North Dakota has made significant progress in expanding oil and natural gas pipelines within the state, resulting in less truck traffic and safer movement of commodities. But state regulators and officials believe more can be done to protect the people who live and work in impacted areas.
While the industry is commended for its hefty investment in getting pipe in the ground, those who attended the Governor’s Pipeline Summit held in Bismarck on June 24 were exhorted to ensure safety and public trust through orderly and efficient development. Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said her office has made improvements to its siting, enforcement and reclamation guidelines to hold industry more accountable. It has changed some siting laws to enable a more efficient process, strengthened language in its penalty act to crack down on law violators, hired third-party pipeline construction inspectors, fined numerous violators of the 8-1-1 “Call before you dig” law and beefed up reclamation standards.
“The one complaint we hear over and over is reclamation,” Fedorchak said. “We need to work harder with the folks who are allowing these lines in their ground to let them know that we can be advocates on their behalf. ... We call the companies and problems are quickly resolved.”
Turning over a new leaf
Reclamation issues are being tackled by various groups in the state. The state agriculture department, led by Commissioner Doug Goehring, facilitates conflict resolution between producers and landowners through its mediation program. The program addresses pipeline easements, royalties and reclamation issues. While Goehring said the program has relieved some of the conflict, more work needs to be done.
“We’re working on both sides of that - being more thought provoking, anticipate, and realize and understand that there is a lot of activity and how are we going to deal with it,” Goehring said. “It does come down to minimizing the impact, minimizing the activity and shrinking our footprint out there.”
As landowners encounter multiple companies requesting easements, Goehring said they eventually don’t want to give anymore. But he insists that companies will get more traction if they choose to listen to farmers and ranchers.
“If you want to respect (a landowner),” Goehring said, “respect his land, respect his property.”
Gene Veeder, a third-generation rancher and economic development manager in McKenzie County, took the podium after Goehring and reiterated the agriculture commissioner’s statements. He said landowners’ main concerns with pipeline easements are financial compensation, reclamation and the safety of the line.
“We started working with the USDA to provide landowners an expert in our community to help them with an end product of that pipeline of what they can expect their land to look like,” Veeder said. “As a farmer and rancher myself, if I knew at the end of two to three years of reclamation that I had an outside partner who said it was returned to normal, I think we’d get moving faster with pipeline.”
A right-of-way task force that was generated from the North Dakota Petroleum Council, NDPC, flaring task force earlier this year is working to create better practices among producers and landowners. The task force has designed a toolbox for land agents to give landowners the information they need and allow for greater communication between parties.
“There was a period where we rushed through with subcontractors and just didn’t do a good job and essentially paid for it in the field,” said NDPC President Ron Ness. “We have to go back and restore those relationships.”
Winter pipeline installation
One key aspect is developing reclamation practices that provide a better match to the various soils and grasses in North Dakota. Also, pipeline construction in the past has been limited to non-winter months, but some companies are trying winter pipeline installation to alleviate disrupting farm work.
“Winter installation of these pipelines would be huge,” Ness said. “It would allow us to get more pipeline in the ground over a year and stay out of landowners’ farm fields in some situations.”
Alliance Pipeline’s Tony Straquadine said his company utilized winter construction for its Tioga Lateral pipeline by stripping the top soil in the fall after the crops were harvested and then in the winter it set some subsoil aside, put the pipe in and then replaced the subsoil. Once spring arrived, the topsoil was put in place.
“We recognize the privilege that landowners provide us to put the pipeline as an easement even though we pay for that right,” Straquadine said. “Seasonality is a challenge, but it can be done effectively.”
‘Treat them like they’re your mother’
In a press conference following the summit, Gov. Jack Dalrymple responded to a question about the option for companies to attempt land condemnation, or quick-take. Quick-take allows a government agency to deposit with the court the amount of money it thinks the property is worth and then take possession of it very quickly, whereas eminent domain is a more structured negotiation that takes time. That type of action in North Dakota is typically only available for a public purpose such as a utility company supplying power.
“This is a farming and ranching state,” Dalrymple said with a warning tone. “When you go out to talk to a landowner about an easement, you need to treat them like they’re your mother. And anybody who tries to expedite or use high pressure or any other intimidation in North Dakota is going to be very, very sorry. We will not do anything in North Dakota to undermine the rights of the private landowner.”
While landowners are greatly concerned with fair reclamation, in recent years fears have grown over the safety of pipelines. The state health department oversees the response to any pipeline breach, and Dave Glatt, the agency’s chief, stressed to producers the importance of maintaining the integrity of pipelines. But if “the worst thing we could ever imagine” happened in which a spill disaster affected Lake Sakakawea, he said appropriate coordination is in place with federal, state and tribal representatives to respond quickly.
“The coordination works well but we’ve never really had to use it, which is a good thing,” Glatt said. “Because it comes back to the planning and maintenance of the system which is imperative as you move forward.”
From industry presentations at the summit, it appears companies are becoming more engaged in placing safety measures to avoid pipeline leaks. More companies are touting their focus on design standards. For example, Enbridge reports spending over $5 billion over the past three years on maintenance and safety measures for its pipelines. Vice President Paul Fisher said it is money that needs to be spent “to make sure the oil stays inside the pipe.” He said a high profile pipeline spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in which Enbridge’s pipeline ruptured and spilled what the Environmental Protection Agency estimated to be in excess of 1 million gallons of heavy crude oil “shook our organization to the core,” changing how the pipeline giant conducts business.
“We need to operate in a safe and reliable manner,” Fisher urged his peers. “We need to regain public trust.”
Leading the nation
Linda Daugherty of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA, praised North Dakota for taking the lead in regulation and safety measures.
“You know what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “You lead the nation. Let them learn from the good things you do.”
PHMSA holds regulatory authority over approximately 12,000 miles of pipelines in North Dakota and Daugherty told the companies in attendance to make safety a top priority.
“You don’t want to do this wrong,” she cautioned. “You don’t want to put pipelines in the ground and have something go wrong. You do not want to have a traumatized community.”
Daugherty said PHMSA does not typically get involved in right-of-way discussions, but “if a landowner is upset enough to call us, we will look into it because we support the rights of citizens,” she said.
PHMSA will determine if the violation needs to be addressed with the company, but Daugherty noted that her agency should be a last resort.
“Be a good neighbor long before it gets to the federal level,” she said.
Though some pipelines may be regulated by PHMSA, Daugherty reminded producers that all levels of government play a critical role.
“You cannot bully your way through any state or locality or county,” she said. “You must work with those people.”
After the summit, Fedorchak also encouraged the governor and producers to be leaders in the nation in how pipeline infrastructure and regulation is done.
“Let’s do this in a way that is environmentally sound, safe and publicly supported. We can do this, in many ways we already are,” Fedorchak said. “People are watching North Dakota. We are leading the way and other states can learn from us.”
