KVNO News

Atkinson says “not in my backyard”

By Fred Knapp, NET News

September 30th, 2011

Atkinson, NE – The State Department wrapped up its second and final public meeting in Nebraska on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline in Atkinson Thursday night.

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[audio:https://kvnonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/atkinson_pipeline_hearing_wrap_kvno01-1.mp3]

The pipeline issue took on a decidedly rural flair in Atkinson, a north central Nebraska community about 10 miles from the proposed pipeline route. Many of the people who spoke were ranchers from the local area, who expressed concern that the pipeline would leak and pollute the Ogallala Aquifer.

Among them was Paul Corkle of Atkinson, who said the pipeline would run about a mile from his property. “On our property, the water table is far too shallow,” Corkle said. “We even have difficulty repairing the fences during the spring time and during the winter, because of adverse conditions. I don’t know how you’re going to repair this pipeline when it’s under water.”

Bert Fisher, a Tulsa geologist hired by a pipeline workers union, tried to counter those fears. “In my review of this pipeline, wherever it is built, it will be safe, the best technology will be used.”

Many of those who spoke in favor of the pipeline proposal were union members who said it would provide needed jobs. Some opponents said they weren’t against the pipeline, just the proposed route. One of them, Sterling Schultz of Naper, urged union members to support moving the route farther east.

“The fact of the matter though is you will go anywhere in Nebraska, (wherever) TransCanada locates the pipeline, and you’ll go there to get the job you want,” he said. “On the other hand, we Nebraskans are stuck with the consequences of a crude oil pipeline located in the Sandhills and over the Ogallala Aquifer.”

Schultz said he was surprised that union supporters had been bussed in from as far away as Illinois. But Randy Miller of Oklahoma, speaking for a pipeline workers union, said that shouldn’t be surprising. “Everybody’s here for something, jobs and the opportunity to work happen to be those things that bring us to Atkinson today.”

Danny Hendrix, business manager for a pipeliners local from Oklahoma, said he wasn’t opposed to taking a longer route that avoided the Sandhills and the Aquifer.

“I’m not against the reroute,” Hendrix said. “I’m all about that, I mean that’s more miles, okay.”

The State Department’s environmental impact statement has said adding miles to the route would increase risks of a spill. The Department must decide if the pipeline, which would cross the U.S. border from Canada, is in the national interest.

Terri Taylor, a Sandhills rancher, said she was sad about the pipelines potential for scarring the land. But Taylor said some good had come from reaction to the proposal.

“The single voices have become choirs,” she said. “And the word has spread across this great nation of ours, and the voices are all in harmony. The pipeline is not in the national interest.”

University of Nebraska professor of environmental and water engineering John Stansbury said the environmental impact statement was flawed. Among its faults, he said, was accepting pipeline company TransCanada’s assumptions about how fast a leaking pipeline could be shut down. It took an hour to shut down a pipeline spilling into the Yellowstone River, and two to 12 hours to shut one spilling into the Kalamazoo River. But Stansbury said the State Department accepted TransCanada’s claim it could shut down in 11.5 minutes. “And the result of all that is it drastically reduces the predicted volume of oil that will be spilled,” Stanbury said. “So, once again, not unbiased and certainly not independent.”

Frederick Pinkelman, a former commissioner from Wynot in Cedar County, said TransCanada had kept its word in connection with the first Keystone pipeline built through that county. Pinkelman said he’d come to the meeting at TransCanada’s request.

“I wouldn’t have driven 125 miles to come out here today if I weren’t convinced that TransCanada is a responsible company,” he said, “doing all that is humanly possible to construct a safe and necessary pipeline.”

Union member Castor Davis said it’s time to stop arguing. “I’ve been hearing the same thing over and over again. No, yes, no, yes. It’s time to make a decision. I support the pipeline, and we need to go back to work.”

State Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm agreed it was time to act, but in a different direction. Haar said the Legislature’s first option was to wait and see if the State Department denies the permit. “Or option two: the Legislature can step up to the plate and enact a siting law before State Department acts, and I think we prefer option two,” he said to applause.

Haar said the names of senators who support and oppose a special session will be made public. The State Department has said it will decide on issuing a permit before the end of the year.

Watch a video report on the hearing from Nebraska Watchdog‘s Joe Jordan:

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