There's Already Been a Leak on the Dakota Access Pipeline

By Kate Yoder, Grist

11 May 17

There’s already been a leak on the Dakota Access Pipeline.

akota Media Group reported Wednesday that a small 84-gallon spill occurred at a pump station in Crandon, South Dakota, last month. Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, moved to clean up the leak quickly.

The April 4 leak did not occur near a water source, which has been the primary concern of Dakota Access’ opposition. But it happened before the pipeline — which will transport crude oil 1,172 miles from North Dakota to Illinois — is even fully operational.

However, at the end of March, oil began flowing through the section of the pipeline that runs under Lake Oahe, the primary water source for Standing Rock. And InsideClimate News reports that Energy Transfer Partners currently has no response plan and no emergency cleanup equipment onsite for the event of an oil spill where the pipeline crosses the Missouri River.

“These spills are going to be nonstop,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chair Dave Archambault II said. “With 1,200 miles of pipeline, spills are going to happen. Nobody listened to us.”

The Dakota Access project was paused for environmental review under former President Obama last year after nationwide protests. President Trump — who stands to profit from the pipeline — reversed that decision in January, and construction moved forward.