Miner Queries: How many ways can we say NO?

 The Keystone XL pipeline has been in the news again. Last week, a judge overturned a law that allowed Gov. Dave Heineman to approve the pipeline route through Nebraska. 

The decision was a victory for environmentalists concerned about potential devastation to water supplies and land if the pipeline leaks. Existing northern Keystone XL pipeline has already suffered leaks. 

And coincidentally, last week another Canadian pipeline sprang a leak. According to Ned Resnikoff’s story for MSNBC, “A leak in one of the pump stations along Enbridge Energy’s Line 67 pipeline caused about 125 barrels to spray across a rural area of Saskatchewan, Canada, the company reported on Saturday.” 

As the story points out, both the Enbridge and Keystone pipelines are being evaluated for expansion. 

In addition, last week I came across the story of Alain Labrecque and his family. A logging contractor working with oil companies on tar sand extraction, Labrecque and his family were forced to abandon their 160-farm in Alberta after the entire family developed serious health issues.  

Their farm was near Baytex Energy, which was releasing unregulated emissions the family says caused their headaches, popping ears, growths and other symptoms.  According to the Salon story, the company “was willing to help them get out — so long as they stayed quiet:  ‘You are just a small, little bolt in this huge robot, and you don’t matter,’ their doctor told them, according to court documents. ‘Move.’”

The product of Baytex’s process is what Keystone XL pipeline will be transporting across our aquifer and agricultural lands. 

Do we really want to risk our water supply? As the original impact study for Keystone XL noted:  “The Northern High Plains Aquifer system supplies 78 percent of the public water supply and 83 percent of irrigation water in Nebraska and approximately 30 percent of water used in the U.S. for irrigation and agriculture.”  We can see the consequences of a tainted water supply in the reports about the January Elk River spill near Charleston, W.V.

And in November 2013, the non-profit group Public Citizen issued a report on Keystone XL’s southern pipeline titled:  “TransCanada’s Keystone XL Southern Segment:  Construction Problems Raise Questions About the Integrity of the Pipeline.” The report documented numerous incidents of damaged pipe, shoddy construction and repair, and destruction to agricultural property.  It concluded: “This raises the specter of history repeating itself, with toxic crude leaking or even gushing from damaged pipe. Given the stakes – the looming potential for a catastrophic spill of a hazardous crude along a pipeline that traverses hundreds of streams and rivers, and that comes within just one or two miles of some towns and cities – it would be irresponsible for the federal government to allow tar sands crude to start flowing through the southern leg without ordering a complete hydrostatic retesting of the line and a thorough quality assurance review.”

We can’t let ourselves be swayed by public relations messages that promise jobs and cheap gas, both of which have been refuted. A state department study ball parked the final count of permanent jobs from the pipeline at 35.  And pipeline’s purpose is cheap transport of oil to Houston, where it will be shipped to foreign markets.

In an agricultural region with a growing renewable energy industry, we should be ready to say NO to big oil. 

Cherie Miner is a local parent, community volunteer, freelance writer and artist. In a former life, she was a corporate writer and public relations professional. Contact her at news@redoakexpress.com or on Facebook.

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