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Chief Arvol Looking Horse speaks of the sacredness of the red stone and the need to protect it during a recent pub- lic information meeting at the Hiawatha Lodge in Pipestone regarding the Magellan pipe- line reroute project. Looking Horse is the 19th generation keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
A desire to keep a pipeline away from the pipestone and the area near the cemeteries northwest of Pipestone were two recurring themes during public information meetings held Tuesday, March 19 to take comments on a comparative environmental analysis (CEA) for the proposed Magellan pipeline reroute project.
Around 50 people attended the afternoon meeting, which lasted about two hours, and about 25 people attended the evening meeting, which lasted about an hour. About 25 people commented or asked questions during the meetings, which were held by the Minnesota Department of Commerce at the Hiawatha Lodge in Pipestone.
Among them was Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate. He spoke of the history and significance of the pipestone and the need to protect it and the place from which it comes.
“This is our sacred place — Pipestone, Minnesota,” Looking Horse said.
American Indian Movement (AIM) Director Lisa Bellanger said the quarries are the womb of the pipe. She said AIM supported a minimum 5-mile buffer between the proposed petroleum product pipeline and pipestone quarries, something Looking Horse said he respected.
“I’m happy to see that there are proposals for a broader buffer zone and I’m still going to stand firm on my comments and say 5-mile minimum,” she said.
There are four routes included in the CEA. Magellan proposed the first route in its application to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a route permit on April 10, 2023. Three other possible routes were developed later. One of those routes was developed by Magellan, one was developed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the other was developed by the Upper Sioux Community. The PUC accepted all four route alternatives to be carried forward for review and analysis in the CEA.
Pipestone Mayor Dan Delaney said during the public information meeting that the city of Pipestone “is strongly against” the two routes proposed by Magellan because they would go between and near the cemeteries northwest of Pipestone, two of which belong to the city and one that belongs to St. Leo Catholic Church. He said a pipeline in those areas could interfere with the future expansion of the cemeteries and that the cemeteries are sacred ground for anyone who has a loved one buried there.
“It just doesn’t seem like a very good fit,” Delaney said.
The route proposed by the Upper Sioux Community would be the furthest from the pipestone quarries and the cemeteries and the closest to a five-mile buffer. It would also be the longest and most expensive, according to figures in the CEA.
The original route proposed by Magellan is 1.34 miles and is estimated to cost $6 million. The alternative route identified by Magellan is 3.4 miles and estimated to cost $8 million. The route identified by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is 13.1 miles and estimated to cost $25 million. The route identified by the Upper Sioux Community is 18.68 miles and is estimated to cost $34 million. The PUC will ultimately decide which route Magellan can use.
Sara Childers, with the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s Historic Preservation Office, read a letter expressing the tribe’s “strenuous opposition to any additional routes or reroutes” of the pipeline. She cited protected resources in the area including cultural sites, the Pipestone Creek, remnant and restored tall grass prairie, threatened and endangered plants and animals species, the Sundance grounds, the remains of the Pipestone Indian Boarding School, and the future site of a rebuilt burial mound.
Pipestone Mayor Dan Delaney expresses opposition to building a pipeline near the cemeteries northwest of Pipestone during a March 19 public information meeting regarding the Magellan pipeline reroute project. About 50 people attended the first meeting of the day, which Delaney spoke at, and about 25 people attended an evening meeting. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Others who commented during the meetings raised concerns about whether all the tribes that should have been consulted about Magellan’s plans were, said they thought an environmental impact statement should be done and expressed concerns about artifacts in the area where the pipeline is proposed. Others said they’d lived in the area many years and had never seen any issues with the pipeline and questioned why the section of the pipeline under federal lands was shut down.
That section of pipeline, which ran beneath the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge – Pipestone Creek Unit and the Pipestone National Monument, was deactivated and abandoned in 2022 after the U.S. Department of Interior decided not to renew Magellan’s right-of-way permit for the crossing of the federal lands, according to the CEA. According to Magellan, the reroute is necessary to ensure the continued operation of the pipeline and provide adequate supply of current and new gasoline to the pipeline that serves communities in eastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota and southwest Minnesota.
Additional public comments on the CEA will be accepted until April 9. They can be submitted by mail to Larry B. Hartman, environmental review manager, Minnesota Department of Commerce, 85 7th Place East, Suite 280, St. Paul, MN 55101; by email at larry.hartman@state.mn.us; and online by going to mn.gov/commerce/energyfacilities and clicking on the “Submit a Comment” button under the “Public Participation” tab.
The CEA is available for viewing at Meinders Community Library in Pipestone and the Pipestone County Auditor-Treasurer’s Office at the Pipestone County Courthouse, and online at apps.commerce.state.mn.us/web/project/15017.
There will be additional public hearings on April 23 and 24, evidentiary hearings on April 25, and another public comment period until May 8. An administrative law judge report is scheduled for July and the PUC is expected to make a decision in September. If a permit is approved, Hartman said construction could take around three to four months.
