North Dakota Public Service Commission settles with Dakota Access over construction violations

The North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) and Dakota Access, LLC reached a settlement last week over issues and incidents that occurred during pipeline construction.

Most notably, the agreement covered a violation of a sitting order by the Commission issued during construction. In October 2016, Dakota Access had made headlines when they encountered a Native American cultural site in the midst of their original pipeline route. In the ensuing days, they notified both the environmental inspector for the project and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) but failed to notify the PSC until after they had rerouted around the site.

As a result, Dakota Access has agreed to work with the SHPO and the PSC to create an industry reference manual that outlines what to do in the event of such route changes and unanticipated discoveries in the future. That manual will then be distributed to all pipeline companies registered in the state. Dakota Access will also be required to conduct training programs on the top at the 2018 Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and one other industry function by Dec. 31, 2018, and pay the expense to bring in a speaker to present to SHPO staff.

While this was the main issue in contention, the North Dakota PSC was also investigating potential violations from Dakota Access that included failure to notify of three additional reroutes, tree removal beyond areas approved in the Commission’s order and inadequate subsoil and topsoil segregation. As a result, Dakota Access will be required to replace trees and shrubs on a three to one replacement ratio in areas of concern, plant an additional 20,000 trees in counties the pipeline crosses and inspect and pay for inspection of any areas of concern raised by landowners.

“Our job at the Commission is to hold the company responsible for fulfilling the obligations and commitments of their permit,” Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said. “This settlement addresses all of the problems raised during construction in a meaningful and appropriate way and provides immediate resolution to these cases without further costly and unproductive legal delays.”

As a result of the agreement, a scheduled Oct. 3 hearing on the issues in question has been dismissed.