Keystone XL Hits New Turbulence as South Dakota Permit Hearing Implodes

to read Julie Dermansky's article published on truth-out.org 8/3/2015, click on

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32190-keystone-xl-hits-new-turbulence-as-south-dakota-permit-hearing-implodes?tmpl=component&print=1

"Holes too big to fix were poked in TransCanada's narrative that its Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will be the safest pipeline ever built. And questions were raised about how the pipeline company's financial dealings are set up during Public Utilities Commission hearings in Pierre, South Dakota last week where state regulators are tasked to decide if the company is capable of following the rules the state set when the original Keystone pipeline permit was granted in 2010.

A team of lawyers representing Native American tribes and the grassroots group Dakota Rural Action took the upper hand during the proceedings as they tried to have a TransCanada executive's testimony impeached. The proceedings took on a circus-like atmosphere when TransCanada was unable to prevent lines of questioning it didn't like.

The commissioners seemed unsure of its own procedures. At one point, Commissioner Gary Hanson expressed frustration that he was having trouble drawing a distinction between TransCanada's evidence and its advertising statements...

As the near failure of the Keystone 1 line proved, the consequences of siting TransCanada's bitumen-carrying export lines so close to drinking water supplies is a risk we can ill afford to accept in an age of water scarcity and climate disruption.

Even if President Obama denies the permit for the pipeline to cross international borders, the next administration could reverse that decision.

However, if the South Dakota Public Utility Commission decides TransCanada isn't up to the job, TransCanada will have to start the entire re-permitting process again."