"Two years after it started moving oil out of North Dakota, the Dakota Access oil pipeline is asking for permission to nearly double its capacity — touching off the same environmental and regulatory concerns that led to massive protests and a presidential order blocking the project in 2016.
The 1,200-mile pipeline is a joint project of Energy Transfer Partners, Phillips 66 Co. and MarEn Bakken Co. LLC, which is a partnership between Marathon Oil Corp. and Enbridge Inc. It is asking for permission to expand the pipeline from 570,000 barrels a day to 1.1 million barrels a day between North Dakota's Bakken Shale field and Patoka, Ill.
The plan is facing regulatory hearings in Illinois, North Dakota and Iowa. Opponents are arguing that expanding the pipeline's capacity will increase the likelihood of serious fallout from climate change and the potential for leaks and spills, including at the historic Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
The expansion would create emissions equivalent to 20 million cars per year, climate scientist James Hansen told the Illinois Commerce Commission in written testimony."
Mike Lee reports for EnergyWire November 14, 2019.
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