Judge Hears Landowners' Challenge To Dakota Access Pipeline
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of Iowa landowners forced to allow a Texas oil company to put a crude oil pipeline under their farmland is asking the state courts to throw out what they consider "illegal easements" through their land and some say if they win they want the pipeline dug up and removed.
A district court judge in Des Moines heard arguments Thursday in the lawsuit challenging the Dakota Access pipeline.
About a dozen landowners seek to overturn the project permit approved by the Iowa Utilities Board and they claim it was illegal for the board to take farmland when the pipeline provides no public service to Iowans.
The pipeline attorney argued the project is completed making the case moot. He says Iowa law gives the utilities board authority to issue pipeline permits.
Any decision is likely to be appealed.
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