A Dallas, Texas based company proposing to build a crude oil pipeline that would cross 18 Iowa counties, including Lee, and 10 in Illinois, including Hancock, will file for a permit to build with the Iowa Utilities Board later this month.
Energy Transfer Partners Senior Vice President Joey Mahmoud says the company has permission from 80 percent of landowners along the proposed route to survey. If the petition is approved, he says the company will seek eminent domain powers to survey the rest of the land.
Iowans have spoken out in favor and against the project so far in public information sessions held by the state. Opinions also vary outside the state. A Michigan State geoscientist is warning about a possible oil spill from the proposed pipeline, which Energy Transfer Partners says they intend to bury between three to four feet deep across Iowa and Illinois farm fields. Geoscientist Bruno Basso says that’s not deep enough.
Basso and Mahmoud recently made their comments on a recent broadcast of the Iowa Public Radio “River to River” program.
