Iowa utilities regulators have approved a permit for 346 miles of crude oil pipeline to be built under Iowa farmland.
Over the objection of thousands of Iowa residents, the Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously Thursday, March 10th to let Texas-based company Dakota Access begin the so-called Bakken pipeline project.
The board also will allow Dakota Access the ability to force hundreds of unwilling landowners into easements using eminent domain laws. That is expected to bring lawsuits.
The $3.7 billion pipeline will carry about a half-million barrels of oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois.
Iowa was the only state that had not yet approved a permit for the project, which will stretch across 18 Iowa counties and 1,300 parcels of land.
