Lincoln County Commissioners Approve Pumping Station

CANTON, S.D. (AP) — Commissioners in a South Dakota county on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit for a pumping station needed for an expansion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Lincoln County Board voted 4-1 in favor of the proposal. The station, expected to cost between $30 million and $40 million, would be built near Harrisburg in southeastern South Dakota.

Texas-based Energy Transfer announced in June it plans to expand the pipeline's capacity from more than 500,000 barrels per day to as much as 1.1 million barrels. The pipeline has been moving North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois since June 2017.

The company also needs additional stations in North Dakota and Illinois.

The Lincoln County Planning Commission approved the project last month. But members of Dakota Rural Action, a South Dakota environmental group, appealed the decision to the county board.

The site includes a 13,000-gallon tank to provide surge relief, automatic sensors that shut the facility down in case of fire, and sensors that monitor for leaks.

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