Geothermal drilling in Lincoln County for new state penitentiary causes confusion
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - West of 477th Avenue and north of 278th Street in Lincoln County drill hands are doing something called geothermal drilling, it allows for buildings, in this case a prison, to set up a heating and cooling system in a more environmentally friendly way.
However, their presence here is causing a lot of controversy and confusion in the community.
The penitentiary is expected to cost the state anywhere from $700 million to $1 billion, but not without a fight from neighbors.
NOPE Lincoln County Board of Directors has current litigation against the state of South Dakota that began back in January. In return, the state filed a motion to dismiss the case.
“We filed a declaratory judgment in that the state should have to go through the proper planning and zoning process and that hasn’t been decided it’s almost like they’re bypassing the voices of the people they don’t care what the judgment is going to be,” NOPE representative Sarah Ulmer said.
Crews told Dakota News Now that they got to the site on Monday, South Dakota state representative Kevin Jensen told Dakota News Now that he has only had limited conversations with the Department of Corrections and the Governor’s Office about the new penitentiary and that the drilling came as a surprise to him as well.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said legislation from the past two sessions authorizes them to begin the geothermal drilling. This includes Senate Bill 49 from the last legislative session and House Bill 1017 from 2023.
However, community members don’t share the same interpretation of Senate Bill 49.
“SB49 from what we understand was allocated for site prep, background work and figuring out logistics there, not necessarily putting things into the ground and starting construction,” Ulmer said.
Jensen and local community members are confused as to why the new penitentiary can’t be built north of Sioux Falls where there are already resources such as Industrial water supply, a sewer system and enough power.
One of the drill hands on site told Dakota News Now that they will be on the site through next week and that’s as much as they know.
The design phase of the penitentiary is scheduled to be fully completed in January 2025. A construction cost will be established at that time, with legislative approval needed by March 2025. Construction would then begin in 2025, with an anticipated completion date of fall 2028.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
