William Petroski

bpetrosk@dmreg.com

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, which gave its name to the state of Iowa, is objecting to the process of granting a state permit for a cross-state Bakken oil pipeline.

Lance Foster, the tribe's historic preservation officer in White Cloud, Kansas, sent a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board filed Wednesday that says the tribe is a sovereign tribal entity and it has not been consulted about the pipeline project. The tribe was moved from Iowa in the 1830s to reservations in Kansas and Nebraska.

Foster requested that serious consideration be given to indigenous sacred and traditional sites before the Iowa Utilities Board issues a pipeline permit.

"The permitting process has been chaotic, segmented and the coordination has suffered the lack of a lead federal agency to ensure the provisions of all legal authorities ... are properly followed," Foster said. He added there is also a need to address provisions of other state and local laws involving unmarked burials and cultural sites, "which has been totally absent in the process"

The Iowa Utilities Board did not immediately file a response to the Iowa tribe's concerns.

The Iowa Utilities Board voted 3-0 on March 10 to grant a permit for the pipeline, which would transport up to 570,000 barrels of oil daily from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch through South Dakota and Iowa en route to Patoka, Ill. But Foster said federal law requires consultation with Indian tribes and he believes the granting of a permit is premature. The pipeline is being planned by Dakota Access LLC, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, but Iowa regulators have still not issued the permit, pending compliance with certain conditions.

The Meskwaki tribe, which has had an Iowa settlement near Tama since 1857, last year filed a formal objection to the Bakken pipeline plans.

The Meskwaki tribe — officially known as the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa — raised concerns the Bakken oil pipeline would damage the environment and harm Native American graves while crossing through ancestral and ceded treaty lands.