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This map, submitted by Magellan Midstream Partners to the Minnesota Department of Commerce on Aug. 25, shows the company’s preferred route for a new pipeline in red and an alternate route in orange that would take the pipeline further from Pipestone National Monument. Additional routes have been proposed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Upper Sioux Community. Source: Minnesota Department of Commerce
The Pipestone City Council has expressed opposition to Magellan Pipeline Company’s proposed rerouting of a pipeline that previously ran through Pipestone National Monument and land managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) north of Pipestone.
Magellan decommissioned the .74-mile segment of pipe that ran through the federal lands late last year. It then filed a route permit application in April for a new section of pipeline that would be located on private properties west and north of the federal lands.
Gabriel Yellowhawk and Bud Johnston expressed opposition to the pipeline reroute plan during the Pipestone City Council’s Sept. 5 meeting. Yellowhawk read a comment to that effect that he submitted on behalf of the Pipestone Human Rights Commission, of which he is the chairman, to the Minnesota Department of Commerce prior to the Sept. 6 deadline for public comments regarding the proposed pipeline reroute project.
Yellowhawk said the human rights commission had identified Magellan’s pipeline proposal as a threat to the human rights of the community, primarily as a threat to the spiritual way of life for members of the indigenous community of Pipestone. He explained that pipestone is considered sacred and shared the story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who is said to have brought the first pipe made of the stone 19 generations ago and explained that it should be used in the sacred ceremonies of the Lakota people.
“She told us that the stem was made of wood because it represents all the things that grow on this earth, the plants, the crops, the trees of this world,” Yellowhawk said. “She told us that the bowl of the pipe was made of the red stone because it is the blood of our ancestors and represents humanity. When the stem and the bowl of the pipe are connected all things in the universe are one, and when we pray with the pipe, we do so underneath the witness of all creation.”
Yellowhawk said it’s not Pipestone National Monument that is sacred, but the stone itself. He said the original pipeline, which was installed in 1947, went over the pipestone vein and that the proposed new pipeline would too, even though it will be on private land.
Yellowhawk also pointed out that Magellan’s preferred route for the new pipeline would go between Old Woodlawn and New Woodlawn cemeteries.
“The pipeline therefore will not only vandalize the blood of my ancestors, or our ancestors, but disturb the souls of Pipestone’s departed as well,” Yellowhawk said.
Johnston spoke in support of Yellowhawk’s comments and of his efforts to have the previous pipeline through Pipestone National Monument decommissioned. He told the council that any help it could provide to stop the proposed new pipeline would be appreciated.
“If that thing were to ever rupture, it would destroy our use of pipestone, which really is the blood of our ancestors, according to so many tribal stories,” Johnston said.
Mayor Dan Delaney said he saw the proposed pipeline as a hazard that could damage the environment, the area where the sacred stone is located and the cemetery if it ruptured. He motioned that the city express opposition to a pipeline anywhere near Pipestone National Monument or the cemeteries. The motion was unanimously approved by the council.
The city’s electronically submitted letter to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which is signed by Delaney, states that “The city of Pipestone opposes the proposed pipeline rerouting, regardless of location, due to the potential for significant impact upon cultural resources and significant environmental impact.”
The city’s was one of around 15 comments submitted by tribal representatives, state agencies, concerned citizens and others. According to some of those documents, Magellan has submitted an alternate route in addition to its preferred route. The alternate route would move the pipeline to the west of the cemeteries and north to 131st Street where it would run east until it connects with the existing pipeline near U.S. Highway 75.
In addition, the Upper Sioux Community Tribal Historic Preservation Office submitted an alternative route that would take the pipeline east of Pipestone, connecting to the existing line near 61st Street southwest of Pipestone and running east to 110th Avenue where it would go north until connecting to the exiting pipeline near 161st Street southwest of Holland. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe also submitted an alternate route that would take the new pipeline further west along 40th Avenue to 151st Street near Cazenovia, then east on 151st Street until connecting with existing pipeline east of U.S. Hwy. 75.
A proposed timeline presented during a public meeting held by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on July 11 to take comments on the proposed reroute project showed that a draft and final comparative environmental analysis could be issued early in 2024. Additional public hearings could be held in the first quarter on 2024 and the PUC is expected to make a decision on Magellan’s route permit in the first half of 2024.
