Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Story last updated at 1:16 am on 9/12/2007
Pipeline Concerns Are Aired
By: Nathan Johnson
nathan.johnson@yankton.net
http://images.morris.com/images/yankton/mdControlled/cms/2007/09/12/1988...
During a meeting Tuesday to comment on the Department of State's Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Keystone Pipeline, area residents pinpointed what they see as shortcomings in the document.
The massive document assesses the potential impact of TransCanada Corp.'s project, which would transport crude oil through the Yankton area on its way to refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma.
Tuesday's meeting at Minerva's was one of a series of forums the Department of State has held along the pipeline's proposed route in recent weeks.
Several residents told representatives of the Department of State, as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety, that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) does not fully consider the impact such a project could have on water supplies and wildlife.
Ron Grandi of Tabor said his primary concern is the preservation of the Missouri National Recreational River. He feels the DEIS "glosses over" the potential pollution and damage the pipeline could do to the waterway if there was a leak where it crosses the Missouri just east of Yankton.
"I find it to be a national gem we have right here in our backyard," Grandi said. "To put the pipeline across the Missouri River at that point, I find it to be unacceptable and obscene. Shame on Gov. (Mike) Rounds for putting that at risk."
State Sen. Frank Kloucek (D-Scotland) echoed those concerns and added that he was concerned about the impact the pipeline would have on Conservation Reserve Program acreage. He added that the pipeline will lie too close to some residences.
"We have major businesses and homes right along the route," Kloucek said. "Within 300 feet is just plain too close for human life."
Some residents expressed disbelief that the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration recently granted TransCanada a waiver to use somewhat thinner steel for its pipe.
"It seems like the people of South Dakota don't mean much," said Jerry Glanzer of Bridgewater. "We can cut the thickness of our pipe if it leaks on the rural people. That's no concern to the people in Washington."
A Vermillion man asked that the impacts of the proposed Union County Hyperion oil refinery be included in the final EIS on the pipeline.
"The Hyperion refinery is a connected action as defined by your agency's regulations, and it must be dealt with in this EIS," said John Davidson. "They are joined together. They were joined together at the planning stage in the executive branch and now in the on-the-ground implementation. They have been considered together from the outset, and to separate them now is an altogether artificial activity."
TransCanada officials have denied that they had any knowledge of the proposed oil refinery before it was announced publicly in June.
One man took the opportunity to praise TransCanada, saying it had designed the project well. James Unruh, who is a civil engineer and lives along the proposed pipeline route, also assured the audience that the company was right to not place the project in the I-29 right-of-way.
"It might look feasible to put this pipeline in the right-of-way when you're out in the open areas where there is 300 feet of right-of-way, but it would be very difficult, very dangerous and likely cost-prohibitive to continue that line through the urban areas or wherever there is an interchange," he said.
Elizabeth Orlando, a foreign affairs officer with the Department of State who is overseeing the public input process for the DEIS, said the Yankton meeting was the most productive she's attended so far.
"They were able to pinpoint specific things in the Draft EIS and say, 'I don't think you did a good job there,'" she said. "That's what we're looking for."
The Department of State hopes to address all the issues brought up during the public comment process and issue the final EIS by December, Orlando said. If the department determines that the pipeline is in the national interest, a Presidential Permit giving the project the go-ahead on the federal level could be issued as soon as January.
The 45-day comment period on the DEIS closes Sept. 24.
The draft document can be viewed locally at the Yankton Community Library, the Freeman Public Library, the Viborg Public Library, the Hartington (Neb.) Public Library or the City of Wausa (Neb.) Library. It can also be viewed online at www.keystonepipeline.state.gov.
