Light turnout at Jamestown pipeline scoping meeting, route still pending

A light crowd filed into The Bunker in Jamestown on June 2 as federal regulators took one-on-one public comments on the planned Bakken East Pipeline, a project that could still touch Stutsman County farms, roads, drainage and homes before a route is finalized.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held the 5 to 7 p.m. session without a formal presentation, instead taking oral comments one at a time with a court reporter. That format made the meeting one of the first chances for local landowners, residents and officials to put concerns on the record while the line is still in the planning stage.

FERC’s scoping notice, issued May 5 under Docket No. PF26-4-000, says the project is still in pre-filing environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and has not been approved. The review covers facilities in McKenzie, Dunn, Mercer, Oliver, Burleigh, Kidder, Stutsman, Barnes and Cass counties, and written comments on the scope of the environmental review were due June 4 at 5 p.m. Eastern.

For Stutsman County, the immediate stakes are less about a finished map than about what gets decided next. A pipeline route can affect land access, where crews work, how roads are crossed, whether drainage systems are disturbed and how close a future line comes to farmyards, homes and other sensitive areas. County officials have already dealt with the project in practical terms: on April 7, the Stutsman County Park Board approved vehicle and equipment access for WBI Energy bore testing on the east and west sides of the James River crossing.

The county was also dealing with survey issues before the Jamestown session. In the March 3 county agenda, WBI Energy’s Bakken pipeline survey was listed as a continued discussion item, showing that the project had already moved into conversations about access and field work well before the public scoping meeting.

WBI Energy Transmission said it owns and operates about 3,700 miles of transmission pipeline across Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company’s earlier North Bakken Expansion Project ran about 100 miles, included 62.8 miles of 24-inch pipe and went into service on February 1, 2022, providing up to 250 million cubic feet per day of transportation service. That history gives Stutsman County a useful preview of the scale a new line could reach if the Bakken East project advances.