Commissioners say they're not against pipeline
Oct 10, 2007 - 04:01:41 CDT
Associtaed Press
County commissioners along the route of a proposed oil pipeline from Canada held an impromptu meeting with Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer to tell him they're not all against the plan.
About two dozen commissioners met Monday night with Cramer while in Bismarck for the Association of Counties convention.
Steele County Commissioner Jane Amundson said she and her colleagues were reacting to a letter written by Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker, asking the PSC to deny a siting permit for the line.
"We want somebody to realize not all of us are against it," Amundson said.
Walaker wrote that he worried the Keystone pipeline, proposed by TransCanada Corp., could leak and pollute the Sheyenne River, which supplies Fargo with drinking water. He also said he's against it because Canada has been uncooperative with North Dakota on water issues.
Cramer paraphrased Walaker's argument as, "If they don't want our water, we don't want their oil."
The pipeline, if approved, would run 218 miles north-to-south through the state, entering near Walhalla and exiting near Oakes. It would carry Canadian crude from northern Alberta to Illinois refineries.
The counties expect revenue from the line.
"As far as our county is concerned, we would gain a considerable amount of property tax," Sargent County Commissioner Bill Anderson.
Some commissioners asked what they should do. Cramer suggested they should take a vote of their commissions supporting the line and send a letter or resolution to the PSC.
"Is this pipeline less safe than other pipelines?" asked Steele County Commissioner Lance Fugleberg.
"Every pipe put in the ground is safer than the previous one," Cramer said.
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/10/10/news/state/140669.txt
