Historic site may be in path of Bakken pipeline

Dakota Access officials trying to span a pipeline across Iowa may have hit another snag.

The Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist has received a claim that a historically significant site falls along the proposed path of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Iowa State Archaeologist John Doershuk said the call indicated that the site is in Lyon County, the state's northwestern-most county and one of 18 counties the Bakken pipeline is slated to pass through. Details on location or what the site entails are vague, he said.

If the claim is found to be valid, it could force pipeline officials to change course.

'The trick with archaeological sites is it's a game of feet and inches, particularly when it's associated with a federal project,” Doershuk said. 'Depending on the nature of an archaeological deposit, it can be just outside of a project right of way, and it will remain unaffected during construction. But that same site in the project right of way - where it's going to be impacted by construction - that can change things. Exact position is very critical, and that's what we're trying to get a handle on.”

Doershuk said his office adds between 300 to 500 new historic sites to Iowa's registry annually, which now has 29,000 listings.

However, reports of historic sites sitting in the path of the pipeline are a little less common, he added.

'This is unusual, where there is this high-profile, politicized project going on and this drops right into the middle of it,” Doershuk said. 'We just want to be very careful and specific. I don't want this to blow up into something it's not.”

Doershuk said the next step is determining which federal agency holds jurisdiction over the site, which could be either the Army Corps of Engineers or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Doershuk said his office would hope to get involved after the jurisdiction is established.

'We're waiting more information and hopefully will be a part of the verification process,” he said.

The federal agency overseeing the site also will work with Dakota Access to see if the site falls within the pipeline's route.

Dakota Access spokeswoman Vicki Anderson Granado said in a Monday email, 'As we have done since the project was first announced, we will continue to work with the regulatory agencies that have oversight of this project as we continue to move forward in preparation for the start of construction in Iowa.”