KOTA Territory NewsLandowners voice concerns about Keystone XL project

Landowners voice concerns about Keystone XL project

Matt Hunter

More than 60 people showed up to a South Dakota Public Utilities Commission public hearing in Pierre on Tuesday, to comment on TransCanada's plans to build an underground pipeline in the state. 

The Keystone XL project would include a crude oil pipeline running from Canada to the Gulf Coast, with a 313-mile long stretch running through western South Dakota.

More than half of the people in attendance spoke publicly on the matter, voicing concerns on a litany of issues, including the pipeline's impact on land, ground water, livestock, property values and what would happen in the event of an oil spill or fire.  A number of attendees stated they simply don't trust TransCanada or its employees.

One woman who owns property southwest of Faith, where TransCanada is currently constructing another pipeline, showed pictures of roads on her land that had been dug up and destroyed during construction.  A representative of TransCanada says those pictures were taken while construction was in progress and that the roads will be returned to their original state.

A small portion of the audience was in support of the project.  Harding County Commissioner Robert Johnson spoke of the positive impact to the county's tax base and how it would help them fund construction of a new school, which is set to begin in the coming months.

A business manager with a labor union associated with the pipeline project on the eastern side of the state, says more than 100 of the jobs created with that project have gone to South Dakotans.  

The week-long public hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline project continues Wednesday at the State Capitol in Pierre.  Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson says it could be as many as three months before the commission votes on granting TransCanada a permit to build the pipeline.