The southern leg of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was laid last year, but already landowners are noticing that pipeline builders are back digging up the pipe just laid. The reason reported by Public Citizen is dozens of faults, including bad welds have been identified along a sixty-mile stretch of pipeline north of the Sabine River in Texas. TransCanada and its contractor, Michels, are digging up pipe that has been in the ground for six months in the vicinity of Winnsboro. An independent inspector and a right of way representative reported problems to landowners and Public Citizen. The southern segment of the international pipeline is supposed to carry tar sands oil from Cushing Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast for export. Keystone I, the predecessor to the controversial Keystone XL project, has spilled more oil in its first year of operation than any new pipeline in US history, springing twelve leaks. Stakes along the Keystone XL southern leg mark problem areas--"anomalies"--with words such as "dent", "weld" and "cut out". Company digging is clearly visible from a public right of way along the sixty mile segment. Repair work for such a new pipe does to bode well for the pipeline's safety when in operation carrying hot, high pressure and abrasive dilbit. Landowners concerned for the safety[video] of their land and water are asking the US Department of Transportation to investigate.
More: The British Columbia provincial government has rejected plans to build a pipeline over the Rockies to the Alberta tar sands submitted by the Canadian company, Enbridge. In its final submission to the Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Board BC said it cannot support the application because the company "has been unable to address British Columbian' environmental concerns". The finding apparently cuts off one route being proposed by oil producers to get tar sands crude to a coast for processing and export. The Northern Gateway project is a twin pipeline between Edmonton, Alberta and a new marine terminal at Kitmat, BC. First Nations opposition to the project has been strong and united. The pipeline could not be built without breaking First Nation unity through financial bribes or land seizures. The province has also maintained some high hurdles during the review process, requiring "world leading" oil spill response and prevention. An Enbridge owned pipeline crossing a tributary of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan ruptured in July 2010 spilling 877,000 gallons of toxic dilbit. It was one of the costliest spill on land in the US and cleanup is still ongoing three years later. Enbridge was fined $3.7 million for the Kalamazoo spill. British Columbia's rejection places pressure on the United States government to give Canadian oil producers an outlet in the form of the Keystone XL project pending approval by the Current Occupant. Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion is still under consideration by BC. As it stands now, new high capacity bitumen pipelines do not meet Canadian environmental standards, but according to the US State Department they are alright for 'Merica because the business of it is, 'bidness'. Bitumen oil production would increase by 30% if the Keystone XL project is approved by the O'Drama administration, adding significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.