Pipeline Task Force: Any Hope for Environment?

Governor Rounds has appointed seven men to the South Dakota Underground Pipeline Task Force, as called for by this year's Senate Bill 190. Remember SB 190? That was the bill that, in its original form, would have imposed a two-cents-per-barrel fee on crude oil pumped through the state. With the Keystone pipeline project no expanding to ship 1.1 million barrels per day across the Plains, that's $22,000 in new state revenue a day, or $8 million a year.

But that was before the hoghouse. Now all we get from SB 190 is a lousy task force.

Well, I suppose I can't say lousy, since it remains to be seen what assessment they will make of the "the adequacy of state laws and regulations relating to pipelines in South Dakota." Of course, with a majority of the task force representing energy companies, there's that much likelihood that the task force report will say, "Our regulations are plenty adequate; let's pump some oil!"

The only member who looks clearly like a check on the Republican big-money Big-Oil cheering section is Mark Anderson, president of the South Dakota AFL-CIO. Anderson would have been a good pick for last year's Zaniya Project task force, given his advocacy for a better health care system. Dennis Davis, long-time executive director of the South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems, might bring some water quality concerns to the table. But the governor evidently wasn't interested in picking anyone from an organization whose primary mission is environmental advocacy.

Not that what these fellas decide will put much of a dent in the ability of TransCanada and other oil interests to swipe your land and run big leaky pipes through it. SB 190 empowers the state to do nothing more than require pipeline companies to do paperwork. Still, if you know these fellas, give 'em a call, tell them how you think pipelines should be regulated:

• Gary Hanson, Pierre, commissioner, Public Utilities Commission, task force chairman;
• Dennis Davis, Sioux Falls, executive director, Association of Rural Water Systems, representing water pipelines;
• Gordon Woods, Pierre, vice president and Chief Operations Officer, South Dakota Intrastate Pipeline Company, representing natural gas pipelines;
• Daniel Holli, Belfield, North Dakota, environmental and regulatory specialist, Plains Pipeline, which is the only currently operating crude oil pipeline in South Dakota;
• Pete Bullene, Watertown, environmental health and safety director, Glacial Lakes Energy, representing ethanol;
• Troy Styer, Wolsey, president, South Dakota Pipeline Association, representing refined petroleum pipelines; and
• Mark Anderson, Sioux Falls, president, South Dakota AFL-CIO, representing public at large. [South Dakota State Government press release, 2008.07.18]