At site of Yellowstone River spill, TransCanada executives promise a safe Keystone XL pipeline
In the aftermath of last year’s spill of nearly a million gallons of tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River here in Michigan and a recent spill of the same kind of oil into the Yellowstone River, TransCanada executives were in Montana this week promising that the Keystone XL pipeline will be safe.
“„Company president Alex Pourbaix said Keystone XL would incorporate pipeline technologies and construction techniques not seen on older lines. He added that the company would take precautions beyond what is required by federal regulation.
“„“We are going to build and operate the safest pipeline and protect the Yellowstone River and all the other crossings,” Pourbaix said.
But the record of the Keystone I pipeline, the first phase of the project, doesn’t exactly support these claims. That pipeline has had more than 30 leaks and spills in its first 15 months of operation, presumably while using those new technologies and techniques that are supposed to prevent such things from happening.
