The Iowa Utilities Board has approved a request from Dakota Access to up the amount of oil pumped through the Bakken pipeline.
The order allows the pipeline company to increase the flow of oil from the current limit of 550,000 barrels each day to up to 1.1 million barrels. There were objections to the request from the Northwest Iowa Landowners Association, Sierra Club, and the Office of Consumer Advocate.
The IUB asked Dakota Access in January to provide additional information on safety measures, inspections, and patrols to be performed after an increase in oil flow — and whether the flow increase would lead to an increase in the amount of oil released if a spill occurred.
The regulators approved the request after determining that the increase in oil flow will not significantly increase the risk of a spill, or the amount of oil that would be spilled if an incident occurred.