North Dakota must step up on planned pipeline
Sep 14, 2007 - 08:30:11 CDT
By TIM MATHERN
Fargo
A pipeline company wants access to thousands of acres of private land in the state. Recent hearings before the Public Service Commission tell me this issue goes way beyond the PSC; the governor needs to provide leadership.
The TransCanada Keystone pipeline would carry Canadian "tar sands" oil from Alberta to refineries in other states. PSC approval of the route would make more than 400 landowners subject to condemnation proceedings.
The pipeline is slated for construction near two of North Dakota's most valued natural resources, the Pembina Gorge and Fort Ransom State Park, and numerous aquifers, rivers and wetlands.
What is the governor's position? The PSC hearings showed that no state agency has reviewed the proposed route enough to give the commissioners solid guidance in responding to TransCanada's request.
Landowners are rightly upset with the threat of condemnation, especially since voters just approved a constitutional amendment limiting authority to condemn land. I welcomed Commissioner Susan Wefald's statement that she did not want to see the state resort to condemnation on any pipeline issue.
The PSC needs information to make a thoughtful ruling on the pipeline. Who benefits, who is harmed, what is the 100-year consequence?
The governor needs to insist that state agencies under his purview - the Health Department, Water Commission and Game and Fish - give adequate study to the pipeline issue and provide the advice the PSC needs to make its ruling.
The governor's main job is leadership. We need Gov. John Hoeven to step up for North Dakota.
(Mathern, a Democrat, is a state senator for District 11. - Editor)
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/09/14/news/opinion/letters/...
