma 2015-03-22 10:10

    The republicans keep saying these pipelines are for American jobs. But Canadian steel says they do not look at what they are doing.

  16. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-03-22 11:26

    Maybe CAFOs should add this strategy to their efforts to secure conditional use permits from counties: order all the materials for the barns, stack ’em up at the county line, then come to the commission and say, “Look, we’ve already spent big bucks on all these materials; you don’t want us to take a loss on those purchases, do you?”

  17. Paul Seamans 2015-03-22 12:45

    Nick Nemec, in the Draper/Murdo area TransCanada has been paying around $15,000/year for a thirty acre pipe yard. So far no pipe has been moved into these yards. On a related note, our local electric cooperative has $20 million worth of metal poles and wire to be used to provide power to the pump stations for the Keystone XL. This inventory is in a yard along the north side of I90 by the west Murdo exit.

  18. leslie 2015-03-23 06:48

    wow, paul. thats big business. coop utility stockpiling 20 mill of building supplies. big gamble? no, not in sd.

    the business strategy leads the permitting debate because the gov hires lawyers, department heads, experts, and appoints boards with gop bent, with their philosophical assurance that approval will occur despite the voter’s, the residents, the citizenship that the state government is elected to represent and protect and regulate for the greater good.

    cart before the horse. wonder, are uranium hearings front loaded too?

  19. Deb Geelsdottir 2015-03-23 21:25

    I am clearly ignorant about this. How is it that you’re so sure that steel came from China? Please clarify for me. Thanks.

  20. Charlie Johnson 2015-03-24 02:53

    I am relieved to know that my local DAP land agent was right on two accounts. Last summer he stated to me at my kitchen table that the DAP was full ready to go and 100% permitted. His second statement that same day after I mentioned South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, “What is a Public Utilities Commission?”

  21. Daleb 2015-03-25 22:12

    Thats nailor pipe. We use it for pumping water. That doesnt mean it couldnt be used for oil or petrolium products, but the machinework on the ends would need to be beveled at 30-45 degrees for welding. It was hard to tell from the pictures.

  22. leslie 2015-04-03 16:12

    daleb. can u explain?

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