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The vote to allow construction to proceed was 2-1. Board members Libby Jacobs and Nick Wagner were in favor and Chairwoman Geri Huser against. The board's meeting lasted only five minutes, and Huser didn't elaborate on her negative vote. But Huser had expressed reservations last week about varying from conditions the board established in March that required all state and federal permits to be issued before pipeline construction could begin. The other two board members described the board's latest action as being consistent with the March order.
Construction started last month on the $3.78 billion underground pipeline project in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois, and Iowa business and labor groups had strongly urged state regulators to allow work to begin here. An estimated 2,000 to 4,000 construction workers are expected to be employed on the Iowa section of the pipeline.
"This has been a long time coming, and we are very pleased," said Chad Carter, business agent and vice president of Local 234 of the Operating Engineers in Des Moines, which represents heavy equipment operators. He said he anticipates that workers will be in the field seven days a week, up to 12 to 14 hours a day, in a push to get the pipeline operating by late this year.
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