Water intake to be moved less than two miles from dangerous crude rail

As Say Anything’s Rob Port has previously highlighted, the water intake plant at the center of the Dakota Access protest is actually scheduled to be moved miles away from the construction corridor. In a matter of weeks, the intake facility will move 45 miles south from its current Fort Yates location to Mobridge. When the site is up and running, the Mobridge intake will be nearly 70 miles away from the Dakota Access Pipeline.

According to Dave Rosencranz, the Dakotas Area manager for the Federal Bureau of Reclamation, “There’s been a lot of issues with [the Fort Yates] intake. It’s just time to replace it. It’s basically at the end of its life.”

As the map below illustrates, the water intake plant is being moved away from a state-of-the-art, underground pipeline and placed just 1.6 miles away from a rail line that has existing shipments of crude oil by train.

Crude shipments by rail are less safe than crude transported by pipeline.  A study by the Manhattan Institute concluded that, by comparison to other forms of transportation, moving energy products is safer by pipeline than any other means of transportation.  The existing railroad carries roughly 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

As Standing Rock Fact Checker has emphasized before, the Dakota Access Pipeline will represent the safest option for crucial energy transfer in the region following the intake facility’s move.