Press

Policy Statement-Keystone XL Pipeline     10/20/2010

The Nebraska League of Conservation Voters and the Nebraska Conservation Education Fund are OPPOSED to the proposed construction of the TransCanada Keystone KL pipeline across western Nebraska.

While the NLCV and NCEF do support the quest for energy independence from foreign oil, we cannot support the destruction and endangerment of fragile ecosystems in the process. 

1.         The mining of tar sands is a very destructive process, and while it may not be directly affecting Nebraska’s natural areas, the mining of tar sands will destroy large areas of Canadian wilderness through strip mining or open pit techniques.  For more information on this process please visit the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic EIS Information Center at  http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm.

2.         The Keystone XL pipeline presents a significant threat to extremely significant areas in the state of Nebraska: the Ogallala Aquifer and the Sand Hills.  TransCanada has not given consideration to alternate routes for the pipeline (as required by the Environmental Impact Assessment). If the pipeline must go through Nebraska, it should go through the eastern side of the state, which consists of heavier soils and much less “fragile” ecosystems (but with a greater cost of construction because it is not following the most “direct” route). Significant areas of concern:

a.           Ogallala Aquifer: Everyone knows it is vast, but it is also very SHALLOW. The Ogallala Aquifer provides drinking water to 82% of the people in its boundary and yields 30% of the ground water for irrigation necessary to support the farm economy of the entire United States.  If there was a leak (and records show there has already been several in the northern states where construction has already begun), precious groundwater used for drinking and irrigation could be very easily contaminated.

b.           Sand Hills: The largest and most intricate wetland ecosystem in the United States with 314 identified native animal species and 720 identified native plant species, several of which are endangered.  The prairie ecosystem relies heavily on native vegetation which requires a natural winter dormancy period in order to thrive, the construction of an underground pipeline might not change the appearance of the prairie much, but the temperature of the ground would surely be influenced by the hot tar sands oil passing through it, rendering the winter dormancy period ineffective, and could eventually lead to the extensive loss of native plants that keep the prairie ecosystem functional, leading to an influx of invasive exotic species. 

c.           And, of course, there are the environmental impacts of a leak to consider as well:  Restoration of such a fragile ecosystem would come at a very high cost, if it is even possible.

3.         Proper precautions have not been taken to insure the integrity of the materials being used in the proposed pipeline’s construction, nor has a sufficient containment system been established for the pipeline. 

a.            There has been much discussion regarding the integrity of the steel being used in the construction of the pipeline, as the steel was manufactured by a plant who then issued a recall of steel pipes produced.  Plains Justice reported back in June, “Government documents show that Welspun, a pipe manufacturer in India, produced hundreds of substandard pipe joints in 2007 and 2008.  Photos taken during construction of the Keystone pipeline show that TransCanada acquired pipe from Welspun during this same time.”

b.           City gas stations are required to use a double walled containment system for fuel storage.  If fuel merely being “stored” in small amounts - not being transported under extremely high pressure and high temperatures across thousands of miles under highly sensitive natural habitats - is required to have a “double-walled containment system,” that the highly toxic, long distance travelling, heated and pressurized tar sands oil being shipped through fragile ecosystems and aquifers should have a “double-walled containment system” too. 

Because of the aforementioned reasons, the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters and the Nebraska Conservation Education Fund cannot support the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline.  We support energy independence and bringing jobs to Nebraska, but not if we lose the “good life” in the process.