State utility regulators have deemed that construction can begin on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa as soon as federal permits are obtained.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) State utility regulators have deemed that construction can begin on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa as soon as federal permits are obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and two other plans are filed.

The Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously April 8 to issue the order, which declares that Dakota Access LLC has substantially complied with conditions established when the state panel approved the pipeline project, the Des Moines Register reported.

Ward Lentz, regulatory bureau chief of the Rock Island District of the Corps, said construction of the underground pipeline likely won't begin in Iowa until at least June.

Dakota Access, a unit of Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, has received state regulatory approval in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois for a 1,168-mi. (1,880 km) pipeline that will transport up to 570,000 barrels of oil daily from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch to a distribution hub at Patoka, Ill. The pipeline will cross through 18 Iowa counties and 1,300 parcels of land.

In a written statement April 8, Dakota Access said it's preparing to begin construction of the pipeline in all four states and has started construction on tank farms in North Dakota. The company also said it has secured voluntary easement agreements on 93 percent of the properties across the four-state route, with 99 percent in North Dakota, 97 percent in South Dakota, 85 percent in Iowa and 96 percent in Illinois.

The project has been opposed by environmental and community activists, some farmers and Native Americans. Opponents believe an oil spill will inevitably occur and fear that could damage farmland, pollute waterways and harm wildlife and fragile habitat.

Wallace Taylor, a lawyer for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, said his organization is considering a legal challenge to the Iowa Utilities Board's approval of the pipeline project. Lawsuits also are possible from farmers opposed to the board's decision, which grants Dakota Access the right of eminent domain to take private land in exchange for fair market compensation.

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