Regulators Weigh Pipeline Near Pipestone Monument

Minnesota regulators are reviewing whether Magellan Pipeline Company can reopen a gas line that crosses the Pipestone National Monument.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Utilities

Regulators Weigh Pipeline Near Pipestone Monument

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Should pipelines be allowed to reopen near sacred tribal lands?

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is meeting Thursday to consider a permit that would let Magellan Pipeline Company reopen a gas pipeline near Pipestone National Monument. The hearing was moved to a smaller room after the commission received a security threat earlier this week.

Why it matters

The pipeline cuts diagonally across the monument, so the permit decision determines whether a closed gas line returns to service in a sensitive cultural and historic area. The outcome will shape how utilities coordinate with tribal nations on projects that affect sacred sites in Minnesota.

The permit review follows the pipeline's closure in 2022 and covers a route crossing a monument of more than 300 acres created in 1937. Whether Magellan has fully satisfied the 2025 order's requirements remains a point of contention for the commission.

The players

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

The state body that regulates utilities in Minnesota and is reviewing the Magellan permit request.

Magellan Pipeline Company

A pipeline operator seeking to reopen the gas line that previously carried fuel between Sioux Falls, S.D., and Marshall.

Indigenous Protector Movement

A group that held a prayer circle outside the hearing room in opposition to the pipeline near the monument.

The details

The commission required Magellan to coordinate with tribal nations on an archaeological study along two possible, separate routes that would put distance between the pipeline and the pipestone quarries. The Indigenous Protector Movement held a prayer circle outside the hearing room as the proceeding continued.

2022: The pipeline closed.
1937: Congress created Pipestone National Monument.
2025: The commission issued an order requiring Magellan compliance steps.
Thursday: The commission meets to discuss the Magellan permit.

Market Landscape

The permit review revisits a federal protection established when Congress created Pipestone National Monument in 1937. It tests how a state regulator balances the reopening of existing energy infrastructure against the cultural significance of a protected tribal quarry site.

If the commission approves the permit, residents in Minnesota could see a previously closed gas line return to service near the monument. Customers of the utilities served by this pipeline would be affected by whether the reopening proceeds as proposed.

The takeaway

Permit decisions for infrastructure near protected sites increasingly depend on consultation with tribal nations before construction or reopening can proceed. Readers tracking energy projects should watch whether the archaeological study and route selection are completed.