North Dakota OK’s Pipeline Beneath Lake

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators have approved a crude oil pipeline that will be built 100 feet beneath the lake bed of Lake Sakakawea, the largest of the six reservoirs on the Missouri River.

The three-member Public Service Commission unanimously approved Sacagawea Pipeline Co.'s plan on Tuesday. The company is developing the 70-mile-long, pipeline to move crude from Mountrail County to a rail facility in neighboring McKenzie County.

The company estimates the cost of the project at $125 million.

The timeline for the project is uncertain. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still must sign off on the project.