The Iowa Utilities Board approved the Bakken Pipeline earlier this month and the oil line will go through Keokuk and Jefferson counties locally. The board also granted eminent domain for the project. Overall the pipeline will cut across North Dakota, South Dakota, enter Iowa in the far northwest corner and go across the state to Lee County and then into Illinois.

Larry Smith, Washington and Keokuk County Emergency Management Coordinator, tells KCII News he met with representatives of the pipeline about four months ago to discuss concerns of the construction and operation of the line. Since then, the Hedrick Fire Department is continuing to attend pipeline safety training. Smith adds there will be specific training in the near future and he’s starting to review dispatch protocols for the E911 center.

Dakota Access still needs a permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the pipeline.