State Department Admits It Doesn't Know Keystone XL's Exact Route

[G_j]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/09


Published on Tuesday, July 9, 2013

State Department Admits It Doesn't Know Keystone XL's Exact Route
by Steve Horn

The State Department's decision to hand over control to the oil industry to evaluate its own environmental performance on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has led to a colossal oversight.

Neither Secretary of State John Kerry nor President Barack Obama could tell you the exact route that the pipeline would travel through countless neighborhoods, farms, waterways and scenic areas between Alberta's tar sands and oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

A letter from the State Department denying an information request to a California man confirms that the exact route of the Keystone XL export pipeline remains a mystery, as DeSmog recently revealed.

Generic maps exist on both the State Department and TransCanada websites, but maps with precise GIS data remain the proprietary information of TransCanada and its chosen oil industry contractors.

..more..

[bluedigger]

1. I'm not really sure why they should.

Other than the point of the border crossing, I don't see that the State Department should be the lead agency in Keystone XL at all. FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) has always been the authority calling the shots on any EIS work I have been involved with regarding proposed pipelines.

[G_j]

2. I don't really get it

"The U.S. State Department seems confident in letting the tar sands industry - led in this instance by TransCanada, whose notorious track record with Keystone 1 includes more than a dozen spills in its first year of operation - place its pipeline wherever it wishes."

[Recursion]

3. It's opaque to me why State gets the whole project over Interior (EDIT: my wife just told me)

But I assume there's some decision made at some point for some reason.

EDIT: my wife (who works for State) informs me that State has jurisdiction over all international pipelines that pass through the US, because they are inherently international (you can't do something in Texas without it affecting Saskatchewan).

[bluedigger]

5. I see how they justify it.

But they clearly have no expertise whatsoever. FERC does. It had to be a political decision, not one made in the public's interest.

[JM42]

4. It runs through wetlands, across many streams and rivers, and interrupts plowing.

That's about it.

[Hydra]

6. I'm glad to see this Administration is on top of things

Just like they were with the Deepwater Horizon.

That went well before, didn't it?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

7. so basically, what you're saying is...

From the article: "Generic maps exist on both the State Department and TransCanada websites, but maps with precise GIS data remain the proprietary information of TransCanada and its chosen oil industry contractors."

In other words, the State Department DOES know the XL pipeline route, but it doesn't have it mapped down to the precise meter the way those planning to construct it do.

So basically your headline is misleading and the opposite is true. The State Department DOES know the exact route--just not down to exact GPS coordinates within a foot or so.

[G_j]

8. what is a "generic map"?

the title appears to be true, they do not know the exact route.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

9. again....their info seems to be exact enough to perform EIS

which is the main concern among opponents, correct?

Please read this PDF focusing on section 2.1 starting on Page 6.

http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/draftseis/index.htm

[KamaAina]

10. Oh, they know it, all right.

They just won't tell US.