Northwest Iowa landowners have filed a pair of lawsuits to stop construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Des Moines attorney Bill Hanigan is representing the two couples who are facing eminent domain procedures on their property from the Texas based pipeline. He says they’re arguing Dakota Access is not a utility.
Dakota Access wants to ship crude oil from North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa to a storage facility in Illinois. The company is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but has begun construction in North and South Dakota and Illinois. Hanigan says he’s asking the court to stop eminent domain proceedings until the court renders a judgement.
Hanigan says time is of the essence because Cherokee county is scheduled to set the value of the land Dakota Access wants to build their pipeline at a hearing June 13.
Hanigan says that brings it to the end of June.
