Fargo mayor: Don't allow Canadian oil pipeline
Oct 07, 2007
By DALE WETZEL
Associated Press Writer
Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker says the huge new Keystone oil pipeline is a potential threat to his city's water supply, and he's asking the state Public Service Commission to deny a permit for the project.
Walaker suggested Friday that the pipeline's route should be forced outside North Dakota until Canadian officials halt what he considers to be unreasonable opposition to a project that would bring Missouri River water to Fargo.
"Manitoba private and governmental entities have a long history of protesting projects in North Dakota that, without scientific or engineering foundation, they claim will alter or damage their environment," Walaker said in a letter to Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark.
"I believe it is safe to say that a petroleum pipeline running through our state presents great risk to North Dakota's environment," the letter says.
Jeff Rauh, a project spokesman, said the pipeline's plans include numerous environmental safeguards.
Its proposal is being reviewed by both state and federal environmental and health agencies, Rauh said. A draft federal environmental impact statement concluded the project was environmentally acceptable and would have "limited adverse environmental impacts."
The Keystone pipeline is intended to slake increasing American demand for oil, Rauh said. "The need for this project is a U.S. need. It is not a Canadian need," he said.
Walaker's letter represents a significant step up in opposition to the TransCanada Corp. pipeline, which is intended to carry Canadian crude oil from Alberta, in western Canada, to Illinois and Oklahoma.
Fargo and neighboring West Fargo represent North Dakota's largest metropolitan area, with more than 100,000 people. Until now, most of the opposition to the project has come from landowners, some of whom object to how the company is attempting to acquire rights to use their property.
The project includes a 218-mile stretch of 30-inch pipeline that would run through eight counties in eastern North Dakota. As proposed, it parallels the Sheyenne River in some spots and crosses the river in Ransom County, in North Dakota's southeastern corner.
The entire pipeline would stretch for 2,148 miles, and transport as much as 590,000 barrels of oil daily.
Fargo relies on the Sheyenne River for its water supply and has the right to draw water behind the Baldhill Dam, north of Valley City, which feeds the river, Walaker said.
The Public Service Commission has authority to decide where the pipeline is located. The commission had been preparing to finish the case by month's end, but Clark said Friday that Walaker's letter could prompt a delay.
Clark said the commission could explore Walaker's fears of a pipeline break affecting the Sheyenne River. But he doubted the PSC could consider the Fargo mayor's complaints about Canadian opposition to a separate water supply project when it decides whether to grant a permit for the Keystone line.
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