William Petroski

bpetrosk@dmreg.com

State and local authorities are investigating suspected arson fires in two Iowa counties on the Bakken pipeline project that reportedly caused nearly $1 million in damage to construction equipment.

Houston-based Dakota Access LLC, which is building the underground oil pipeline, confirmed the weekend fire damage to its heavy equipment on Monday. The company, which is a unit of Energy Transfer Partners, issued a statement vowing to prosecute whoever set the fires in Jasper and Mahaska counties. The firm also pledged to increase security along the pipeline route, which crosses diagonally through 18 Iowa counties. The damaged equipment included bulldozers and backhoes.

"It is unfortunate that people need to behave in this manner," the company said. "Americans burning American-made equipment, which is owned and operated by American companies, employing American union workers, working on a pipeline owned and operated by an American company for transporting crude oil produced in America for American consumers, is a shameful act by a group of people trying to disrupt our country’s energy security and independence. … We will not tolerate this kind of activity, which is a safety hazard to all concerned."

The State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating one fire on the pipeline project in Mahaska County and there were two more pipeline construction fires in Jasper County that may be related, said Alex Murphy, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Newton Fire Marshal Mike Knoll said the Jasper County fires were reported Monday. They included a blaze spotted about 6 a.m. in a farm field about four miles west of Newton and a second fire about two miles southeast of Reasnor. The Newton Daily News said a third fire was reported on the pipeline route in Mahaska County about 8.5 miles north of Oskaloosa that was believed to have been set early Sunday morning. In each instance, heavy equipment — including bulldozers and backhoes — appeared to have been intentionally burned, authorities said.

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No arrests were reported as of late Monday afternoon, and the Jasper County Sheriff's Department was asking the public for its assistance in the case.

An estimated 2,000 to 4,000 construction workers are expected to be employed on the Iowa segment of the $3.8 billion pipeline, which will extend from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to Patoka, Ill. The Iowa section cleared its final regulatory hurdle last week when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers verified the project would comply with federal laws governing the crossing of Iowa waterways. However, several lawsuits are still pending in opposition to the pipeline, and environmentalists and property rights advocates continue to object to the project.

Adam Mason, state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which is part of an anti-pipeline coalition, said Monday his organization is committed to a number of strategies and tactics to fight the pipeline, all of which are nonviolent in nature.