Dakota Access Pipeline Archives

14May 2017 by Lynda Waddington

Oklahoma provides template for pipeline protest backlash

Gazette Column

Dakota Access Pipeline protests have sparked changes to the Oklahoma criminal trespass code. The measures could become boilerplate bills for other jurisdictions. The Oklahoma bill, signed into law this week and immediately effective, mandates steep fines and jail time for those convicted of trespassing at “critical infrastructure facilities” with intent to hinder operations. Such facilities include pipelines, chemical plants, railways, oil refineries and other industrial locations, reports Dale Denwalt of The Oklahoman. Those who trespass, regardless of intent, face at least a $1,000 fine. (The law doesn’t set an upper limit.) If intent to disrupt is found, the trespasser faces a $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Those found guilty of “damaging, vandalizing, defacing or tampering” while trespassing face $100,000 in fines and up to 10 years…

14Nov 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Still a lot of work to do

Gazette Column

Throughout the community one question seems to dominate personal interaction: “How are you feeling?” I’ve been asked by people I see each day and those I only have occasional opportunity to speak with. Convenience store clerks, local members of the clergy, co-workers, neighbors, transit riders and drivers and community activists of all stripes are curious, some perhaps morbidly so, on my and their other neighbors’ state of mind. So, how are you feeling in these first post-election days? I am, of course, disappointed that the nation has not finally elected a woman to its highest office. I’m especially concerned by the years of misinformation and sexism that led to undeserved backlash against Hillary Clinton, and a campaign with an overall anti-women tone. More than shock at Donald Trump’s public disrespect…

17Oct 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Iowans owe debt to tribes fighting oil pipeline

Gazette Column

When this election is complete, I hope to travel and stand alongside the Standing Rock Sioux. It’s the least I can do for the 300 tribes who are inadvertently fighting for the protection of Iowa farmland while demanding their sovereignty be respected. The massive demonstrations near Lake Oahe in North Dakota began in the spring with a few members of the Standing Rock Sioux establishing a prayer encampment. It’s now blossomed into an international discussion that encompasses climate change, the future of renewable fuels and, of course, tribal rights. [caption id="attachment_87" align="alignright" width="640"] Dakota Access Pipeline protesters square off against police near the Standing Rock Reservation and the pipeline route outside the little town of Saint Anthony, North Dakota, U.S., October 5, 2016. (Terray Sylvester/Reuters)[/caption] It centers on the Dakota…

23Nov 2015 by Lynda Waddington

Plans for potential pipeline problems should be public

Gazette Column

Last week, Todd Stamm, vice president of the company that would operate the proposed Bakken oil pipeline, told Iowa Utilities Board members that threat assessments were created in relation to spill scenarios. According to a Des Moines Register report, those assessments include information about the scope and breadth of potential leaks. “It is just not information that I would suggest is information that you would want to be public as far as the physical location of where that location might be,” Stamm said in answer to why such information should be kept confidential. The proposed pipeline, under review by the Iowa Utilities Board for approval and eminent domain use, would carry about 450,000 barrels of crude oil each day from North Dakota to a distribution center in Illinois. The route…

18May 2015 by Lynda Waddington

Eminent domain bill deserves fair hearing

Gazette Column

A decade has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court decided private property could be legally seized by the government and handed to a different private property owner under the guise of “economic development.” Kelo vs. New London was met with widespread distaste, earning the public ire of Republicans and Democrats alike. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor spelled out the dangers: “The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.” As public sentiment toward the decision soured, backlash within the states began. In 2006, the Iowa Legislature passed a bill to restrict the use of eminent domain for economic development. Although the bill was…