Landowners Oppose Pipeline
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,57795
06/11/2007
TransCanada's proposed Keystone pipeline consists of 1,845 miles of 30-inch pipeline running from Alberta Canada to Illinois. The proposed route has the line going through eastern South Dakota, where it's running into opposition from landowners.
TransCanada says it would pay for long and short term damage the pipeline may cause, but some landowners are concerned with more than the money.
Get a group of farmers talking and you'll get a feel for how important their land is..talk to one of them one on one, and you'll really understand.
Landowner Bill Tisher says, "Well I was born in 1927 and I think my dad bought it around that time, and we've finally got it paid for..which was hard times."
Every time TransCanada has asked Bill Tisher and his wife Phyllis for permission to build a pipeline through part of it, they've always given one answer.
Phyllis Tisher says, "No we are not interested. We do not want in anywhere near us."
But according to a letter they got in the mail, the pipeline would run through this field. There would only be a row of trees separating it from their house.
Phyllis Tisher says, "Oh they keep telling us it's a good settlement and there's no problem with the oil- whatever happens, they will take care of it.
Bill Tisher says, "We're losing interest in it by the day. I think they could go somewhere else with it."
That's the consensus among this group of farmers. They want TransCanada out of the area and this sign they put along highway 10 makes that very clear.
Phyllis Tisher says, "Well, we've spent our lifetime acquiring this land and taking care of it."
Bill Tisher says, "We kinda figure we're living out here in the sticks and we kinda like it that way and we don't want to be bothered by anyone intruding."
Intruding on the land he got from his dad, and the land he hoped to pass along to his kids.
The landowners say they'd like to see the pipeline run along I-29 and not on private property which was one of the earlier plans. TransCanada says doing so would be invasive to the highway, would run it into larger cities, and would likely result in using private land anyway. It would also make the pipeline route longer.
