Transcript: U.S. State Dept. Public Hearing On Keystone XL Pipeline (1 of 2)

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OR\G\NAL
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROPOSED KEYSTONE XL PROJECT
PUBLIC MEETING
VOLUME I OF II
APRIL 18, 2013
Heartland Events Center
700 East Stolley Park Road
Grand Island, Nebraska
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C-E-R-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-E
We, Sheryl Teslow, RDR, CRR, and Lori J.
McGowan, RDR, CRR, do hereby certify that the
within and foregoing transcript was taken by us
at the time and place herein specified and is a
true and correct transcription of the
proceedings had.
Dated this 29th day of April, 2013.

Lori J. McGowan, CCR, RDR, CRR
Latimer Reporting, Linco7n, Nebraska (402) 476-1153
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(At 12:00 p.m. on April 18, 2013, the
following proceedings were had:)
MS. HOBGOOD: Good afternoon.
We're ready to get started. On behalf of my
colleagues at the United States Department of
State, I would like to first thank you for
joining us at this public meeting in Grand
Island, Nebraska to provide comments on the
draft Suppl emental Envi ronmental Impact
Statement for the proposed Keystone XL
Pipeline.
My name is Teresa Hobgood, and my
colleague's name on my left is Patrick Hudak.
We recognize that this is an extremely
important issue and we value your input. The
purpose of this meeting is for the Department
of State to listen to and consider the comments
on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. So in
order to focus time and attention on your
comments, we will not be taking and answering
questions at this public meeting. I appreciate
the interest of everyone here in taking the
time to come and share your perspective about
this project. We take your comments seriously
and we consider them carefully.
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I understand that there are very
strongly held views and feelings about the
Keystone XL project. This is an opportunity to
express those views, but I ask you to respect
the rules we have established so we can hear
from as many people as possible at this
meeting. We ask you to be fair and respectful
to everyone who has taken the time to come to
this meeting and share his or her views.
In the event there may not be sufficient
time for all signing up to speak and for those
who would like to provide their views without
speaking publicly, you are welcome to submit
written comments either by mail, by email, and
you can also provide your written comments
today.
Written comments submitted to the
Department of State will be given the same
degree of consideration as spoken comments.
Also, we plan to post comments online.
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Before we begi n, I woul d 1 i ke to
describe briefly the State Department's role in
the presidential permitting process and the
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
and layout the ground rules for process
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participating in the meeting.
With regard to the role of the
department, Executive Order 13337 signed on
April 30, 2004, delegates to the State
Department the president's authority to
determine whether facilities, including oil
pipelines, should be allowed to cross the US
border. Under the order, the department
determines whether the proposed cross border
facility, such as a pipeline, is in the US
national interest.
The department has received an
application for a so-called presidential permit
for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline from
TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP.
One element of this process is the
development of a Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement. On March 1, 2013, the
department released a Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement, or SEIS, for
the proposed project that is consistent with
the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA,
to evaluate the proposed pipeline's potential
environmental and safety impacts.
The Draft SEIS analyzes the newly
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proposed route through Nebraska as well as
significant new circumstances or information
available for the entire route.
We are currently in a 45-day public
comment period on the draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement that will end on
April 22. After the public comment period,
appropriate revisions will be made to the draft
SEIS and a Fi na1 Supp1 ementa1 Envi ronmenta1
Impact Statement will be issued.
Following the release of this final
document, we will begin the national interest
determi nati on peri od. There wi 11 be an
opportunity for public comment during that
period. We will release the details at a later
date.
Turni ng to the ground ru1 es, no si gns or
banners may be posted inside this meeting
venue. The purpose of this meeting is to
listen to public comments regarding the Draft
Supp1 ementa1 Envi ronmenta1 Impact Statement for
the proposed pipeline.
Those wishing to speak must sign in
personally at the registration table to receive
a number. Speakers will be called to the
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microphone by number. The numbers are not
transferrable. Speakers are allowed to speak
on behalf of an organization or commercial
entity. We wi 11 call speakers to the fl oor in
groups of five. Please be prepared to come to
the floor as your number is approaching.
Elected officials and tribal leaders will be
allowed to speak first, as is our customary
practice.
Please give your name and affiliation
and speak clearly during your comments. We
will hold up cards to indicate the time you
have remaining to speak. Please be courteous
and end your remarks when we indicate your time
is up.
Let me repeat, you can also submit
written comments without making an oral
statement via email at
keystonecomments@state.gov, and written
comments will be accepted through April
the 22nd.
All oral comments made here today will
be transcribed by a court reporter. All oral
comments, written comments will become part of
our administrative record.
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State Department officials are here to
listen to you. We ask that you be respectful
of others when they are speaking. As we
mentioned earlier, please be sure to keep your
remarks within the three-minute range. We want
everyone who wishes to speak to have the
opportunity to do so.
The meeting will run until 3:30 p.m. We
will have a break and then resume promptly at
4:00 o'clock. We plan on ending the meeting at
8:00 o'clock p.m. However, if there are more
people remaining who registered before
8:00 o'clock p.m. to speak, we will make a
decision shortly before 8:00 how much longer we
plan to proceed.
We thank you for your patience, and we
thank you for coming out on this cold and snowy
day. In wrapping up my remarks, let me make
this clear to everyone here that whether you
are speaker number one or speaker number 201,
your comments are important to us and will be
given the same consideration.
So let's proceed with the speakers. I
call now Armando L. Iron Elk, Sr., Faith
Spottedeagle and Carl Hudson. Will you come to
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the mi crophone. Armando L. Iron El k. You may
begin. Is this Armando L. Iron Elk speaking?
MS. SPOTTEDEAGLE: He's coming.
MS. HOBGOOD: Okay.
MR. IRON ELK: Armando L. Iron
Elk, Sr., from the Ihanktonwan treaty delegate.
I am an elected treaty council official of the
Ihanktonwan. I present the Department of State
with a copy of our new 2013 international
treaty to protect the sacred against the tar
sands and are resolved to stop this destruction
of our land.
I leave this message for you. We affirm
that our laws define our solemn duty and
responsibility to our ancestors, to ourselves,
to our future generations. We will stand to
protect the lands and waters of our homelands
and collectively oppose tar sands projects of
any kind. We ask you to respect and leave our
territories.
My great, great grandfather Smotty Bear
signed two international treaties with the
United States on behalf of the Ihanktonwan
Oyate. These treaties are known as the 1851
and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties. These treaties
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are 1egall y bi ndi ng on the Uni ted States, and
they establish boundaries of the lands for the
exclusive use of the Great Sioux Nation, Oceti
Sakowi n.
The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline
threatens to trespass through our treaty
territory without our consent. This is illegal
and some would say it's an act of war. I honor
my grandfather today by saying no Keystone XL.
MS. HOBGOOD: Yes, can you
identify yourself, please.
MS. SPOTTEDEAGLE: Faith
Spottedeagle. (Non-English language spoken.)
My name is Standing Stone. I'm an elected
official of the treaty council of the
Ihanktonwan Oyate along the Missouri River in
southeastern South Dakota.
Good morning, relatives. I bring you
strong words and actions from the Ihanktonwan
Treaty Counci 1 and the General Counci 1 and
other elected officials that we reject this
intrusion of any threats to our land, water and
children and aboriginal and treaty lands of the
Oceti Sakowin or Seven Council Fires.
The Ihanktonwan people on April 4th
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formerly informed the Department of State that
consultation process is flawed and that any
consults must occur on Ihanktonwan homelands.
The SEIS states that they have consulted the
Yankton 159 times, which is a gross
misrepresentation because consultation has not
occurred once and the Department of State has
broken their own federal laws regarding this
process.
8,000 acres remain unsurveyed, which
puts thousands and thousands of indigenous,
cultural and sacred sites at risk. The
Department of State imposed a fragmented,
divisive process where tribes were forced to
survey and compile documents that could not be
shared, although all of these territories
overlap. This is an egregious event to our
people.
Documented linguistic evidence points
out that our Siouan dialect survives in five
provinces in Canada, we see no border, and 24
states in the US, thus firmly establishing our
aboriginal rights to protect MAGPRA sites and
ceremonial sites on the cultural landscape
which also includes genesis sites within the XL
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corridor and beyond.
We stand with the Ogallala Nation in
forbidding TranCanada or XL, KXL from crossing
1851 and 1868 treaty terri tory, and we wi 11 be
there to meet you.
The SEIS seeks to destroy our
relationship with our seven animal species that
are endangered or threatened. In our culture
they are deemed significant to our belief
system, one of which is the Whooping Crane.
Our singers are called cranes. They are called
(Non-English language spoken.) This is
adjacent to the KXL pipeline. Their existence
has been minimalized and marginalized and they
are certainly at risk.
Another item is that we have been given
an inferior status in the programmatic
agreement that was drawn up. We are not
signatories. The states, the federal agencies
were deemed much more important than us and
were gi ven si gnatory status. We are onl y
concurring parties. That is totally socially
unjust and is not acceptable to us.
We do bel i eve that Mother Nature, Ina
Makee, is speaking. On the 11th of April, the
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Department of State scheduled a consultation at
the Ramkota in Rapid City, South Dakota, and we
were greeted with another blizzard. And I
think true to what my grandmother said,
(non-English language spoken) means wooden
ears, and I would urge the Department of State
to listen. Thank you from the Ihanktonwan
Nation.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you.
MR. HUDSON: My name is Carl
Hudson and I'm the principal chief of the
Southern Cherokee government. And documents
have been given to the State Department. I
have two letters that a reader is going to be
reading for me. And this is the official
stance of our government to the United States
government. Thank you.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. You
may proceed.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Letter dated
April 14th, 2013, to President Barack Obama,
United States government, Washington, DC;
subject, genocide. Dear President Obama, my
name is Carl Hudson. I am pri nci pal chi ef of
the Southern Cherokee. I have a certificate
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issued to me by the United States Department of
Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, recognizing
me as a Southern Cherokee Indian. I have legal
standing as an indigenous Indian.
On September 15, 2003, a demand was
presented to and accepted by an authorized
representative of the United States government.
The demand was promptly ignored by officials of
the United States. The demand is included as
evidence in the charge of genocide filed on
April 5, 2007, with the offi ce of United
Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights,
Geneva, Switzerland.
This is to inform you the planned XL
Pipeline is not in the national interest of the
Southern Cherokee government. The XL Pipeline
would be used as a means to destroy our land
and waters by occupation forces of the United
States. Si gned, Pri nci pl e Chi ef Carl Hudson,
Southern Cherokee government. Enclosures,
demand dated 15 September 2003; statement dated
1 October 2011; letter to Congressman Ron Paul
dated 28 December 2011; letter to Mr. Domina,
attorney, dated 11 October 2011; and 1etter to
Congressman Lee Terry dated 7 March 2007.
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The second item is dated October 12,
2011, official statement of the Southern
Cherokee government. My name is Carl Hudson.
I am principal chief of the Southern Cherokee
government. A demand was presented to and
accepted and stamped as received by an
authorized representative of the United States
government on September 15, 2003. The demand
concerns all land, water and resources
belonging to the Southern Cherokee government.
The United States government failed to
respond or challenge the legitimate demand
within 30 days from the date of the demand.
The demand stands.
The Southern Cherokee government has not
been informed nor included as a legitimate
interested party concerning the negotiations
and final determination of any contract or
agreement resulting in the trespass laying of
the pipeline, damage to land and natural
resources concerning the project known as the
XL Pipeline.
MS. HOBGOOD: If you can wrap up
your comments.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You bet.
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Transcanda Corporation, ConocoPhillips Canada
and the United States government have all
agreed to the contract agreement for the land
between them concerning the XL Pipeline. The
contract agreement does not include the
Southern Cherokee government.
The Southern Cherokee government has not
signed anything that gives the US government
the authority to act in or on our behalf with
any entity, government or enterprise.
The Southern Cherokee government has
never relinquished its sovereignty and never
will. The Southern Cherokee government was
never officially informed or included in the
negotiations, nor is it a signatory to the
contract agreement concerning the project known
as the XL Pipeline. Based-
MS. HOBGOOD: Agai n, if you can
wrap up your comments, please.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Just one more
sentence. Thank you. Based upon the rule of
contract law that all legitimate interested
parties must be made fully aware of and part of
and included in all negotiations before
proceeding with any contracts or agreements, I,
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principal chief of Southern Cherokee
government, consider the contract agreement
concerning the XL Pipeline as invalid and
illegal due to the exclusion of the Southern
Cherokee government.
End of statement. Thank you.
Speakers with numbers one, two, three, four and
five, if you can make your way to the
microphone at the appropriate time.
I'll start with speaker number one. If
you can state your name and affiliation.
MR. KEREKES: Thank you very
much. I'm John Kerekes, the central region
director for the American Petroleum Institute.
We're pleased to provide comments as the State
Department undertakes another environmental
review of the KXL pipeline permit application.
API has more than 500 corporate members
providing most of our nation's energy and API
will be filing official comments with Secretary
Kerry before the deadline, but we felt it
important enough to be here today as well.
We believe KXL is in the best interests
of America to help ensure our long-term energy
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security, provide a dependable supply of
Canadian oil to US refineries, and create
thousands of good-paying American jobs.
API supports the findings that confirm
that the -- there will be no significant
impacts to resources along the proposed route.
After spending four years on environmental
impact statements, we think it's certainly time
to consider the other key factors in making the
national interest determination, including
energy securi ty, forei gn pol icy, and income
impacts.
This project has the support of many
Americans, the endorsement of many in labor,
and many in legislatures around the country,
including many governors and the governor of
Nebraska.
We believe this project is a tremendous
job creator. The department found in its
report that construction of KXL will support
over 42,000 jobs, putting $2 billion in
workers' pockets over the next two years and
will also provide market access to significant
domestic production from North Dakota.
Despite the growth in domestic
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producti on, Canadi an oi 1 sands wi 11 conti nue to
playa critical role in supplying US markets.
The Gulf Coast of the United States has
unparalleled capacity to process heavy crude
oi 1. More Canadi an oi 1 in the Uni ted States is
good for our energy and our economic security.
US petroleum product demand and
consumption will remain the same whether we get
our supply from Canada or from other sources.
In the absence of KXL, oil sands will still be
developed, and moving crude by rail is proving
to be a viable substitute for pipelines.
Companies have orders for more than 28,000 new
insulated rail tank cars designed only to
transport bitumen.
However, the SEIS estimates that the
incremental increase in cost of rai 1 versus
pipeline is $5 per barrel. Given that the
pipeline would transport over 800,000 barrels
per day, the additional cost would be $1.5
billion per year and would require the
equivalent of 75 2,000 barrel rail tankers
every day.
As menti oned in the draft EIS, KXL wi 11
use state of the art materials, coating,
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construction practices, monitoring systems.
And when coupled with the highly trained
workers and an extra 57 special permit
conditions that TransCanada has agreed to
follow, we believe KXL will be one of the
safest pipelines ever built.
Our demand for oil won't change without
KXL. Oil sands wi 11 sti 11 be developed but the
the supply chains will look very different.
It's abundantly clear if the project is not
built, economic and market conditions exist
that alternatives will continue.
API's consistently stated we believe the
project is in our national interest. We
believe the project should be approved. It
will create jobs, it will bolster economic
growth, it will provide economic security. We
hope the department recognizes the project is
in the national interest and facilitates a
swi ft approval.
Thank you.
Speaker number two.
MR. THOMPSON: My name is Randy,
R-A-N-D-Y, Thompson, T-H-O-M-P-S-O-N. First of
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all, I'd 1ike to thank you for comi ng to
Nebraska. I think it's only fitting that you
have the hearing held in Nebraska because,
after all, we are amongst those with the most
to lose and the least to gain from the Keystone
XL Pipeline.
As I'm sure many of you are aware of,
many of us from Nebraska have fought long and
hard to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. And I
can assure you, we offer no apology for
defending our homes and our families and the
things that our parents and our grandparents
worked to build.
And I can assure you also, we will not
apologize for defending our individual property
rights granted to us by the United States
Constitution.
I have seen no provision in the
Constitution that says these individual
property rights are only yours until a big
corporation who is politically connected wants
to take them away from you.
We will make no apology for criticizing
and challenging our own elected officials when
they choose to stand with a foreign corporation
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instead of their own citizens. And believe me,
we're not going to let those things go
unnoticed.
There may be apologies needed but,
believe me, there is none required of American
citizens or America for this project. Perhaps
the apology should be coming from TransCanada
and their multinational partners for the way
they have treated Nebraska and American
landowners in general. And maybe they should
be apologizing for the way they have
deceptively presented this project to the
American people.
As you know, this basically turned into
a heavyweight bout between the ordinary
citizens of this country and a foreign
corporation and in some cases our own political
figures.
We're about to the final bell -- and I
see that I am, and I'm about done -- about to
the final bell in this battle. President Obama
has to make a decision. He's going to have to
declare a victor. The question is, is he going
to raise the heavy hand of big oil or is he
going to raise the hand and the spirits of the
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American people?
MS. HOBGOOD: Speaker number
three.
MR. JALLOH: My name is Mohamed
Jalloh. I'm affiliated with the Movement For
the Survival of the Ogoni People and Bold
Nebraska.
I'm a first generation farmer. I'm a
first Nebraskan also. I'm here to urge
President Obama and the State Department to put
a stop to the XL Pipeline.
The current -- currently we have too
many pipelines from north to the south. So
those are too many, those are plenty already.
We don't need extra pipelines to run through
our state.
How many more oil spills do we have to
endure for us to know we have had too much?
The answer is no more pipe -- no more oil
spills. For Nebraskans this is a life and
death situation, you know. When you run pipes
through our lands, you are taking our
livelihood, you are killing our people. It's
about our clean water, it's about our land,
it's about the animals. We want to save our
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lives, we want to save our waters, we want to
save our crops and animals.
The TransCanada pipeline idea was a bad
idea yesterday, it's bad today, it's a divisive
idea for tomorrow also.
I want to conclude by saying no to the
XL Pipeline, no to oil spill. I want to say
yes to clean energy, yes to clean water, and
yes to life.
Thank you very much.
MS. HOBGOOD: Speaker number
four.
MR. GOTSCHALL: Hello, and
welcome to Nebraska on this wonderful spring
day.
My name is Ben Gotschall, that's B-E-N,
G-O-T-S-C-H-A-L-L. I'm a fourth generation
Nebraska rancher and District 5 president of
the Nebraska Farmers Union.
The Keystone export pipeline is not in
the national interest and it is most certainly
not in Nebraska's interest. Governor Heineman
betrayed Nebraskans and his word when he used
an inadequate map that didn't describe soil and
groundwater conditions to approve a route that
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crosses a significant portion of the Ogallala
Aquifer. In fact, more miles of the aquifer
will be crossed by the proposed route than
before. The proposed route still crosses
portions of the Sandhills as well as many areas
with highly permeable soils and shallow water
tables which has always been our greatest
safety concern.
According to the State Department's own
information, a pinhole leak could release an
amount of benzene that could contaminate enough
water for 2 million people to drink for up to
425 days. Nebraskans do not want that risk.
Our landowners have been left to fend
for themselves against an onslaught of
dishonest land agents and corporate bullies who
impose a lose-lose scenario; either accept
TransCanada's terms and a one-time offer for a
permanent, perpetual easement or TransCanada
will take the rights to your property through
eminent domain. This land grab scheme is an
extortionist racket and should be outlawed.
The Nebraska lawmakers violated our
state consti tuti on by passi ng LB 1161, whi ch
took oversight authority over pipelines away
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from the elected body of the Public Service
Commission and gave it to the governor and his
appointed staff at the Nebraska Department of
Environmental Quality.
The NDEQ report conducted by
TransCanada's contractor, HDR, was a miserable
failure. For example, it ignored the economic
impacts of a spill on grazing land and
livestock wells. Nebraska has a $21 billion
agriculture economy. Livestock make up over
two-thirds of Nebraska's farm income. Cattle
are our top agricultural product. We are first
in the nation in red meat production. To not
even mention the risks to livestock in their
study is not a minor oversight on the part of
NDEQ. It is gross incompetence. It is an
affront to Nebraska's livestock producers.
Real Nebraskans wi 11 never give up our
land, our water, and our property rights so
foreign corporations can enrich their
shareholders and we can be left to subsidize
the cleanup when their pipeline leaks. That is
why I stand here, with fellow Nebraskans and
fellow Americans, to urge President Obama to
once again deny the permit for the Keystone
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export pipeline.
Speaker number five.
MR. GROSS: My name is Tom
Gross. Thank you for allowing me to speak at
this hearing.
I am the director of pipeline and gas
distribution for the United Association of
Plumbers and Pipefitters. We are the skilled
workforce that will build this pipeline.
I'm here today to tell you that we know
how to build pipelines that are safe, efficient
and reliable. UA members are trained for this
work and we are as committed to protecting the
environment as many of you are here today.
We work very hard to update our training
and technologies to incorporate the latest
methods of building sustainable infrastructure
for the future. And frankly, we do a very good
job at it.
UA members are committed to safety and
quality construction. We build homes, schools,
hospitals, along with power plants,
manufacturing facilities and pipelines. And we
believe in our work. UA members are the most
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advanced -- use the most advanced technologies
and materials available and we are recognized
as to have one of the most impressive skilled
training programs in the country.
Unfortunately, our industry is hurt
hardest when the economy takes a downturn. We
had unemployment rates up to 40 percent in
areas during the recent recession. That's why
this is about more than jobs for us in
the industry. It's about American families and
it's about strengthening this country we all
love. It's about our nation's manufacturing
industry, our construction workforce, and our
road towards energy independence.
You have heard extensive testimony that
the Keystone XL Pipeline will create thousands
of jobs and that this will cost American
taxpayers nothing. But won't only be
the ones to benefit economically. Communities
and states along the pipeline will benefit from
millions of dollars in tax revenues. I can
only imagine what states and communities can do
with the extra income, especially in an age of
budget cuts that we're in today.
Let's imagine a project that will
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strengthen our national security, ensure a safe
and reliable energy supply, put thousands of
people to work and provide much needed economic
stimulus. Let's imagine approving the Keystone
XL Pipeline. Except let's not imagine it,
let's build it.
(
All that stands between us and this
massive free economic stimulus package is the
federal government's approval. We know that
this is an important decision and, while we
appreciate the concerns of those who worry
about the environmental effects of this
project, we strongly believe that their fears
are misplaced. The State Department's own
environmental impact studies say that the
project will not harm the environment.
There is no longer any compelling reason
not to approve this project. It will be the
safest pipeline ever built. It's as simple as
that. We ask for its approval so we can all go
to work.
Thank you.
MR. BAILEY: Welcome to
Nebraska.
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MS. HOBGOOD: Can you identify
yourself, please? Thank you.
MR. BAILEY: Yes. My name is
Britton Bailey. Big oil contractors like
Entrix and now ERM with the current
supplemental environmental impact study have no
business conducting environmental risk
assessments for the KXL. No surprise they see
minimal risk. But someone please tell me how
big oil contractors can provide anyone today
anyone here today with a credible, unbiased
environmental risk assessment of the KXL.
For starters, we don't have a list of
the chemical diluents that are added to the tar
sands to create the lethal bitumen brew. How
can Entrix or ERM even begin an environmental
impact study without this list? If you do not
know what's in those pipes, your environmental
impact studies are incomplete, seriously flawed
and bogus.
Remember the previous hearings when the
oil industry experts and executives told us the
threat to the Ogallala Aquifer, our rivers, our
lakes was minimal and that bitumen crude
floats? Remember? Do you think the Kalamazoo,
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Michigan people believe that lie today? We are
also learning that no one on planet earth knows
how to clean up a bitumen tar sands spill.
Can ERM share with the public and press
today the rate at which unknown bitumen
chemicals are dispersed when they come into
contact with water? Can you?
We do know that rare cancer rates have
increased dramatically along the indigenous
or among the indigenous nations who live
downstream of the tar sands operations in
Alberta. We also know that cancerous growths
on fish have dramatically increased surrounding
the tar sands mining operations. Is this not
environmental impact or genocide?
Let's also consider the bitumen tar
sands rupture in Mayflower, Arkansas a little
over a week ago. The horrific video and photos
provided a gruesome reality check. As if a
22-foot rupture did not cause enough
environmental damage, then came a mindless
attempt to clean it up.
Does the ERM-approved TransCanada
emergency plan include power washing
contaminants into the wetlands and then
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covering them up with paper towels like they
did down there?
Exxon reported Friday that in Arkansas,
even after the pumping stations valves -- even
after the pumping station and valves were
finally shut down, gravity caused the bitumen
tar sands to flow for 12 additional hours.
Flow for 12 additional hours into an aquifer is
unacceptable.
Now factor in the KXL, ten times the
capacity of the ruptured Pegasus line. Ten
times the flow for 12 additional hours.
Imagine the damage to the Platte River, the
Ogallala Aquifer, or to a rancher's future with
such an extended 12-hour event.
MS. HOBGOOD: Can you wrap up
your remarks, please?
MR. BAILEY: Yes.
Accountability is on Nebraska Governor
Heineman, Entrix, ERM, Secretary of State John
Kerry and President Obama if they fail to
listen to the common sense reasoning and
scientific fact. I ask that you expand the
SEIS analysis to consider bitumen impacts on
aquifers and waterways. Don't become the
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promoters of the biggest environmental
holocaust against humanity ever.
Thank you.
MS. HOBGOOD: Before we hear
from speaker number seven, can we hear from
Charlie Spotted Tail?
MR. SPOTTED TAIL: Greetings,
everyone. My name is Charlie Spotted Tail,
tribal council representative of the Rosebud
Sioux Tribe, south central South Dakota.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and many tribes
of the Great Plains in the region are
unanimously opposed to the Keystone XL
Pipeline.
The project will impact traditional
cul tural val ues, sacred si tes wi thi n our treaty
territories, pollution, greenhouse gases, water
contamination and environmental and public
health impact on Native Americans.
President Obama's consultation policies
with Native American tribes is not working.
The critical factor that must be considered by
Native American tribes is the fact that the
special interests, the land, water monopolists
and state rightists with their vast political
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power have effectively abrogated the principles
of law, which have made a travesty of the
principles and truly threaten the survival of
the tribes.
Article 32 of the United Nations
Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People
states, the US shall consult and cooperate in
good faith with indigenous peoples, concerned
through their own representative institutions,
in order to obtain their free and informed
consent prior to the approval of any project
affecting their lands or territories and other
resources, particularly in connection with the
development and utilization or exploitation of
minerals, water, or other resources.
The United States of America is trustee
for the Native American tribes. The Winters
Doctrine rights are certainly the most valuable
property in held in trust by the United States
for the benefit of the tribes, without which
there can be no survival.
Many refute the State Department EIS and
i ndust ry statements as inadequate. The EPA
rated a draft from the State Department report
as insufficient information.
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We need to challenge President Obama to
stand by his 2008 call to be the generation
that finally frees America from the tyranny of
oil. NASA scientist James Hansen said the
pipeline would be game over for the planet.
The Great Plains tribes recognize that
continued cooperation and support of each other
as the best way to improve the quality of life
of our people and ensure a better future our
seventh generation and those yet unborn.
Wopi 1a. Thank you.
Speaker number seven, if you can come to the
microphone.
MR. STESKAL: My name is Byron
Steskal. I'm a 1andowner in Nebraska. My
farmland in Holt County is on the proposed
Keystone XL Pipeline route.
I'm very disappointed in our government
officials, whether it's at local, state or
federal 1evel. It seems our el ected offi ci al s
turn a deaf ear to the people. They believe
the lies and deception of a foreign company.
TransCanada admits that a SCADA
detection leak -- will leak at a flow rate of
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1.5 to 2 percent undetected. At 830,000
barrels per day at two percent is 16,600
barrels per day leaking undetected in my water
on my property.
Not many of the leaks are detected by
their high tech equipment. Citizens' 911
response has been the case scenario. Tar sands
blockade shows a split in the southern portion
of the Keystone XL Pipeline in Texas. Even
though the PHMSA was contacted, this pipe was
buried in the ground anyway. And this leads to
contamination of the groundwater and soil. And
it's buried underground yet today. It's still
there.
This toxic sludge with all it's cancer-
causing agent additives are terroristic threats
not only to our landowners but US citizens as
well, not only contaminating groundwater but
edible food such as has been produced in my
county, in Holt County. My own county produces
194,543 acres of corn; soybeans, 79,000 acres;
popcorn, 16,000 acres; potatoes, nearly 5,000
acres; dry edible beans, nearly 3,000 acres;
and wheat, nearl y 4,000 acres. Now, the
popcorn, potatoes, and dry edible beans are
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ready products, all they have to do is be
packaged and sent to the consumer.
Minimal pipeline spills do not occur as
with Kalamazoo, Yellowstone, Pegasus,
Mayfl ower, Royal Dutch Shell, Col umbi a Texas,
and Keystone I, which the guy prior to me
bragged about building, that had 14 leaks in
the first year.
I believe there should be a moratorium
on all pipelines and new pipeline safety laws
written by PHMSA, and tar sands products should
be added to the eight cents per barrel spill
liability fund, and the contents of each
pipeline revealed.
This pipeline is not in our nation's
best interests as it's shipped 1,100 miles to a
tax free refinery. And when it is refined,
it's grade four diesel fuel with high sulphur
content and it's not allowed in the United
States. It's - it's too toxic. Okay. Then
you end up sending it through the Panama Canal,
from Alberta to the refinery to the Panama
Canal and then to China. Anyway-
MR. STESKAL: - there is an
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alternative, 5.2.1-1, in your proposed -
Speaker number eight.
MR. HINTZ: I am Adam Hintz, a
small business owner from Lincoln, Nebraska.
I'm also a journalist for a community radio
station. I have researched this issue
extensively.
This pipeline is not in our nation's
best interest in the short or long term. A
scant amount of jobs will be created and the
risk of tar sands oil being spilled, like in
the Kalamazoo in Michigan or the Mayflower in
Arkansas, is too great.
Now is the time to start building the
future by protecting it. Thank you. This is
the moment to walk away from nonrenewables and
start creating new energy sources that will
never sacrifice our children's right to a
healthy 1ife.
This is our species we're talking about.
With climate change an eminent threat, it's
either our grandchildren exist or the Keystone
XL does. We cannot have both. Deny thi s
permit and give us a chance to be grandparents.
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I also want to start taking care of my
children more instead of fighting a foreign
corporation. But I will keep fighting just to
make sure I have done everything I can to
protect my children and their future.
Thank you.
Speaker number nine.
MR. McCOWN: Good afternoon,
presiding officer, ladies and gentlemen. I
would like to thank the United States State
Department for holding this public forum on the
draft SEIS.
Having served in federal military and
civilian service for 26 years, it's a pleasure
to be here with you today. I'd like to address
the issues and concerns of pipeline safety that
have permeated this issue.
I formerly served as the head of the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration. In this position, I was
responsible for overseeing the safe and secure
movement of hazardous materials by air, land,
rail, sea and pipeline.
You know, at no poi nt in our nati on's
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history has our national pipeline
infrastructure been subject to more careful
review and scrutiny, and it should be. With
2.6 million miles of pipelines, enough to wrap
around the earth a hundred times, pipelines
have transported the lion's share of our
nation's needs for chemical, energy and even
water.
For most of that time, our underground
energy highways have remained out of sight and
out of mi nd. That, of course, is no longer the
case with Keystone.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we want to have
a debate on the future of fossil fuels in this
country and debate of the oil sands, then let's
have that debate. However, I do want to poi nt
out that pipelines are by far the safest manner
to transport energy products in this country.
And, ladies and gentlemen, they transport
two-thirds of all energy supplies we use,
whether it's that plastic fork at breakfast or
that iPhone. That's how we get what we need.
And we cannot turn our back on infrastructure
without understanding the logistics and how
things work.
,
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And to put it in this term, last year we
transported 13.5 billion barrels of oil with a
99.9999952 percent efficiency rating.
Ladi es and gentl emen, pi pel i ne i nci dents
do occur and I'm not standing here to tell you
they don't. But we have to have robust
regulations and we have to have plans in place
in the event of a release.
However, there is no bogeyman out there
and, frankly, attacking pipelines for the sake
of trying to stop something else isn't the best
way to address this issue. And let's be honest
enough to have that conversation.
Fi nall y, I want to tal k about the Draft
EIS and the 200 pages dedicated to rail
transport. Without getting into the
methodology associated with rail capacity
assumpti ons, rai 1 costs, whi ch I thi nk frankl y
are incomplete and flawed, I do want to talk
about the fact that according to government
statistics at my former agency, pipelines are
16 times safer than rail and 189 times safer
than commercial motor vehicle on a freight ton
basis. If you look at it on a mileage basis,
pipelines are 451 times safer than rail, and
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over almost 30,000 times safer than commercial
motor vehicle.
There is no alternative to pipelines,
there is no safer way to do that. I've looked
at the Keystone project, I have taken a look at
what they have proposed. Ladies and gentlemen,
I do wish that every pipeline in this country
were built to these state of the art
specifications.
Thank you for your time and thank you
for being part of this allowing me to be
part of this debate.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. Before
speaker -- before speaker 10 starts, can I ask
speakers 11,12 and 13,14 and 15 to be
prepared to come to the microphone when your
number is called. Speaker number ten.
MR. KAMINSKI: I'm sorry, I'm a
little bit shorter here. Are we starting now?
MS. HOBGOOD: We haven't
started.
MR. KAMINSKI: Okay. Let me
know when you are ready.
MS. HOBGOOD: Okay. We are
ready now.
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MR. KAMINSKI: Good afternoon.
My name is Ron Kaminski, and I have the
privilege of serving as business manager for
Laborers International Union of North America,
Local 1140 here in Nebraska. I'm a lifelong
resident of Nebraska and I love this state just
as much as I love the environment.
On behalf of our 700-plus members of the
Construction and General Laborers Local 1140, I
would like to express our support for the
construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Since 2006, Local 1140 has trained
hundreds and hundreds of residents of Nebraska
for pipeline work here in the state of
Nebraska. We constructed both the Rockies
Express natural gas pipeline and the first
Keystone Pipeline which is operational.
In working on the Keystone Pipeline, we
worked with TransCanada. Our relationship with
TransCanada is a good relationship. In this
relationship they have invested in our people
in Nebraska. And as a result of that
relationship and the work we did on the first
Keystone pipeline, we're able to open a new
training facility to train even more pipeline
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workers located in Omaha.
At this facility we plan to expand our
pipeline training to include not only residents
of Nebraska but also those seeking work from
other states like South Dakota and Iowa.
When we worked on the original pipeline,
Keystone Pipeline project, the process was
straightforward. We all understood what needed
to be done on the project and we took care of
our responsibilities.
The line of communications between our
union and TransCanada was open and we
accomplished construction of that pipeline
without any major problems. The project was
completed on time with skilled residents of the
state of Nebraska.
We understand people's concern about
their land. We care deeply about the
environment. Our members build pipelines, we
build wind turbines, we build ethanol plants,
we build biodiesel plants, and we also train
folks how to weatherize their homes to reduce
the amount of energy they use.
But the reality is we're not going to be
totally energy independent or without the need
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of fossi 1 fuel sin the next 25 years, and use
of petroleum will continue to be a component of
our nati onal energy needs.
I urge the State Department, after four
years of research and review of this project,
that you ask the president and the State
Department to approve this much-needed project.
Thank you.
Speaker number 11.
MR. WHATLEY: Good afternoon.
My name is Michael Whatley. I'm the executive
vice president for Consumer Energy Alliance.
And on behalf of the 220 affiliate
members and more than 300,000 individual
members from across the country, I would like
to commend the State Department for your
thorough and transparent review of
TransCanada's application for a presidential
permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline and the
Draft Suppl emental Envi ronmental Impact
Statement.
CEA supports the findings in the Draft
EIS regarding the projected impacts that the
project will have on the environment, which
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wi 11 be mi ni mal. Wi th 57 extra safety
conditions that TransCanada has agreed to, as
well as the multitude of safety advances that
the pipeline industry that is made over the
last several years, Keystone XL will be the
safest pipeline ever built in the United
States.
Consumer Energy Alliance strongly
supports construction of Keystone XL Pipeline
because it will bri ng a safe, rel i abl e suppl y
of crude oil from US and Canadian reserves to
American refineries in the Gulf Coast region.
The addition of these supplies of North
American crude, which currently run anywhere
between 30 and $50 per barrel less than Middle
Eastern oil they would replace, will help bring
much-needed relief at the pump and provide a
significant boost to the US economy.
Construction of this important project
will also create approximately 47,000 high
paying jobs and help reduce our chronically
high American unemployment.
I would like to submit a study
commissioned by CEA and conducted by Dr. Ernie
Goss of Creighton University which concluded
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that the project will increase overall economic
activity in Nebraska by $817 million in 2013
and 2014 alone.
The economic impacts will be similar
across the country, which helps explain why 66
percent of Americans support construction of
this project.
CEA will be submitting formal comments
for the record and we urge the State Department
to fi nal i ze the suppl emental EIS, fi nd that
this project is in the national interest, grant
the permit that will allow this vital project
to move forward, and help us begin to rebuild
the American economy.
Thank you.
calling on speaker number 12, I understand that
John Wright would like to speak. Will you come
to the microphone?
MR. WRIGHT: Good afternoon. My
name is John Wright. I come from the
Ihanktonwan Oyate Nation from Lake Andes, South
Dakota. I'm a treaty delegate for the
Ihanktonwan.
The Keystone XL has never been to our
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nation to consult with the general council, the
governing body of our nation. And that's -
we're affected by this pipeline because it's on
top of the Ogallala Aquifer. And we're along
the we go along with the Oceti Sakowin, with
the great Sioux Nation, because we're part of
the band, one part of the Oceti Sakowin, and
there is - there is great opposition to this
project and fear of the contamination of our
aquifer.
Thank you.
Speaker number 12.
MR. LIEWER: Speaker number 12,
Doug Liewer. I don't know if you ever heard of
a little county called Boyd, Nebraska. But in
1989 to 2003, Boyd County could not be bought
by the low level waste site dump proposed
there. It was finally denied. That is why
we're fighting this Keystone XL Pipeline,
because it's going through Boyd County,
Nebraska.
I believe in the founding principles of
the Founding Fathers that mankind has certain
inalienable rights, God endowed all mankind
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with certain inalienable rights. Among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A person's property is a projection of
life itself. Therefore, to destroy or
confiscate such property is in reality an
attack on the essence of life itself.
The farmers and ranchers along the
proposed route of Keystone XL have worked to
cultivate and develop a farm, have projected
their very being, the very essence of their
life into that labor. A threat to that
property is a threat to the essence of life
itself.
The state of Nebraska was founded and
settled by the Homestead Act of 1862, signed by
President Abraham Lincoln. My great
grandparents came to Nebraska in search of the
good 1 i fe. Woul dn' t you know, they found it in
Nebraska. They settled near the beautiful
Niobrara River in Boyd County, Nebraska.
Nebraska's number one industry in this
state is agriculture. We need clean water to
produce the food for our families and for our
neighbors.
One of the big fighters of the low level
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nuclear waste site proposed in Boyd County was
my dad, Jim Liewer, a 64-year-old resident of
the Boyd County who couldn't be here today
because of the snow.
All of his life he has lived near the
Niobrara River and Keya Paha River. He has
canoed, fished, hiked, swam up and down and
across these rivers. During the spring when
the ices break up in the Niobrara River when
the ice breaks up in the Niobrara and Keya Paha
Ri vers, no one wi 11 ever be abl e to stop that
spill because it's going so fast. During the
months of December, January, February, the
rivers are usually solid ice. It would be
impossible to clean up an oil spill.
From the river to the top of the river
hills, the elevation is about 265 feet. Add
another 25 feet underneath that river, this
pipeline will have tremendous pressure on that
pipe under that river, which is the Niobrara.
My dad knows from experience from
irrigating from that river, the Niobrara,
pumping water to the top of the hill, the pipe
always breaks at the bottom of the hill where
the pressure is greatest.
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That means that the TransCanada pipeline
will have the greatest pressure under the
river. TransCanada never talks about this. In
the EIS they stated -- there was the statement
in there that they only found two Least Terns
in the Niobrara River. I know by canoeing the
river that there are a lot more than that. It
is time to deny this pipeline.
Thank you.
speaker 13 starts, may I just remi nd everyone
to be respectful of every individual who is
speaking and to let that individual speak
without interruption.
I know that there are very, very strong
views held on both sides and we're here today
to listen to everyone. And, again, if you can
be respectful, we'd reall y appreci ate it.
Thank you.
Speaker number 13.
MR. TERAN: Hi. My name is
Robert Teran. I'm a pipeline representative
for the operating engineers. I represent
thousands of heavy equipment operators that are
highly trained in this field.
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Yesterday, goi ng around town, I went to
businesses and talked to people I could, and I
asked them what they thought about the
pipeline. A lot of people would like to see
this job happen. They know what it brings to
the local economy, the jobs, and these people
are needing it.
I also want to thank everybody that's
here, because this is going to be one of the
safest pipelines built. With all the scrutiny
that this job has taken from the get-go, this
job is going to be watched during construction
and down the road. And that's going to be -
that's going to benefit everybody.
I believe that everybody here is on the
same page as far as wanting to protect the
environment, the water, our children and our
grandchildren. And I just hope that the permit
is passed.
Thank you.
Speaker number 14.
MS. KLEEB: Hello. I'm Jane
Kleeb, leader of the Bold Nebraska group. I
didn't have time to go back and get my written
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speech, so I have a few notes on my iPhone. I
will try to remember most of it.
My first message is to President Obama.
I mean, he is the main decision-maker. We know
that the staff at the State Department work
every day to make sure that this process is
fair. We don't think it's been fair so far and
there are a few things that we want to see done
differently.
But to President Obama, our message is
really clear. He asked us to be the change we
want to see in this world. His whole campaign
revolved around citizens being the change we
want to see. That is exactly what every single
person standing is doing.
And we're telling President Obama, it's
your turn. It's your turn to be the change
that you talked about in your 2008 race, it's
your turn to be the change you talked about in
your inaugural address, and it's your turn to
be the change that you said to KETV television
in Omaha when they got an opportunity to visit
with you in your White House. You told them
that Nebraskans are not going to take a few
thousand jobs if that means risking our water
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and the future of our ag 1and. We're aski ng
you to honor those words.
We know that these are good jobs for
families. There is no doubt about that. But
what TransCanada then puts through that
pipeline is not good for our families, and that
is not fair. They are good jobs for two years,
and then we assume the risk for the rest of our
lives. And that is not okay.
The water analysis in the EIS is not
sufficient. There has not been a worst case
scenario spill analysis on the Ogallala
Aquifer, the Platte River, the Niobrara River,
the countless family wells. We want to see
that proper water analysis done.
There has never been a landowner rights
analysis done. The one contract that actually
stands on this project is between the
landowners whose families homesteaded the very
land that a foreign corporation is about to
take, and you have not done an analysis on what
that means for those landowners.
Their property will mean less value.
When a spi 11 happens, they wi 11 not be abl e to
sell that land. This is ag land. And just
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like those folks in Arkansas, we can't just
sell our land -- or sell the home back to
Exxon, we can't just sell our home back to
TransCanada.
This is land that's been in families'
hands for over a hundred years and we don't
take kindly to foreign corporations coming in
and telling us that they are going to take it.
So when your bulldozers try to cross our
line in the state of Nebraska, every single
person wi 11 be there sayi ng, no, not in our
1and, not in our water, not in our country.
Speaker number 15. And if speakers 16, 17, 18,
19 and 20, if you are prepared to speak when
your name is called, that would be great.
Thank you.
MR. DRUDING: Thank you. My
name is David Druding, and I'm here from my
home in Arkansas. And I grew up in Michigan.
And what I have for you today is four
photographs and some narrative about two
pipeline ruptures that happened in July of 2010
in Michigan, not far from where I was born, and
also more recently, two and a half weeks ago,
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the pipeline rupture that happened to an Exxon
pipeline, Pegasus, not far from my home.
So what we'll do is we'll start with the
July 2010 Enbridge tar sands pipeline rupture
in the Kalamazoo River. This is a picture of
one of the technicians who was attempting and
turned out to be a failed cleanup effort.
40 miles of the Kalamazoo River in
Michigan is still dead. The EPA and Enbridge
have now both acknowledged that there is no
method presently to clean up the tar sands
release from -- from that rupture.
The second one is a picture taken in
Michelle Barlond's backyard along the Kalamazoo
River. It shows a blob of the tar sands toxic
slurry with a dead frog dissolving in the
middle of it. And that was in her backyard.
She can no longer live on that piece of
property.
This third picture illustrates the Exxon
Pegasus pipeline rupture that happened near my
home in Mayflower, Arkansas. This tar sands
stream was released when a 65-year-old 20-inch
diameter pipeline that was originally
designated for US sweet crude that was
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operating at 600 psi was redesignated for
transportation of Canadian tar sands bitumen
and the carcinogenic solvents used in its
transport and they increased the pressure to
1440 psi. This embrittled, corroded pipeline
ruptured over 22-foot length of its expansion.
My final picture is a picture of an
elderly man having to evacuate his home in
Mayflower, Arkansas after the failure of the
same 65-year-old Pegasus pipeline two and a
half weeks ago. And I would like you to note
the use of paper towels, which were the primary
cleanup device that were used to clean up this
toxic tar sands catastrophe.
As Enbridge and EPA have already stated,
there is no -- no technology in existence at
this time that can adequately protect the
people and land of the United States when, not
if, another such tar sands rupture happens.
This photo makes it perfectly clear.
MS. HOBGOOD: If you could wrap
up your comments, please.
MR. DRUDING: I will. One more
sentence. Until the petroleum industry has
created the technology to repair this damage to
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our country that transport of tar sands clearly
represents, the State Department must reject
this dangerous transportation of tar sands
toxic slurry across our homeland.
Thank you.
Speaker number 16.
MS. DRUDING: Hello. I'm very
happy to be here in Nebraska. You have
delicious water.
I came from Arkansas as well. My name
is Mrs. Druding. And I highly encourage
everyone here to read the Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement, because while
waiting I realized that nobody really has.
Being a federal -- ex-federal worker, I'm
familiar with the federal government, so I
actually took some time to read it.
And it didn't answer any questions for
me as far as safety or as far as anything
that's going on. What it did, it posed a lot
more questions. It listed endless problems
with the pipeline. It talked about there is
going to be corrosion. There is temperature
changes that are going to affect the pipeline.
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There is manufacturing difficulties that are
going to affect the pipeline. It's susceptible
to human error. In the automation, the
pressure is going to be important. There is
going to be pinhole leaks that will leak, and
how important it is to keep it away from any
body of water sources.
And I'm thinking, wow, the aquifer, you
know, it's going to go right through there. If
paper towels are the only thing that we have to
clean up, I'm a little concerned about that.
And also, you mentioned something about
strong opposing views, Teresa. I disagree. I
think everybody here, including the union
people, all want clean drinking water and clean
food and clean beef and to go fishing with
their children.
We're not at each other, we're not
enemies. We're all together. It's the
multinational corporations that are making
billions off of us. And they are considered
people, but they are people that don't need to
eat, they don't breed, they don't reproduce.
We do. We're real people. And I'm tired of
this division.
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You know, we don't need to look at any
more impact statements. We've had enough
history right here and enough tar sands to know
that we don't know what's going on.
Also I looked to see, what's the
definition of tar sands? I couldn't find one.
There were ten different possibilities. It
could possibly be this and possibly be this and
maybe this.
And so the problem then is you have this
mix in the pipeline and you don't know what's
going in there. You don't know what's on your
property. You don't know what's being leached
into your water. And it is being leached.
Because we went into Oklahoma to look
where they were putting in part of the XL
Pipeline, and there were rips in those
pipelines that you could see light through that
they were putting in under the cover of
darkness. At night the work crews, they put it
in and then they cover it so you don't see it.
So it's not a matter of when or how,
this stuff is going to leak, it's going to leak
regularly into the aquifer. People need to
know that. Is that in our best US national
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interest? I don't think so.
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When these -- crude oil originally,
there was a certain percentage of it that went
into a fund where in case of spill they had
money there. With the tar sands they don't
have to do that. There is no funding for that.
So when there is an accident, the landowner
will be held individually liable.
Eminent domain purpose was never to
usurp and take over land for foreign
corporations. It was meant to help local
people with their local government.
So I thank you for your time, I thank
you for the wonderful drinking water. This is
global genocide. This is going to tip us over.
Your children will not survive. Watch the
movie Chasing Ice.
Thank you.
Speaker number 17.
MR. BLACK: Good afternoon. I
am Andy Black, president and CEO of the
Association of Oil Pipe Lines.
The debate over Keystone should be about
what is the safest and cheapest way to
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transport crude oi 1 into the US. And that's
pipelines. The Keystone XL Pipeline will be
one of the safest pipelines ever constructed
and operated, and we urge the State Department
to finalize its review of Keystone XL and
approve it for construction.
Last year pipelines transported over
13.5 billion barrels of crude oil, gasoline,
di esel and jet fuel across our nati on wi th
99.9999 percent of those barrels reaching their
destination safely.
Your DSEIS confirmed the rarity of
pipelines incidents. Compared to pipelines,
USDOT accident data shows an accident is 1,000
times more likely to occur with a large truck,
13 times more likely to occur by barge, and
five times more likely to occur by rail.
A study in the draft statement found
that pipelines had an accident rate of 0.6 per
billion ton miles, while rail had an accident
rate of 20.5 billion per ton miles, over 33
times higher.
When compared to other modes of
transportation, pipelines are simply the safest
way to deliver crude oil. And the overall
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pipeline safety rate continues to improve.
Over the last 13 years, the number of releases
nationwide is down 59 percent. Corrosion as
the cause of pipeline incidents is down 76
percent over that time.
Substantial spending by the industry on
pipeline safety shows operators are committed
to pi pel i ne safety, wi th 1.1 at 1east spent on
pipeline integrity management programs
evaluating, inspecting and maintaining the
integrity of their networks.
Keystone wi 11 operate under 57 speci al
design, construction and operations safety
conditions required by PHMSA. They will
specifically address pipe material and seam
welds, pipe coatings and temperature
performance that enhance protection against
corrosion, construction plans, requirements and
methods, the systems that they will use to
operate the pi pel i ne, moni tor it, detect 1eaks,
and shut down the pipeline if needed, remotely
controlled valves to isolate pipe segments, and
methods of inspecting the pipeline, analyzing
it and evaluating its integrity to identify
issues long before they become a safety issue.
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The overwhelmingly safe nature of
pipelines, the safety of pipelines in
comparison to other modes, the improving safety
record, the tremendous amount of money devoted
to pipeline safety, and the highest design,
construction and operation requirements
specifically confirm that Keystone will be one
of the safest pipelines ever constructed.
Right now trains carrying bitumen from
the Canadian oil sands are headed to the Gulf
Coast. Keystone XL should take many of those
barrels off of rails and onto pipelines, which,
again, are the safest method of transporting
them.
Canadian crude doesn't have to reach the
US instead of other markets, but it should
because American workers and consumers will
benefit. Canadian crude doesn't have to reach
the US by pipeline, but it should because
pipelines are safer.
Keystone XL is in the interest of
safety, the environment, American workers and
consumers, and it is in the nati onal interest.
Thank you.
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Speaker number 18.
MS. SCHAFFER: Good morning.
Amy Schaffer. First, thank you for this state
hearing.
Being employed in the oncology industry
for ten years and coming from a family that
raises organic grass-fed beef, I place a very
significant importance on pure food and water.
I have firsthand experience treating people who
have faced the devastation of carcinogens
affecting their food and water.
This brings me to my first point about
the pipeline route. It still crosses the
Ogallala Aquifer. This issue with the route
has always been about the water and it still is
about the water. I truly cannot comprehend why
anyone in their right mind would advocate
placing a man-made pipeline less than a half an
inch thick most certainly that will have
man-made error filled full of undisclosed
carcinogens over the Ogallala Aquifer.
Meanwhile, no government or industry has
yet studied or evaluated the risks of either
the external or internal corrosi on at the
temperature at which the projected pipeline
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will operate.
In addition to the soil corrosion, there
is also the issue of the corrosive nature of
water and metal. Growi ng up on the ranch, I
helped repair many rusted out tanks and can
attest, as many in this room, that water causes
metal to rust.
As for the soi 1, as acknowl edged in the
SEIS in this handout that we all received when
we walked in, the pipeline is not out of the
Sandhills, it is only out of the NDEQ
Sandhills. Figure 3.3.2-4 in the SEIS supports
this, showing the Sandhills boundary extending
to Keystone I, as it does in the USGS map that
TransCanada submitted with their original
application.
Based upon conversations with EPA
scientists, to protect a characteristic you
should use a map of the characteristic. So in
this instance, the Department of State should
be using a map of the Ogallala Aquifer. We're
all talking about our water and concerned about
our water.
Although you might not deem the farmers
and ranchers in this room as scientists, I
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would tend to disagree. Many have had their
homesteads in their family's name since the
1800s. This land is not passed from generation
to generation out of mere luck, but instead
through stewardship and the skills gained
through working the land while realizing the
vulnerabilities of the soil and the water.
This issue extends beyond Nebraska.
It's about the people, their health, their
land, their water and their livelihoods. From
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, the well-being of
the American people will be negatively affected
if this project moves forward. The pipeline
poses a significant threat to our nation's
national security by polluting our land, our
water and our food supply.
TransCanada has preyed upon the ill, the
poor, the elderly, the disabled, the widowed,
and the broken hearted all across this country.
They have stooped as low as staking a preacher
land agent in a community in north-central
Nebraska.
TransCanada is now holding onto
easements on old routes, and even though
landowners have offered to pay them back, they
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will not take the money back. Why? Why are
they holding onto land for route and a project
that does not exist?
In summary, no amount of money can cure
cancer, repair family homesteads or our
livelihood. It is up to the Department of
State to ensure our natural resources remain
pure, preserving the economy of the state and
the country.
I stand with the pipeline fighters of
Nebraska and all the across this country. They
are rich and they are inspiring people and will
leave the land and the world a better place. I
ask the Department of State to do the same,
take a stand and stand for the betterment of
society. Deny the Keystone XL Pipeline permit.
Speaker number 19.
MR. BARNETT: Hell o. I'm Davi d
Barnett. Thank you for being here today. It's
a great opportunity to speak.
I represent the pipeliners for the
United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.
We are the well trained and highly skilled
welding and pipefitting pipeline helper
m
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professionals who build quality pipelines
across the United States. We know that our
work touches each and every life - each and
every citizen's lives every day, including
ranchers and farmers.
We also know that when properly
maintained, pipelines are the safest and most
reliable way to transport oil. Each year
billions of gallons of crude oil are
transported safely through thousands of miles
of pipelines in our great country.
Over 37 years ago our members completed
the TransAlaska pipeline which has safely
transported over 16 billion barrels of oil to
date. We are committed to building the same
quality with even better technology into the
Keystone XL Pipeline.
The second environmental impact
statement for this project was released last
month. Once again, it stated that if Keystone
XL is constructed properly and to the stringent
specifications of the construction plan
document, potential impacts would be mitigated
through a variety of measures.
It also stated that groundwater effects
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from a potential release would be localized and
would not extensively affect water quality in
aquifers.
TransCanada on their projects allows no
corners to be cut when it comes to following
construction plan documents. TransCanada has
additionally agreed to design commitments that
will make this the safest and most modern
pipeline ever constructed and operated in the
United States.
Included in these commitments are
reduced operating pressures, construction of
the pipeline as if it were in a highly
populated area, additional monitors placed
along the pipeline and monitored 24 hours a
day, added shutoff valves along the pipeline
route and one foot of extra depth for the
entire pipeline.
Only a pipeline operator committed to
public safety and our environment would agree
to these costly measures in the construction
and operation of their pipeline.
This is a privately funded project with
no cost to the American taxpayer. At the same
time, the American citizen will receive many
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benefits by having it, such as millions of
dollars of tax revenues, lessening the need for
our troops to defend oil interests overseas,
move towards American energy independence and
create thousands of good-paying jobs for the
hard working Americans and their families who
will construct, maintain and operate it.
I'm not talking about minimum wage jobs,
I'm talking about maximum wage jobs, the kind
that will drive the American economy forward,
not backward.
The answer is not to stop this pipeline
project but to create even more projects like
it to replace some of the aged pipelines in our
country and keep America's infrastructure
sound.
Keystone is actually the greenest and
safest way to transport this oil. It is far
safer than shipping it by tankers, rails or
trucks. Keystone has had the most extensive
environmental review of any pipeline project in
recent history.
For these reasons and more, my
organization and its 350,000 members urge
President Obama and the State Department to
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approve the Keystone XL Pipeline project and
move America forward, not backward.
Thank you.
Speaker number 20.
MR. BOETTCHER: Bruce Boettcher,
fourth generation rancher and a member of the
new CIA, Cowboy Indian Alliance.
The porous permeable soil and high water
tables have always been my concern. This route
and reroute has not addressed any of these
concerns. If there wasn't a concern, why would
the government pose regulations on the citizens
with above ground storage sites of over 1320
gallons, yet let a toxic pipeline be buried in
our soil and water under PHMSA rules would be
allowed to leak into our land and water one and
a half percent.
Yet the government says there is no
environmental impact with this pipeline. What
constitutes an impact? The Arkansas, the
Kalamazoo, the Yellowstone, the Suncor, are
these of no consequence to the environment?
What the hell is the matter here?
We are being asked to accept a pipeline
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and jeopardize our environment for a measly 35
permanent jobs. The generations that lived
here and worked this land have created more
economic growth and more jobs than this
pipeline ever will.
As I sat in the county board meeting and
listened to the board members say their hands
are tied, they can't do anything even though
they do not want this pipeline. Do we really
live in a democracy? We as tax paying
law-abiding citizens are asked to accept this
pipeline by our own tax funded law enforcement
to keep us 1awful. And you call thi s a
democracy? This is a direct violation of
personal property rights by a foreign
corporation.
How can a representative of this
government, US government, that has any morals
or common sense support a project of tearing
the hell out of the land, poisoning the water,
killing the people and the wildlife.
Representative Lee Terry says these are
American values because we need the energy
independence. Not in my book. Governor
Heineman and others say this pipeline is energy
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security. It takes as much energy to extract,
pump and refine as the energy you get. This is
spinning your wheels while creating pollution
at the same time.
Alex Pourbaix of TransCanada and Premier
Alison Redford must have forgot they have an
east and west coast. Go ahead and send your
toxic crap to Asia and India.
If this government makes a huge, huge
mistake in permitting this pipeline with the
influence of the Canadian government and big
oil, we the people will not allow this pipeline
to be built. This is what you call a
democracy. As long as -- as one well-known
Republican said, read my lips, this pipeline
will not be built. It is not in the nation's
best interest.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. I'd
like speakers with numbers 21, 22, 23, 24 and
25 to be prepared to come to the floor when I
call your number.
And I have one other request because, as
I had mentioned in my comments at the outset,
that we have a court reporter present, and it
would help the court reporter tremendously if
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you spelled your name after you say it. We'd
really appreciate it. Thank you.
Now number 21, if you can come to the
microphone.
RON SEDLACECK: Good afternoon.
For the record, my name is Ron Sedlacyk. I'll
spell that. S-E-D-L-A-C-E-K.
I'm here today to offer comments on
behalf of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, I'll call
it the State Chamber here, is Nebraska's only
statewide broad-based business association,
representing individuals, large and small
businesses across the state, north, south,
east, west, professionals, and other statewide
trade associations as well as local Chambers of
Commerce.
The State Chamber is recognized as the
voice of Nebraska business and derives its
strength from its diverse statewide membership
and hundreds of thousands of individuals
employed by our member firms.
In June of 2012, the State Chamber board
approved the following language in support of
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the pros - proposed Keystone XL Pipeline
project: The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce
supports the proposed international crude oil
pipeline to be routed through Nebraska.
The State Chamber believes the pipeline
will benefit our state and nation by increasing
domestic energy security, by creating and
supporting thousands of needed jobs, by
reducing America's trade deficit and by making
significant investments.
The proj ect wi 11 al so enhance revenues
for Nebraska counties, school districts and
other units of local government.
The receipt of more production capacity
from Canada in the states of Montana,
North Dakota and South Dakota will provide our
nation with enhanced energy security through
safe, secure and reliable supplies of oil and
allow U.S. refineries to operate at a greater
capacity.
The State Chamber continues to believe
that the construction of TransCanada's Keystone
XL project is in our country's best interest
and that it will improve our security and
provide a long-term, stable energy supply,
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create jobs and spur economic growth.
Considering there have been more than
four years of studies and reviews by the
federal government, in addition to assessments
conducted by Nebraska state government and
other environmental experts, it's time to
approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
For Nebraska the project will generate
annually an estimated $150 million in new
property tax revenue for Nebraska's local
governmental entities over the lifetime of the
pipeline, produce an estimated 1 - $11.3
million in state and local tax revenues during
construction and create hundreds of new jobs
and expand Nebraskans' personal incomes by more
than $300 mill.ion during construction according
to projections and will result in additional
permanent and indirect jobs within the state.
Of course, the State Chamber's top
priority is protecting our state's groundwater
and surface water resources.
With that said and, also, supporting
previous testimony in that regard, pipelines
continue to remain the safest means of
delivering crude oil, energy products.
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I'll stop with that.
And thank you very much.
Speaker No. 22.
If you can state your name and spell it
out, that would be wonderful. Thank you.
REVEREND KATHLEEN STONE: Hi.
I'm Reverend Kathleen Stone. That's
K-A-T-H-L-E-E-N and Stone, as in rock.
And I'm on the national staff of United
Methodist Women, an organization which
represents some 800,000 women across this
nation who for more than a century have striven
to be fai thful to God.
That God has asked us to be the stewards
of all that is good, of water, of land, of air,
of vegetation and good and just communities.
I have come to Nebraska to meet with and
listen to a variety of people whose lives will
be affected by the proposed Keystone XL
Pipeline. These are ranchers, church women,
busi ness peopl e, 1abor uni ons, educati onal
persons and indigenous leaders.
It is also my responsibility to pay
attention to those who are affected but aren't
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often represented in formal hearings, things,
like, Whooping Cranes, things, like, Sandhill
Cranes, the creeks, the indigenous plants of
the Sandhills, complex ecosystems and sacred
indigenous spaces that are threatened or
endangered by the construction and operation of
the proposed pipeline.
I am a trained clergyperson, not a
geologist, an economist or a scientist. As
clergy and as staff of a religious institution,
I am trained to relect ethically. And I must
say there's things wrong with this pipeline.
No.1 is that somehow we've split apart
labor and the environment. That just can't
keep going.
No.2, ranchers in this area are being
told that if they do not agree with the
permanent easements on their property for a
pipeline, that they will be taken by eminent
domain. To jeopardize livelihoods and to risk
the breadbasket with a company's spill is not a
proper use of eminent domain.
No.3, this project does not appear to
offer our nation any positive environmental
justice impact. In fact, it would appear that
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the impact is likely negative, particularly
with respect to our indigenous brothers and
sisters. The new route of the pipeline
disturbs the Ponca's Trail of Tears and
numerous other historical, as well as
precontract sites, infringes on various
treaties made by the U.S. government with
certain tribes and threatens sacred water
sources, among other things.
This pipeline will disrupt local
communities, precious topsoil, agricultural
lands, water -- 1,073 bodies of water,
including 4 aquifers and 23 public water supply
wells which are all so vulnerably needed in
this area.
By moving the route across an arbitrary
line on a map while ground conditions are still
the same shows there's very little regard for
how vulnerable this water supply is and how
vulnerable these lands are.
The report projects a 100-year lifespan
for the pipeline. That's insane. The U.S. and
the world cannot continue along the petroleum
based energy path for the next hundred years.
It's suicidal.
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your comments.
REVEREND KATHLEEN STONE: In
conclusion, United Methodist Women strongly
oppose the construction of the Keystone XL
pipeline.
Its construction would cause further
pain and injury to indigenous people as well as
the ranchers in this area.
It does not bring broad economic benefit
to the U.S. public.
It threatens the integrity and safety of
cri ti cal natural resources and ecosystems, and
it would send a signal to other countries that
our nation does not have the political,
economic or moral vision necessary for living
in the interconnected global world of the 21st
century.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 23.
COREY GOULET: Good afternoon.
My name is Corey Goulet, C-O-R-E-Y,
G-O-U-L-E-T.
I am the TransCanada vice president
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responsible for the Keystone projects,
including Keystone XL.
We have 4,500 employees, and 40 percent
of them are American.
I'd like to thank those in attendance
who have taken their time to come and present
their opinions to this Department of State.
TransCanada will be submitting
comprehensive written comments on the Draft
Environmental EIS.
In my brief remarks today, I want to
address just a few key points.
First, we believe that there is a need
for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
The project will enhance U.S. energy
security and will meet the critical need for
reliable supply of crude oil to serve
refineries in the Gulf Coast.
These refineries have traditionally
relied on supplies from Venezuela and Mexico,
as well as the Middle East. The supply is
declining. And the refineries need to replace
that oil.
The project will also provide an
important transportation path for the growing
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83
supply of domestic U.S. oil from the Bakken
area.
In addition to the need for Keystone XL,
the project will create 9,000 direct
construction jobs for hard-working Americans
and support of thousands of indirect jobs.
Further, the project will provide
significant economic boost to the states that
it crosses in the form of tax revenue,
estimated at over $30 million a year.
Over the course of the lengthy review
process, we have heard many comments regarding
the safety of the pipeline. I can assure you
the Keystone XL Pipeline will be safe.
In addition to complying with federal
safety regulations, we have voluntarily agreed
to adopt 57 additional construction, operating
and maintenance safety measures that exceed
those regulations.
The FEIS and Draft Supplemental EIS
found that the pipeline will operate with a
degree of safety higher than any typically
constructed domestic oil pipeline and
operation.
In fact, pipelines are the safest and
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most environmental sound method of transporting
oi 1 and gas.
To minimize the environmental impact
during construction, Keystone XL will abide by
a comprehensive construction, mitigation and
reclamation plan.
We will also comply with dozens of
conditions and measures developed by various
state and federal permitting agencies.
The Draft Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement specifically found the project
would have no significant environmental impact.
Beyond the minimal impacts of
construction, the Draft Environmental EIS also
found that Keystone XL would have no
substandard change in global GHG emissions.
From a GHG perspective, the project will
not determine the development of the Canadian
oil sands, nor wi 11 it increase refi ni ng
activity. It will simply substitute one more
reliable heavy oil for a simple, similar, less
reliable heavy oil.
In closing, we remain strongly committed
to safely building the pipeline and operating
the KXL Pipeline.
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We look forward to the Department of
State and its review of the project.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 24.
JOE KIELY: Good afternoon. My
name is Joe Kiely. I'm the vice president of
operations in the Ports-to-Plains Alliance, a
grassroots coalition of 168 cities, counties,
businesses, economic development organizations
and Chambers of Commerce from a 10-state,
2,300-mile-long transportation and economic
development corridor that stretches from Texas
to Alberta.
MS. HOBGOOD: And coul d you
spell your name, please? Thank you.
JOE KIELY: K-I-E-L-Y. I will
be submitting a letter on behalf of the
Ports-to-Plains Alliance that is also signed
individually by 24 county-elected officials, 49
city-elected officials, 43 economic development
leaders and 36 Chambers of Commerce leaders.
Keystone has undergone the most thorough
environmental assessment ever conducted. In
this latest environmental review, the State
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Department again concludes that Keystone XL
will not significantly affect the environment.
Opponents have argued that Keystone XL
will increase greenhouse gas emissions through
increased oil sands production. The Draft EIS
notes that not building the pipeline would not
significantly limit oil sands development or
the U.S. consumption of heavy oil.
If the pipeline is not completed, that
oil would simply be transported by rail or
other greenhouse gas means rather than through
a pipeline.
The Keystone XL will allow America to
end its dependence on oil from the Middle East
and from Venezuela by improving access to North
American supplies. Relying upon regimes that
in many cases are unstable and unfriendly to
the United States is simply bad energy and
national security policy.
We've seen the shocks to our economy
from oil price spikes caused by turmoils in
those regions.
The Keystone XL Pipeline is clearly in
the nation's interest and will be a valuable
tool in strengthening our national security and
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energy security.
We respectfully request that upon
completion of this review period, the
Department of State move expeditiously to
approve the pipeline and grant TransCanada the
presidential permit it needs to proceed.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 25.
JIM TARNICIK: My name is Jim
Tarnick, J-I-M, T-A-R-N-I-C-K.
I'm a landowner, farmer, rancher on the
proposed reroute of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
I'm here to testify against the approval of
this pipeline.
I live in Nance County, Nebraska, where
the proposed reroute will run through 320 acres
of my family farm.
Through this ground and along a stretch
of 8 to 10 miles between the Loup and Platte
Rivers, the proposed pipe will be sitting in
the water table. Also working against the high
water tables are sandy and alkali soils which
eat away at stai nl ess steel.
Pumping columns in wells must be pulled
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up to change bolts that are corroding away,
even steel posts in the ground will only have
five-year life as they are eaten away under the
ground.
This pathway of water leads directly to
the Ogallala Aquifer which lies underneath me.
Where is the environmental analysis and
economic study when a spill would occur here?
Where are the soil studies and water
analysis done of this region on the route?
Where were your consulting firms of
Ensys Energy and ICF International getting
their information that sees no environmental
impact when our own natural resource districts
are concerned about keeping this water clean
and usable?
Why won't you use independent analysis
to balance the direct conflict of interest that
EnSys Energy and ICF International bring with
their ties to the oil industry?
It seems the Envi ronmental Impact
Statement has just as many holes as the
pipelines that keep leaking their way into our
news.
Even though it is a common practice for
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you to farm out such studies, do we expect this
from all of our government agencies to
outsource their governmental responsibilities
on projects that are this large and
controversial?
The Kalamazoo River in Michigan and
Mayflower, Arkansas, are two recent grim
reminders that the process to carry diluted
bitumen is flawed. We are learning on the fly
how to clean up these spills. And what we have
learned is they don't clean up.
The funny part about this is
transporting this diluted bitumen is not even
taxed into the Oil Spill and Liability Trust.
Isn't this at least an economic impact?
Why not give more time to study
processes of cleaning up diluted bitumen and
see what the environmental impact is.
I'm sure people around the Kalamazoo
River and Mayflower will say they have been
impacted. The pictures of oil-covered wildlife
in Mayflower sure show and environmental
impact.
This study needs a proper environmental
and economic impact of a spill. It has been
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stated that there will be only 35 permanent
jobs on this proposed pipeline. I can tell you
just in my farming community, that an oil spill
wi 11 affect 100 jobs and hundreds, if not
thousands, of people.
Would I ever be able to farm and ranch
again? Will the country make up the loss of
agricultural products destroyed by an oil
spill? These are questions that need to be
answered. And I hope this answer isn't going
to come from a wait-and-see-what-.happens
attitude.
Finally, I find it hypocritical of this
government agency, the Department of State of
the United States, to comment on the human
rights and other nations while you support and
let a foreign country trample my one human
rights and the rights of my neighbors.
Thank you.
Speaker Nos. 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, if you can
be prepared to come to the floor as your number
is call ed. And as you state your name, if you
can spell it as well. Thank you.
Speaker No. 26.
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Latimer Reporting, Lincoln, Nebraska (402) 476-1153 ~ .
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HELEN WINSTON: My name is Helen
Winston. That's H-E-L-E-N, W-I-N-S-T-O-N.
I'm 16 years old. I'm from Omaha,
Nebraska.
Do you see us, a see of desperate faces
undulating in the winds of tyranny but even as
we are frozen and blown around, we do not bend.
Do you see us, standing tall together
despite the cold, exhaustion and weariness
woven into our expressions. Regardless of the
physical toll this fight has taken upon us, we
still stand tall, because here in Nebraska,
we're not in the business of leaving our
neighbors to be beaten into a corner. We
refuse to give up, even though at times we've
been on the brink of doing so.
Do you see us, standing on street
corners with our signs held high, marching down
the sidewalk shoulder to shoulder, bowing our
heads in silent prayer as we join hands and
hold firm despite the cold.
Do you hear us, shouting from every
rooftop, chanting at every rally, singing our
songs of freedom, even as the hands of
TransCanada seek to smother us?
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The earth shudders and trembles beneath
our feet. The wind sings our names as it
dances over the Sandhills. The muddy Ogallala
peaks above the ground in Holt County to smile
up at us because you can feel us.
We are many peoples. We are a nation.
We are tectonic. We are the farmers, the
ranchers, the teachers, the taxpayers. We are
the future.
We will fight till our last for this
place because look around. What do you see
here that's not worth fighting for?
And should the president make the wrong
decision, a shockwave will run itself around
the world. You will call upon us and ask, what
in the hell was that. And we will reply, in
unison, can you feel us now.
Speaker No. 27.
KEN WINSTON: My name is Ken
Winston, K-E-N, W-I-N-S-T-O-N.
And I have the unfortunate task of
following my daughter. And I don't think I can
do it, but I'm going to try.
I'm going to talk technical stuff here.
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I'm representing the Nebraska Sierra Club here
today. Thank you for coming to Nebraska.
We're asking you to deny TransCanada's
permit on the basis of they are a bad actor.
Bad actor is an environmental concept. It's
recognized in many jurisdictions as a basis for
denying an application because of the misdeeds
of the applicant.
Now, I realize I only have three
minutes. And I could spend two hours talking
about TransCanada's misdeed. I think I could
probably do an hour just on their lies. But
let me just run through a couple here.
First of all, the map of the Sandhills,
that's been mentioned a couple of times.
TransCanada presented the map to the State
Department in 2008 that indicated the Sandhills
were far larger and includes the land which is
part of their current route.
The map currently being used is the EPA
eco-regions map. When this map was presented
to the legislature in the 2000 session
special session in the form of LB 5,
TransCanada opposed it. Therefore, there is no
legislative authorization for the use of the
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EPA eco-regions map.
In addi ti on, LB 1161 had no cri teri a for
defining the Sandhills. Their use of the EPA
eco-regions map has no legislative
authorization.
The fact that TransCanada has concealed
their own version of the Sandhills and
supported the version that they officially
opposed is the work of a bad actor.
TransCanada is - in addition,
TransCanada's repeated violations of the civil
rights of American citizens. 42 USC 1983 makes
it unlawful for anyone to take the life,
liberty or property of anyone under the colour
of state law.
TransCanada repeatedly made both oral
and written representations they would take
easements by the use of eminent domain.
Pursuant to Nebraska Revised Statute 57-1101.
This is clearly taking property under the color
of state law.
It's questionable whether they ever had
the authority to do so because, as we all know,
they don't have a permit to operate or
construct a pipeline in the United States.
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This fulfills the elements of 42 USC 1983 which
is a fundamental provision for the protection
of our property rights.
There are many other provisions that I
could cite. But one thing I just wanted to say
is that as I survey the people that stand with
me today, one thing that I will say that I am
honored to say - and I'm sorry if I'm not
saying this well enough, but these people,
they're doing what they're doing out of love.
No one is paying them to be here. They're
coming here because they're stand - they are
coming here and not only they're standing up
for their children, but even more, they're
standing up for the children of their
opponents.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 28.
HILTON KELLEY: Yes. My name is
Hilton Kelly. That's spelled H-I-L-T-O-N,
K-E-L-L-E-Y.
I am the founding director of the
Community In-Powering & Development Corporation
located in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Gulf
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Coast on the Louisiana-Texas border.
I served on the National Environment of
Justice Advisory Council for
Protection Agency.
the Environmental
And I presently serve
equity counsel for Region VI
of Minority Health.
as regional health
under the Office
I've seen my fair share of people being
poisoned systematically by refineries and
chemical plants where they live next to the
shadows of these industries.
They live on the fence line in fear of
possible explosions.
They smell the sulfur in the benzene and
various other chemicals and volatile organic
compounds that they have been subjected to
every day, even as we speak.
This tar sand material that is going to
end up in the City of Port Arthur, Texas;
Beaumont, Texas; Baytown, Texas; Houston,
Texas, we are going to see the end result of
what's flowing out of that pipeline.
And what will be flowing out of this
pipeline is a heavy concentration of sulfur,
heavy metals, and other toxins that fuel our
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or are emitted from petrochemical products such
as tar sand.
We're urging you to do everything you
can to protect the health and the welfare of
people that live in these communities, on the
fence line of these refineries and chemical
plants.
I grew up smelling sulfur. And it
impacted my lungs. I've seen people die from
smelling this stuff and working in those plants
year after year, trying to make a living for
their family but at the same time jeopardizing
their lives. A man or woman shouldn't have to
jeopardize their life just to put food on the
table.
I understand what the men are doing that
are working on this pipeline. They only try to
provide for their families. But they shouldn't
have to sacrifice their lives to feed their
famil i es .
What we're asking for is just a fair
shake at having a better quality of life than
what we're having in refinery towns such as
Port Arthur, Beaumont, Houston, Chalmette and
all of the other southern regions that have to
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deal with refineries putting this chemical into
our air.
We are urging you all to take a close
look because we all breathe the same air. We
all drink the same water. And all of the money
in the world cannot be given to me for my child
to have to breathe these toxic fumes.
Please take a closer look at the tar
sand project. Take a closer look at this
Keystone XL Pipeline because the end result
what comes out once this pipeline is built we
have to deal with for years and years to come.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 29.
COURTNEY LEWIS: Good afternoon.
My name's Courtney Lewis.
I'm with the Sierra Club. But I'm going
to be reading excerpts from a letter from
Mr. Adrian Shelley of Air Alliance Houston.
And his name is spelled A-R-D-I-A-N,
S-H-E-L-L-E-Y.
"I'm Adrian Shelley, executive director
of Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit grassroots
environmental and community advocacy
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organi zati on in Houston, Texas, whose basi c
basic mission is to influence public policy on
air quality and environmental health issues in
the Houston region in order to protect the
health of area residents and improve their
quality of life.
"The TransCanada Corporation's proposed
Keystone XL Pipeline will carryover 700,000
barrels per day of tar sands oil from Alberta,
Canada, across six states to the Texas Gulf
Coast.
"The southern portion of the pipeline
will run transport oil to refineries in the
refinery complex along the Houston ship canal.
"Its route in Texas crosses three
aquifers which supply water to over 10 million
Texans.
"The tar sand is bitumen which is more
acidic than conventional crude and contains
significantly higher quantities of abrasive
particles.
"Given that corrosive given that
corrosion tends to be the second most common
cause of pipeline failures, this corrosiveness
of the tar sands makes the potential of
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contaminating these domestic water supplies
from spills of major leaks a grave, grave
concern.
"Processing tar sands into usable fuel
has been found to release more sulfur, nitrogen
oxide, heavy metals and other toxic pollutants.
"Additionally, the Houston area hovers
perilously close to nonattainmnent of the new
annual standard for fine particulate matter.
Refining the tar sands in area refineries will
certainly add to these significant air
pollution issues.
"The refineries capable and available to
refine the tar sands are located in communities
in the refinery petrochemical complex along the
Houston shi p canal.
"These communities are already inundated
with petrochemical plants and refineries and
overburdened with environmental pollution and
health risks.
"They experience higher levels of air
pollution, leading to increased incidence of
cardiac and respiratory illnesses and increased
risks of air toxic-related illnesses.
"Given that tar sands refinery emissions
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have been been linked to prenatal brain damage,
asthma and emphysema, overburdened and at-risk
communities such as those along the Houston
ship canal will only have their health problems
made worse.
"We strongly believe pollution and
health risks that will likely come to the
Houston, Texas, Gulf Coast area, the Keystone
Pipeline and the refineries that will process
the tar sands crude far outweigh the predicted
positive economic benefits.
"On behalf of Air Alliance Houston, I
appreciate the opportunity to offer these
comments in Nebraska. And I hope the concerns
of the citizens of the Houston area will be
seriously concerned in these matters.
"Respectfully submitted, Adrian
Shelley."
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you, Adrian.
Speaker No. 30.
GRAHAM CHRISTENSEN: Graham
Christensen, Nebraska Farmers Union, also a
proud member of our family farm of 145 years
now.
In revi ew of the Draft EIS, I ran across
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a segment of Section 4.15 that stated it is not
expected that the proposed project would have
any impact on the rate of development of tar
sands extraction in Canada.
This is an assumption as there are very
visible efforts taking place across the world
to deny this kind of tar sand energy source.
In Canada, efforts led by the indigenous
folks and environmentally conscious citizens
have already shut down initial attempts at an
east-to-west route.
Meanwhile, the Europeans continue to
block efforts that would allow tar sands oil
into their fuel pumps in favor of implementing
new sources of locally produced renewable
energy.
However, the EIS tells me that the
United States leadership is more interested in
catering to the Canadian government, large oil
companies and in the case - in the case of the
Alberta tar
owners.
sands, their ever-increasing Asian
This
attitude on
development
I-can't-get-there-from-here
new energy infrastructure
needs to stop immediately.
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In a proudly conservative state as
Nebraska, poll after poll shows support 1evel
for renewables upwards of 80 percent.
Locally-produced renewable energy is extremely
popular. Not only is it popular, it's also
safer from terroristic threats, it is more
sensitive to the issues we're dealing, climate
change, water issues and wildlife, and is the
key to opening up real job creation in the
United States.
There's been many studies done all
across the country, and we have some that focus
on just Nebraska. In 2009, the National
Renewal Energy Laboratory showed that a
lifetime economic output from wind energy
development, if we do our part, to be $14
billion.
Skip Laitner's study, which is by the
Sierra Club, estimated 14,000 new jobs would
come to Nebraska's economy if we do our part,
$3.8 billion lower in electric bills and $4
billion lower in healthcare costs.
And also recent examination done in the
City of Lincoln shows that 28 megawatts of
solar-powered energy and a touch of wind could
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yield as much as 150 million in economic
output, 1,000 new jobs for that area.
So how are these sources of energy
connected? When I go to -- home to the farm
with our newly bought electric car, one month
503 miles saved 331 pounds of carbon dioxide.
This car is getting 104 miles per gallon.
These numbers are amazing. Maybe we don't need
these tar sands after all.
There is -- there is no doubt -- there
is no doubt is that the perception of moving
away from fossil fuels appears to be large and
daunting. But we undoubtedly have the ability,
the intelligence and the energy to meet this
challenge. We have all the tools.
However, we must understand today's
decisions will affect tomorrow.
Deny the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Speakers 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35, as I call your
number, be prepared to speak and also spell
your name.
Speaker 31.
ALLEN SCHREIBER: My name is
Allen Schreiber, A-L-L-E-N, S-C-H-R-E-I-B, as
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in boy, E - R.
Good afternoon. I'm a fourth-generation
Nebraskan Jewish and very proud of it.
First of all, I want to say that this
cause has taken diverse population of Nebraska
and brought them together as one.
When I can go with a brand new
Nebraskan, my friend, Muhammad, a Muslim, and
we room together and get arrested together in
front of the White House protesting this
pipeline, maybe it should tell you something.
When cowboys and Indians get together to
oppose this pipeline, maybe it should tell you
something.
This is not about politics. This is
about what is right for humanity.
For four years in this state, we've had
to put up with the TransCanada traveling road
show of tar sands and snake oil. We've had to
put up with four years worth of lies, just like
the good patent medicine man.
My grand-grandfather practiced medicine
in the Sandhills, and he had to deal with the
results of people who fell victim to the patent
medicine salesman, the toxins and poisons they
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106
sold to us and told us it was going to be good
for us.
This pipeline is a pipeline that is not
needed. We do not need this tar sands oil.
Obviously -- we do not need it. Nebraska is
the No. 3 producer gl oball yin ethanol.
We can -- we reach -- we can reach
energy independence if we just redirect our
methods of doing things in this country.
That's all we have to do and just say forget
this, we don't need to start using tar sands.
We do not need this pipeline. We do not need
this pipeline in our -- running in our aquifer.
The new proposed route, okay, I was a
geology student at the University of Nebraska
in the 1990s. I studied geology. I studied
the Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer under
the people who literally wrote the book on
them.
These past two EIS's the State
Department did are scientific junk. And I'm
saying this from the standpoint of a scientist
and a geologist. They are junk.
You do not hire contractors who work for
the petroleum industry to write you an
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independent review because you don't get an
independent review. You get a review that's
guided for the petroleum industry and for
TransCanada.
The same thing can be said about the HDR
review for DEQ, what a piece of junk. Not
worth the paper it's written on.
They totally ignore the fact that 10.8
miles of the Keystone XL's new route lies in
the Ogallala Aquifer, buried under the surface
of the Aquifer.
Another 11.8 miles is at least partially
submerged in the Ogallala Aquifer.
TransCanada talks about their safety
record. They talk about all these great safety
devices, their state of the art detector
system, the same state of the art detector
system that did not detect one of the 14 leaks
in the Keystone I.
The same thing about the safety valves.
Every 20 miles is a safety valve. Do the math.
The diameter of the pipe is 36 inches. That
36-inch pipe over 20 miles from the safety
valves, that's 5.59 million gallons of tar
sands crude between safety valves.
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108
A 22-foot rupture like down in Arkansas,
that's 5.59 million gallons of tar sands crude
that will leak out with no way of stopping it.
No.
And let's look at a history here for a
second. We just came out with one of the worst
droughts we ever saw in this country. The
corn-producing states of Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa had crop failures like crazy.
your comments.
ALLEN SCHREIBER: I will.
The State of Nebraska, although it was
the hardest hit drought state in the
United States, we still produced corn. Why?
Because we had the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate
our crops with. We had the Ogallala Aquifer to
water our beef with.
When you go back home to eat that Omaha
Steak, just remember, it came from those
ranches just north of here. And it was watered
with water from the Ogallala Aquifer.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 32.
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MIKE MATEJKA: Good afternoon.
Mi ke Matej ka, Great Pl ai ns Laborers' Di stri ct
Council, M-A-T-E-J-K-A.
I want to thank you and thank the State
Department for doing a very thorough study.
You have a difficult job. It's not an easy
job. You have a lot to consider. And I
appreciate the professionalism and commend you
for it.
As a laborer, I would also like to ask
respect for my professionalism. Some people go
away to college. Some of us go and study as
apprentices. We learn a trade, and that trade
has value to this country and to our
communities.
When you turn on a faucet, you don't
worry about where the water's coming from.
When you turn the switch for electricity, it's
there.
You don't have to stop and inspect every
bridge you drive over because we have
construction craft, trade workers in this
country.
Please respect us. Please allow us to
do our job. And please allow us to go to work.
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And we are very proud of what we do. And we
want the opportunity to use those skills to
build this country.
One of the things that only one other
person here mentioned today and as State
Department, you have to think about not just
Nebraska, not just the United States, not just
North America but the world.
Because of oil, we are living in a
global economic economy. For the last ten
years, young Americans have been in the Middle
East. I don't want to insult anybody. But as
far as I'm concerned, it has been a war for
oil. And we have shed blood to bring oil to
this country.
And I would much rather see our energy
come domestically in North America so we do not
have to send our young people and our tax
dollars overseas. And as State Department, you
have to think globally. And I know you have to
think about that.
So let me make a plea to let us together
build a North American energy infrastructure.
Let us build wind farms, solar farms,
geothermal. And, yes, a lot of people got here
Latimer Reporting, Linco7n, Nebras.ka (402) 476-1153 @
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today with hydrocarbon fuels. So let's build a
safe, rigorously - rigorously engineered and
rigorously inspected pipeline that can help us
achieve North American energy independence.
Thank you.
CINDY MYERS: Welcome to our
state. I'm Cindy Myers, C-I-N-D-Y, M-Y-E-R-S.
I grew up on a ranch in the Sandhills.
I've worked as an RN for 33 years in that area.
I stood before you in Atkinson in
September of 2011. And now I stand before you
again with the same dire concern. Our water.
President Obama understood when he said
fol ks in Nebraska, 1 i ke all across the country,
aren't going to say to themselves, we'll take a
few thousand jobs if it means our kids are
potentially drinking water that would damage
their health. I couldn't agree more.
The most deceptive compromise in
Nebraska's history took place in a special
legislative session in Lincoln, Nebraska,
November 2011. Our state senators and
TransCanada struck a bargain to placate the
citizens by moving the route very minimally,
while our greatest concern, the aquifer, was
Lat-imer Reporting, Lincoln, Nebraska (402) 476-1153 $
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not even taken into consideration.
The first route was two miles west of my
private well. And according to testimony by
UNL specialist Jim Goeke, groundwater
contamination plumes could possibly migrate two
miles. This validated my fear for my drinking
water.
Pinhole leaks can actually spill large
volumes but remain undetected. And they're the
greatest threat to our drinking water. I can
imagine clusters of cancer affecting our
families and citizens for generations to come.
A health impact assessment must be
required. This study, the KXL study, is
actually still awaiting data regarding drinking
water in high-consequence areas.
Here are the exact words from the
quote, "Some segments of the
study,
proposed project
route would cross areas that are considered
high-consequence areas due to potential risks
to sensitive drinking water sources."
And it goes on to say, "High-consequence
areas of drinking water data are pending and
will be included in the final."
President Obama's primary concern in
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delaying the KXL permit was to assure the
safety of our drinking water. Yet, this is not
in our the current study the way it is
written for our review.
KXL is no gain but all risk for the
health and welfare of Nebraskans. Greed and
politics is what pushes for this 1,700-mile
1ength of evi 1 .
KXL is a crime against humanity, from
the indigenous people lying near the tar sands
to those living in poverty and pollution near
the Texas refineries. And now routing KXL
through the Heartland, you can add rural
Americans as a minority to whom you turn a deaf
ear.
This is not a question of national
interest but a question of ethics. The good
book may not govern distant decision-makers in
D.C. But we Nebraskans believe in protecting
our land of milk and honey.
Speaker No. 34.
MARLAN FERGUSON: Good
afternoon. My name is Marlan Ferguson,
M-A-R-L-A-N, F-E-R-G-U-S-O-N.
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I am the president of the Grand Island
Area Economic Development Corporation.
The GIAEDC Board and the Board of
Trustees are in favor of the proposed pipeline
primarily for two reasons. One, expansion of
the pipeline will bring in a much-needed boost
to the U.S. economy, the state economy and the
regional economy; and, two, we must pursue U.S.
energy independence.
It is estimated the project would create
20,000 manufacturing and construction jobs
during the building of the pipeline and 250,000
permanent jobs in the long term.
It would increase the personal income
for American workers by $6.25 million over the
project's lifetime and produce approximately 20
million in economic activity for food, lodging,
construction and equipment.
On a state and local 1evel, it woul d
create $300 million in personal income to
Nebraskans through well-paying jobs, direct
jobs and the trickle-down effects for the local
economies.
It is estimated that $468 million will
be put in the economy by way of direct
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construction, roads,
indirect jobs.
infrastructure and related
The Economic
about creating jobs
communities and our
that, we need to be
Development Corporation is
and wealth for our
regions. In order to do
as competitive as possible.
And that includes energy costs.
We do not believe we can continue to be
competitive on the global economy if we
continue to rely on the energy-producing
regions that are highly unstable or do not have
the best interest of the United States in mind.
Increasi ng our import potenti a1 from
Canada represents a sound energy and national
policy.
We encourage the Department of
Administration to make the right decision and
get this belt -- this pipeline built.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 35.
JUANITA RICE: Hello. My name
is Juanita Rice. I'm a retired professor that
1 i ves in Fai rmont, Nebraska, in Fi 11 more County
where the pipeline will pass through.
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But I come here not even as a Nebraskan
but as an American citizen to argue that the
Keystone Pipeline project is antithetical to
U.S. national interests. And I have reasons.
This pipeline would enable the expansion
of the tar sands industry that destabilizes the
environment far beyond Canada. That industry
is a disgrace and a desecration of the earth.
Pit mines, imagine them, 100 yards deep,
a football field deep, 50 square miles of that,
where there was peat and forest which would
sponge up carbon, 56,000 miles of -- square
miles of this.
The process burns enough natural gas to
heat 3 million homes a day. It contaminates
daily enough water for Houston, Texas.
The pipelines do leak. 2010 Kalamazoo,
150 homes permanently lost. If that were
weather, it would be major news. The
Yellowstone and now Arkansas.
TransCanada is not a friendly nation but
a ruthless and ruthless and dishonest
corporation, a foreign corporation asking
Nebraskans who have been bullied and lied to
for four years.
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To burn this fuel releases three times
the amount of contaminants as conventional oil.
And, finally, I would like to quote
Dwight D. Eisenhower who warned that
independent universities' fault was necessary
to provide disinterested searches for truth as
the keystone of Democracy.
Why was an environmental impact report
farmed out to industry specialists and not to
objective or disinterested scholars and
scientists?
In a Nebraska -- in a Nebraska idiom,
that's putting the foxes to guard the chicken
house. And that chicken house is the world.
And they ain't nobody here but us chickens.
Obama said it, profit for the few should
not tempt us to risk the health and well-being
of Americans and their children.
I submit to you that the analytical
process was flawed and skewed and this
is not in the national interest but counter to
it.
Speakers with Nos. 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40, will
pipeline
Thank you.
.
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you be prepared to come to the microphone as I
call your number.
Speaker No. 36.
DANA GAE HANCHARD: Yes. My
name is Dana Gae Hanchard of the Manahatta
Peace Project. I'm a citizen of the
United States and of this planet earth.
MS. HOBGOOD: Could you spell
your name, please.
DANA GAE HANCHARD: I'd rather
like to tell you what I have to say.
I have traveled across the state of
Nebraska meeting with the people of the lands,
indigenous people of the sovereign nations,
homesteaders, ranchers, farmers, people who do
know the land on which they live.
I ask you to trust the people of the
land on this one. Bringing highly corrosive
and toxic bitumen from a foreign country
through our lands to primarily export the
product out of the country will bring little
benefit to the people of this country.
The people living in the U.S. and the
indigenous citizens of the sovereign nations of
this country have not had enough say in what is
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going on.
Anyway, hasn't the Gulf of Mexico been
desecrated enough? If President Obama is
committed to reducing our reliance on fossil
fuels, why are you doing everything possible to
see to it that we remain dependent on it?
The media has not let us know -- has not
really kept us very much informed about these
nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima. We have three
that are sinking. The corium has sunk into the
ground, and it's in the groundwater. They
cannot find them.
We have continual releases into the
Pacific Ocean that gets carried by the clouds
all across the land. Okay? Some monitoring is
being done, but most of the monitoring is being
done by citizens.
Clouds have no nation. These rains are
pouring down on our lands as it is. Shouldn't
we be concerned about the water? Shouldn't we
be a little more concerned about the earth that
sustains us?
To the union spokesman who said it won't
cost citizens anything to bring this pipeline
in, I ask you to say that to the peopl e of
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Mayflower, Arkansas, to the people living on
the Gulf of Mexico, suffering from illnesses
and devastation to their way of life, brought
to us by another foreign company.
We pay big time. We pay with our lives
and with the lives of our children and our
children's children. Anyway, we don't need
jobs. We need ali vi ng .
With this pipeline, we curse the water,
we defile Mother Earth. We use freshwaters to
do the dirty work.
To the military man who had -- has a
management job on the pipeline, how dare you
call these people radicals? How you didn't
call them radicals but you spoke about an
attack on the pipeline.
MS. HOBGOOD: Can you please
wrap up your comments, please.
DANA GAE HANCHARD: How dare you
call us radical when people wish to protect the
land. This is what real humans are supposed to
do.
You say the damage wi 11 be mi ni mal. But
we know about these things you say. They don't
ring true.
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Please, do not allow this pipeline to
come through this land. It's of no benefit to
us. It's of no benefi t to the pl anet. That's
all I ask.
Speaker No. 37.
EVAN VOKES: Hello. My name is
Evan Vokes. That's E-V-A-N, V, as in Victor,
O-K-E-S.
Okay. I was a professional engineer
that worked within TransCanada's material
engineering department that was accountable for
engineering standards and a very strong role in
code and regulation compliance.
As a result of my duty of care within
the materials, welding and nondestructive
examination fields, I became the third
TransCanada whistleblower.
While pipeline technology has advanced,
it is construction practices that have
continued to cause grief for PHMSA when
engineers such as myself know it to be done
correctly and safely.
Although I had been actively looking for
compliance before my termination from
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TransCanada, it became apparent that the only
change to move this company from compliance
would come from complaints to regulators.
I will share some of the highlights of
these allegations. TransCanada used the wrong
acceptance standard for pipeline station
welding in the United States for years.
TransCanada operated a culture of
intimidation and coercion to meet its
construction objectives when weld acceptance
impacted construction schedule.
TransCanada contracted the original
Keystone to the lowest standard they could
economically achieve, which was an affront to
the long-term quality of bitumen pipelines.
The fact that they did not use simple
technology that nova gas invented on Keystone
when due to a rash of failures, PHMSA had
issued an advisory to adopt this technology.
The Keystone quality manager
deliberately undermined my duties on KXL
preconstruction with a regulation violation and
subsequently wrote an e-mail gloating about the
personal blow he struck at the only person that
stood up to a corrupt management.
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My opinion is that the arrogance is the
basis of TransCanada management as vice
presidents formed our policies that led to
noncompliance in Canada, but none of them took
responsibility when it held their policies to
task.
Based upon the evidence to support my
serious allegation and code complaints given to
the TransCanada senior managers and auditors,
TransCanada did not discipline any employees
with grievous actions that were violations of
TransCanada ethics and policies and our permit
to practice engineering.
Due to investigative timelines,
TransCanada has not had to respond to PHMSA, so
there will be no warnings that will be applied
to KXL.
I will be happy to provide the committee
with proof of these allegations already in the
hands of PHMSA and select media.
TransCanada has not been forward with
this hearing and the stakeholders about the
ri sks of the ori gi nal Keystone, i ncl udi ng the
cause of the outage of October 2012. I would
call upon an ethical corporation to be
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transparent about this serious incident.
In conclusion, I presented evidence to
PHMSA that TransCanada intentionally violated
codes and regulations. While I believe
pipelines are the safest way to move product, I
do not approve of the self-interest of the
management of this company, deceiving all that
are legally bound to do business with it.
TransCanada's management has not
demonstrated moral fiber to ensure compliance.
MS. HOBGOOD: Speaker No. 38.
JOHN HANSEN: Good afternoon.
Welcome to Nebraska.
For the record, my name is John Hansen,
J-O-H-N, Hansen, H-A-N-S-E-N.
I am the president of Nebraska Farmers
Union. We are the second largest, second
oldest farm organization in the State of
Nebraska, representing 6,200 farm and ranch
families across the State of Nebraska and lots
of landowners on this route.
We are I just wanted to say this for
the record in case I go long, I want to say in
the clearest possible terms that Nebraska
Farmers Union urges President Obama and
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Secretary Kerry to protect our nation's primary
economic and environmental interests and deny
the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
It goes to the heart of the matter, do
pipelines leak or do they not. And we need to
know and understand what the -- the reality of
this is because once we do, it impacts where
the route goes.
The National Response Center data for
oil pipeline leaks documents 2,996 pipeline
leaks in the last 5 years, from 2008 through
2012, an average of 600 leaks per year.
Of those spills, 1,539 were attributed
to equipment failure, 193 due to operational
errors and 934 due to unknown causes. What do
you mean unknown causes? These are 1eaks. Why
don't we know what the causes are?
So when we examine that, we look at the
previous route, we look at this route, there
are two routes that went through the State of
Nebraska. And in our written testimony, we
have maps that deal with permeability. And
when we look at those two -- those two routes
that the primary things that impact leaching
are the soil structure, the depth to water, and
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there's not a dime's worth of difference.
There's about two miles' worth of
difference in the relative total amount of
miles between the second route and the first
route.
The second route is sandy. It is porous
soi 1s. It is a few feet from groundwater. And
it is ina very 1ongstandi ng - - si nce the 1960s
substanti al porti ons of it are in
nitrate-leaching zones that have high-response
levels for treatment of nitrates.
And if nitrates are leaching into the
groundwater, if there's a leak, there certainly
will be that leak in our groundwater.
So we have 100 miles of sandy, porous
soils. The depth to water is not different.
The route, the second route fixes nothing.
Every single known problem relative to a
geological and environmental and hydrologic
concern from the first route is virtually the
same for the second route.
There is no logical or rational basis
for why it is that we ought to allow this
high-risk pipeline to go through the heart of
our state's and our region's water supply.
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i
Thank you.
Speaker No. 39.
DANNY HENDRIX: Danny Henerix,
D-A-N-N-Y, H-E-N-D-R-I-X.
I'm the business manager of Pipeliners
Local Union 798. I represent pipeline workers
around the nation, numbering around 6,500.
You know, there's a lot of fear here
tonight, and 40 years ago we had the same
argument. Same deal, issue over water, issue
over the Caribou, the life of the grizzly, the
salmon, the birds. And it was all unfounded.
We built the pipeline. We built the
Alaska pipeline. It's pumping oil today.
You know, the spectracides, the
herbicides, the insecticides that you use comes
from the crude products.
The diesel that you burn in your
tractors, the gasoline that you use every day,
without that -- I hear you want to go back to
renewable fuels. Are you willing to go back
and plow your fields with the horses and the
mules? Are you willing to do that?
Yeah, bi ofuel - - bi ofuel, you know, when
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I went up to Albion, one of the most dangerous
things that can sit on your aquifer is that
plant right before you get into town. The
viscosity of that product will run faster than
water.
Your fears are unfounded. They really
are. You know, Canada's going to continue to
mine that tar sands. There's no doubt about
that. That's a fact. And they're goi ng to
find a way to transport it. That's a fact.
The best way to transport it is in a
pipeline. The safest way to transport it is in
a pipeline. That's a fact.
The best -- the best people to construct
it, believe it or not, are in this room
tonight. And they support the building of this
pipeline.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 40.
ROMA AMUNDSON: Good afternoon.
I am major general retired Roma Amundson. I
have served 33 years in the United States
Military. And I urge President Obama as the
commander in chief for in nation to approve the
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permitting of the Keystone Pipeline.
MS. HOBGOOD: Coul d you spell
your name, please, before you
ROMA AMUNDSON: A-M-U-N-D-S-O-N.
I support the construction of the Keystone
Pipeline in the United States because its
development is essential for our national
security.
Two issues impact our national security,
our budget deficit and dependency on foreign
oil. I believe that the Keystone Pipeline
expansion addresses both of these concerns.
Our budget deficit independency with
foreign oil caused the United States to run the
risk of being subjected to the foreign policies
and threats from other nations.
Countries holding our debts and those
exporting oil to us can pull our strings, so to
speak, by threatening us on the basis of our
fiscal situation and our energy needs.
Our dependence on foreign countries
to back trillions of dollars of our debt and
reliance on others to provide us with 75
percent of our oil potentially, if not
actually, subject the United States to their
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control.
Secondly, 10 foreign countries provide
the United States with 75 percent of our oil
supply, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria,
Angola, Canada, Mexico, Algeria, Brazil and
Kuwait.
Venezuela is the fourth largest exporter
of oil to the United States. It is openly
hostile to United States.
Saudi Arabia exports oil to the
United States while at the same time gives
financial support to groups having Islamic
fundamentalist ties. Its national principles
run counter of counter to ours. And yet
obviously we have to deal with them.
The Keystone Pipeline comes in at this
point. Canada and the United States share
cultural, political and economic interests.
Canada is a friendly and reliable neighbor and
even now is our No.1 source of imported oil.
Working with them, with Canada on the
Keystone Pipeline will strengthen our energy
policy.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that
during his first inaugural speech that the only
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thing that we have to fear is fear itself.
I believe that the fear of what could
potentially happen in the future regarding the
pipeline's possible impact upon the environment
is one that must be balanced against our
nat i onal secu ri ty.
The character of the American people is
to be bol d and brave, not fearful. We are
people who are willing to take calculated risks
if a greater good is served. And for that
reason, I support the building of the Keystone
Pipeline.
Thank you.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. May
speakers with Nos. 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 be
prepared to speak as I call your name.
And before 41 starts, may I again ask
everyone to be respectful of each speaker
wi thout interrupti on. We wi 11 all appreci ate
that. Thank you.
Speaker No. 41, you may proceed.
REBEKAH ONNEN: Hi. Thank you.
My name is Rebekah Onnen, R-E-B-E-K-A-H,
O-N-N-E-N.
My husband and I are landowners in York
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132
County. We have four children. And we live
along the Beaver Creek. Our pasture is our
favorite part of our property. It is wooded.
And our kids love to play in the creek and see
the wildlife that is there.
I am for oil. I am for energy
independence. I am for busi ness. And I am for
jobs.
But I'm also for honesty and integrity.
I can't get a straight answer out of
TransCanada. You can't fi nd an answer of where
this oil is going to go. You can't get an
answer on the safety.
The pipeline is supposed to run just a
couple hundred yards from our house and our
yard. We have been sent harsh letters,
threatening us with eminent domain. And to me
that's bullying and intimidating. And it's not
forthright.
I'm an honest person. And I like to
deal wi th forthri ghtness. And when you don't
feel like you can trust the people sitting
across the tabl e from you, it's very hard.
And when we decided to stand and say,
no, we're not going to sign the easement, our
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land agent was, like, okay. And we never heard
from her again. But we heard from someone
higher up in TransCanada with a threatening
letter of eminent domain again.
And then, you know, someone higher up in
the hierarchy of corporate America calling you
and saying your fear is unfounded, I have
pipelines running around me, I'm in Houston,
there's nothing to fear.
But this pipeline is bigger with more
pressure and with a different product than
crude oil. And so I think there needs to be a
critical look.
And in our pasture, we're going to lose
over 50 trees. We've had an arborist come to
count for them and for us. And we can't
replant those. They're going to be gone.
And there's going to be a 50-foot-wide
swath going through our pasture that will never
get to be renewed as our pasture.
The spill in Arkansas is giving me even
greater concern. With the size of this
pipeline, the barrels per day being 10 times
more, I would appreciate your thoroughness in
helping defend my rights as a citizen.
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Thank you.
Speaker No. 42.
JENNIFER BAKER: Hi. My name is
Jennifer Baker.
I am an attorney wi th ti es allover the
country. And some of those are with indigenous
people from communities allover the country,
including along the full length of the pipeline
route.
Fortunately, we were able to hear from
some of them today already.
Unfortunately, due to this weather and
the fact that for some reason there's only one
publ i c heari ng on thi smatter, several of those
were not able to make it.
That said, I'd like to begin by reading
from a memorandum for the heads of the
executive departments and agencies issued by
President Obama on November 5th, 2009,
regardi ng tri bal consul tati on.
"History has shown that failure to
include the voices of tribal officials in
formulating policy affecting their communities
has all too often led to undesirable and at
135
times devastating and tragic results."
Approval of the presi denti al permi t for
the Keystone XL Pipeline would become an
example of exactly that. And I urge you to
heed President Obama's warning.
As you've already heard today from
elected leaders from some of the indigenous
nations that would be impacted if the pipeline
was approved, voices of tribal officials have
been all ignored thus far in the process.
This not only plays into the dangers
which President Obama has warned in the
executive memorandum, but it also constitutes a
violation of the National Historic Preservation
Act.
Consultation with indigenous nations is
required not only by the NHPA but also by
presidential executive order. Executive Order
13175 issued November 6th of 2000 takes special
note of the unique relationship between
indigenous nations and the United States as set
forth in the United States Constitution,
treaties, executive orders and court decisions.
I'd like to remind everyone that the
United States Code and the Code of Federal
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Regulations are not the only federal laws that
apply to the national interest determination.
The order further requires agencies to
respect sovereignty and honor tribal treaty
ri ghts. As a resul t, agenci es are requi red by
law to ensure meaningful consultation.
I know that you all are aware of the
flaws and the failures in that consultation
process because you received numerous comments
for the prior Keystone XL permit. I was
informed that you did receive those, you were
aware of those. And, yet, when I asked what
changes were made in the process, I received no
response.
As far as treaties, you've heard the
boundaries of the 1868 and 1851 Fort Laramie
Treaties will be crossed. This is a trespass.
It's a violation of those treaties. It's a
violation of the United States Constitution
under which these treaties are the supreme law
of the United States of America.
your comments.
JENNIFER BAKER: Sure. These
water bodies that are going to be crossed,
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there are 600 total water bodies, including 10
rivers. These rivers aren't just drinking
water. They're not just fishing -- although
those thi ngs are vi tal and cruci al - - they're
also imperative to the continued spiritual
practices of indigenous people.
And in sum, no number of jobs, not even
the 30 that Keystone XL is estimated to create,
justifies the violation of human rights, civil
rights, the United States Constitution.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 43.
BERTON FISHER: Thank you. My
name is Berton Fisher, B-E-R-T-O-N,
F-I-S-H-E-R.
I'm a geologist with a specialization in
hydrogeology and geochemistry. I hold a
bachelor of science degree in geology and
geophysics from Yale University, an MS and a
PHD from Case Western Reserve University.
I have faculty appointments at the
University of Tulsa in the Department of
Geosciences. And I have a faculty appointment
at Oklahoma State University on the
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environmental sciences master's program.
Also in private practice as an
environmental geosciences consultant.
Most of my past and current work is on
behalf of landowners in disputes with oil and
gas companies about pollution of soil and
groundwater with oil and saltwater.
And so it comes as a little bit of an
irony that I was asked by the American
Petroleum Institute to review certain aspects
of the Department of State's Environmental
Impact Statement.
And after a careful reading of those
parts with respect to groundwater matters, I
must find that I largely, in fact, entirely
concur with the opinions expressed.
There's nothing special about this oil
that will be in this pipeline. This is very
similar to high sulfur crude oils already
transported in pipelines.
The diluent used is not a mysterious
material. It's very similar to charcoal
lighter that we use every day to light charcoal
in our back yards.
The oil can't move rapidly through the
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aquifer as a separate phase as oil. It's a
porous medium. The oil itself is also
relatively viscus, about like corn syrup when
it's warm.
When it chills, it becomes far more
vi scus and, hence, even more i mmobile .
The oil - - thi s oil that the diluent,
dilbit, has a density less than or just
about less than water, and so it will float on
water and can't penetrate the groundwater
table.
Lastly, the designed dissolve
constituents escaping from this pure migration
are limited by biological activity. The EIS
notes that nitrate contamination in shallow
aquifers from agricultural activities will
contribute to the degradation but will also be
biodegraded by bacteria that use oxygen and
sulfur. Hence, any release that might occur
from the pipeline will be highly limited in its
aeri al extent.
A release of ethanol or gasohol is far
more dangerous in an aquifer than that of this
materi al .
Thank you.
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Speaker No. 44.
OMA VIC McMURRAY: Hello. My
name is Oma Vic McMurray.
I've been a child care provider in
Wisconsin for over 33 years. I've received
several national and state awards recognizing
my program for the quality child care we offer.
And I believe much of it is due to our guiding
phi losophy of safety, respect and ki ndness.
When I read about the child care center
in Marshall, Michigan, which in 2010 was near
the tar sands pipeline spill, I felt motivated
to come out and speak because the children at
the center were vomi ti ng, coughi ng, had
headaches, rashes, eye i rri tati on and sore
throats.
It has been a horrific nightmare for
that community. And that risk should not be
allowed in any community.
Not only have the tar sands pipeline
proven to be a huge health risk, but they're
also a risk to the small businesses along the
pipeline path as well.
Parents withdrew children from the
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center due to their concerns about short- and
long-term health effects on their children. As
a business owner, it doesn't seem fair that one
business gets to put another business at risk
like this.
As a teacher, when I gather the children
and try to compel them to harmonize around an
issue, I sing, borrowing a tune from a familiar
song and applying the words that reflect my
message. This song is to the tune of a Bob
Dylan song called Blowing in the Wind.
How many times must a pipeline spill
before we can call it all off?
How many times must scientists say
climate change is nothing to scoff?
How many legislators will vote for
Keystone because they're at the Koch brothers'
trough?
The answer, My Friend, is blowing in the
wind. The answer is also in the sun.
How many neighbors will lose their home
because of a tar sands spill?
How many folks will lose their life
because the chemicals can kill?
How many corporations will do what it
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takes just for the monetary thrill?
How many jobs could we create in
business that wants to be preened?
How many rivers, lakes and ponds can we
restore to be pristine?
How many ways could we keep our air
protected so it is truly clean?
Speaker No. 45.
CINDY JOHNSON: Hello. My name
is Cindy Johnson. I'm from Grand Island. I'm
the president of the Grand Island Area Chamber
of Commerce.
I want to thank the U.S. State
Department and the State of Nebraska for doing
their due diligence and listening to the
thoughts of the citizens about the Keystone
Pipeline project.
This is an important project for our
country. With Keystone, we will be able to
increase our trading with an important and
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close ally we have in Canada.
Canada is the largest foreign market for
34 of the 50 states, including Nebraska. In
fact, many of our manufacturing companies right
here in this community export to Canada.
Increasing trade with Canada would help
us become more energy secure. We will have to
rely less on imports from those countries that
can be politically and economically unstable at
any time.
The Keystone Pipeline will also be a
boon to our state and local economies, creating
thousands of jobs along the pipeline.
In addition to the direct economic
impact that will be realized for those employed
to construct the pipeline, there will also be
economic impact benefits that are indirect.
Local busi nesses such as gas stati ons,
grocery stores, retai 1, restaurants, movi e
theaters, hotels and many others will see an
increase in economic activity as well.
Local governments will realize increased
property tax revenues and sales tax.
Businesses and Chambers of Commerce from
across the country have voiced their support
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for this project. It is time to move the
project forward.
Thank you.
Speakers with Nos. 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50, will
you be prepared to come to the floor and speak
when I call your name.
Speaker No. 46.
BONNY KILMURRY: Hello. I'm
Bonny Kilmurry, B-O-N-N-Y, K-I-L-M-U-R-R-Y.
I'm a landowner on the most recent
proposed KXL Pipeline route.
Here in Nebraska, people care about our
families, neighbors and our land. I'm appalled
at the complacency of my elected and appointed
state and national leaders. I am here to speak
yet again in opposition to the KXL Pipeline.
I am angry. I feel powerless. Time and
time again, we have said that our soil and our
water quality is at risk. And, still, my voice
seems to fallon deaf ears.
Water and soil are simple and basic
components. Soil and unpolluted water are
essential for life. These irreplaceable
natural resources have no voice. Listen to me
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as I speak for them.
Risking the quality of pure water and
the soil located in Nebraska -- the breadbasket
of the world is not smart. In fact, stupid.
We aren't being told specific chemicals
carried by this pipeline. Yet, we know some of
them increase risks of cancer and reproductive
difficulties. These chemicals alone should
raise huge flags. Pay attention.
Canadians have said no for nine years to
this pipeline. They have lived with and
experienced the negative impact and
consequences of these chemicals. We can and
must learn from this destruction to the earth
and the people and reject this pipeline.
In light of the most recent disasters in
Michigan and Arkansas, there should be no doubt
why KXL should not be built. Cleanup costs are
great and to date, not clean, the technology to
clean spills evidently is not here.
Our government officials seem to believe
TransCanada's propaganda that this route avoids
the Sandhills.
As a landowner whose ranch is being
threatened, I know the ground that they want to
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go through is sandy, porous and in place in
ground-saturated aquifer water. When manmade
pipelines fail, who will clean our water?
Tar sands oil does not even pay the 8
cents a barrel Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
Tax. My government and TransCanada owes me
answers.
We live in a fragile environment in the
Sandhills. Weather here is unpredictable and
can be dangerous.
In the spring of 2010, we had a flash
flood. 8 to 13 inches of rain fell quickly.
An estimated 20-foot to 3D-foot wall of water
filled with sand and debris raced down creeks
and streams.
In northern Hol t Co.unty, bri dges,
culverts, fences and dams fell. No 36-inch
pipeline could withstand this.
MS. HOBGOOD: Wi 11 you pl ease
wrap up your comments.
THE WITNESS: Yes, I will.
As a 1andowner, I am a steward of the
land. I am responsible for land and water. I
am answerable to my children, my grandchildren
and to your children and your grandchildren.
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This is not an easy job. It's a job we love.
Water and soil are simple and basic.
Soil and water are essential for life.
Unpolluted water is life. I am fighting for
the soil and the water. We cannot live without
water.
Thank you so much.
Speaker No. 47.
JOHN POLLACK: I am John
Pollack, P-O-L-L-A-C-K. I am a meteorologist.
The SEIS evaluation of greenhouse gases
relies very heavily on an economic model that
defies common sense. It's common sense that if
a company is willing to spend billions of
dollars to facilitate the flow of oil sand,
whatever they want to call it, carbon and very
heavy carbon-containing substance that takes a
lot of energy to get out of the ground, if
they're willing to spend billions of dollars to
do that, it's going to be continuing.
It's not going to be like shipping it in
railroad cars or trucks where you can just shut
it off. It's a 50-year commitment to shipping
that stuff.
Latimer Reporting, Lincoln, Nebraska (402) 476-1153 ~ ~
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And it's a 5,000-year commitment to our
atmosphere because that's the residence time of
carbon dioxide and the climate effect it will
have. This has a name. It's called business
as usual.
The business-as-usual climate scenario
is what climatologist James Hansen has called
the game ender because this is the end of our
game. This is the end of the game for the
United States, for Canada because countries
around the world are going to be judging us on
the way we use our resources and on the way we
choose to spew carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, regardless of the climate effects,
which will be very severe.
It is the end of the game because you
cannot commit to starting to tap a resource as
immense as what the Energy Resources
Conservation Board of Canada has identified.
It's seven times the proven reserves of
Saudi Arabia.
When you burn all of that stuff, you get
half the global warming we've had so far from
all sources, according to a study in Nature
Cl i mate Change, March 2012, by Sci ent i sts
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Schwartz and Gruber, which somehow your study
did not seem to find, even though it's in the
published, well-known scientific journal that
specifically evaluated the climate impact of
the oil sands in Canada.
I could say more. But I want to leave
time for other people as well. I just want you
to know that this is a critical decision that
goes well beyond jobs in the next few years.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you very
much.
Speaker No. 48.
DONNA ROLLER: Hi. My name is
Donna Roller, D-O-N-N-A, R-O-L-L-E-R.
I -- my family I own a family farm
near York, Nebraska. And it is a few mil es
from this pipeline.
And this is incredible. I mean, are you
guys I mean, I hate to say it, stupi d?
Because York County has the most productive
land in this entire country. My farm and a lot
of our farms around the surrounding counties
contai n Hasti ngs red loam soi 1. And it
produces more corn than any -- anywhere else in
the world.
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And the land is extremely valuable. 160
acres is $2 million. Now, you put a pipeline
on that land, and it is worth zip.
Now, what gives TransCanada a right to
do business and I can't?
And there's been some statistics blowing
about by everybody who's for this pipeline.
I'm sick and tired of it. They're false.
So let me just -- I guess I'm the
delegated one to say what they are.
Keystone will emit 181 million metric
tons of C02 per year. That's equivalent to the
yearly tailpipe emissions of almost 38 million
cars. That's more than all the registered cars
in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan,
New York, Florida combined.
So let's -- let's be real here. This is
carbon. This is it.
We had a comment about railroads. 40-
474,441 barrels of crude oil have spilled from
a pipeline between 2002 and 2012. Freight
rai 1s, however, have spi 11 ed 2,268 barrel -
no. I'm sorry. They've had -- no. They've
had -- for a -- they've had -- there's 129
crude oil incidents from a railroad. 94
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involved spills less than 5 gallons. Pipelines
have had 1,849 incidents in that time period.
And there's one thing that everybody
wants to ignore. Our governor, our
representatives, ALEC, lobbyists, there's so
many millions of dollars, there's so much
corruption involved in this, it makes me sick.
Let me tell you, you know what Nebraska
has that's worth more than every single barrel
of tar sands oil in the whole world? Its
water.
And you know what? Here's some facts
about water and what's going to happen to the
earth. It's going to become so limited that it
is going to become a -- an -- a commodity
that's worth more than oil.
And you know what? You're going to end
up paying for it because the resources of water
worldwide is decreasing. And the United States
is using more water from its rivers than it
has. And the only water left is what's in our
aquifer.
So if you want to drink and eat some
food, you better be careful.
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Speaker No. 49.
ANITA SANCHEZ: Good afternoon.
I came from -- my name is Anita Sanchez,
A-N-I-T-A, S-A-N-C-H-E-Z.
And I come from the Ihanktonwan Nation,
the Yankton Sioux Tribe of people.
The No.1 issue that I want to express
today is the treatises. The Aging 51 Treaty I
believe is the treaty that the majority of my
people stand on. And every treaty after that
date is illegal.
So the ownership of the lands and the
waters and the air, the earth that you're
talking about still belong to the native
people.
I know there are many farmers, ranchers
that do not believe this. But it is a fact.
The many commanders -- commander of
chi efs that you tal k about, the 40 - - 49, 50,
you -- you name the presidents of your
United States, has repeatedly defied our people
and lied to our people.
To thi s day we sti 11 cannot bel i eve what
the United States is doing and has done to our
people in the past. And now the majority of
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these farmers are feeling what we have felt for
many generations.
Our lands have been taken repeatedly.
And the water, we still have rights to that
water. We have not been - they have not
talked to us. They have not - we have not
consented anything. They have not asked us.
There are how many tribes within this
road, this map that I see where the water
pipes - the oil pipes are going, they have not
consented with any of those tribes. And that
still has to be done before this becomes legal.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 50.
RITA FLOOD: My name is Rita
Flood. I am a Ihanktonwan Sioux. I come here
to tell you that TransAtlantic, we don't want
you here or TransCanada, whatever you are,
we don't want you here.
We don't want anything happening to our
land. This is our land. And we're going to
take care of it the way it is. Just leave it
alone. You 1 i ed to us.
This isn't Obama's land either. It's
154
ours. And it's staying here with everything in
it.
Come to the Indian land. You're not
going to make it through.
MS. HOBGOOD: Speaker Nos. 51,
52, 53, 54 and 55.
Speaker No. 51.
And let me just say at the outset, I
mentioned in the beginning that we would have a
break between 3:30 and 4 o'clock. And I think
we'll have time to finish up to speaker No. 55.
But it's possible we could get speaker No. 56
in before 3:30. So if speaker No. 56 can stick
around, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.
MEGHAN HAMMOND: Hello. My name
is Megham Hammond, M-E-G-H-A-N, Hammond,
H-A-M-M-O-N-D.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak
today. I am a farmer's daughter and a
sixth-generation family farmer from Hamilton
County, Nebraska.
My family's land was on the first
proposed route and is again on the reroute.
This route still crosses aquifer and still
crosses the Sandhills.
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~
And our concerns and questions have yet
to be addressed. We're still waiting for a
proper economic risk analysis. How can you
risk our land and water for 35 permanent jobs?
If you want thousands of jobs, you will
find it in sustainable energy.
This is an export pipeline. What
interest do we Americans have in a foreign
export pipeline? An export pipeline does
nothing for energy, security and independence.
We Nebraskans wi 11 bear the ri sk
forever, and less than a half inch of steel
will stand between our water and various
unknown chemicals.
Please protect our water and my future
as a family farmer.
Thank you.
Speaker 52.
ROXANN SPOTTEDEAGLE: I am
Roxanne Spottedeagle, associate pastor of All
Tribes Fellowship of the Ihanktonwan
Reservation.
I am also a co-founder of the Women's
Braveheart Society which is against to the
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i,
pipeline.
I teach a class on how to heal the sick.
And when we pray, miracles happen and lives are
changed.
As needed people, we always pray first.
And this would be my prayer: Oh, Great and
Awesome God who keeps his promises, thank you.
Father, we cannot do this without you. We need
you.
Father, we ask you in Jesus' name that
you will supernaturally intervene on our behalf
and stop the pipeline.
Eya is a word for monster in our
language and the - from coming through.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we cast
out any forces, voices or hindering spirits
that are blocking our blessings of total
victory. No company or pipeline can stand
against God in Jesus' name.
Having said that prayer, God is on our
side, and who can stand against God?
My grandson was born, making it five
generations in my family. My grandmother, a
very Godly woman, is 103 years old.
Native people have an overwhelming
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I
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conviction to protect the earth and preserve
waters. The waters provide a thirst to
replenish the earth and all living. Without
the clear waters and streams, all living
perish.
We know we cannot do this alone. I
encourage you to keep praying and finding God
supernaturally intervening on our behalf in
stoppi ng Eya, the monster, pi pel i ne.
Also stay united and do everything
humanly possible to stop this pipeline.
I ask the great Sioux Nation to unite
and come as one and stop eya, the monster,
pipeline, crossing our territory.
I ask all other nations, tribes,
brothers, si sters, rel ati ves outsi de the great
Sioux Nation from the east to the south and the
west to join us and please help us.
Custer had his last stand. And this
pipeline will have its last stand. It will be
God and then American tribes and the people in
here who will stop this pipeline.
(NonEnglish language spoken.) Thank
you.
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Speaker No. 53.
RICK HAMMOND: Thank you,
Teresa, for your stamina.
I'm Rick Hammond, H-A-M-M-O-N-D. I'm a
farmer rancher on the route.
And I want to start by saying that I
have two miles of natural gas pipelines across
our 1 and at Curti s. And from fi rsthand
experience, I can tell you that the land is
never the same after it's disrupted like this.
And, also, I'm the father of 51 over
here.
So Transamerica, you know, why is it
called TransCanada if they want to cut a trench
clear across the heartland of America?
They -- they tell us that it's good for
us. But in truth, it's only good for the
profits of big oil. Make no mistake, this
project is for human greed. What we get is all
the risk.
Large companies like TransCanada are
di verti ng our pol i ti cal process. I am
embarrassed and ashamed of a system that allows
legalized bribery in the form of unlimited
campaign contributions to influence our
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decision-makers.
Shame on Lee Terry for taking 290,000
from oil concerns and pretending it has no
effect. This project risks our water and the
air of the world for shortsighted greed.
I was threatened with eminent domain
three times three years ago. U.S. eminent
domain laws are to protect U.S. public
interests, not to help Canadian companies
destroy their natural resources and profit from
selling them on the global market.
The scar they want to make will not just
be on our land but on the conscience of all of
us.
I implore you, do the right thing and
stop this insane project. The world is
watching and waiting for our leadership.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 54. Speaker with No. 54.
RONNI GODFREY: Hello. I'm Ron
Godfrey from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
I've been asked to
MS. HOBGOOD: Excuse me. Could
you spell your name, pl ease, for the reporter?
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RONNI GODFREY: R-O-N-N-I-E,
G-O-D-F-R-E-Y.
I was asked to come up and sing a song
for you guys, for the people. It's a prayer
song.
(Prayer song sung.)
Speaker No. 55.
RICHARD CHILTON: My name is
Richard Chilton, C-H-I-L-T-O-N.
I am the project director of the Omaha
Tri bal Hi stori cal Research Proj ect.
Dr. Dennis Hastings, founder/director,
Dr. Hastings could not be here today, and I am
speaking for him.
The - the Omaha Tribal Historical
Research Project is the official cultural
authority of - in perpetuity by tribal
resolution, tribal law, of the Omaha tribe of
Nebraska and Iowa in a - a
federally-recognized indigenous tribe.
OTHRP does not speak for the Omaha tribe
on political and/or economic affairs, only on
cultural matters that reflect a thousand
winters of more of Omaha history.
m
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In ancestral Omaha and native culture,
Mother Earth is the sanctity of life for all
relations, and brevity and reverence must be
given to these relations, including
individuals, community and Mother Earth herself
when we as human beings utilize them
collectively for living on this planet.
As a combined earth and sky people
providing for the Hu'thega, tribal circle, the
Omaha joins indigenous peoples around the world
in respecting the waters, the growing things
and the forces of wind, sun and moon for this
purpose.
As the original lands of the Omaha since
1640 include portions of the Ogallala Aquifer,
it is a violation imposed upon the Omaha by the
government of the United States from 1815 to
1854, and further legislation, administrative
or case law treaties from 1815 to -- from 1815
to 1854. And further legislation,
administrative or case law, presidential
executive order from the end of the treaty in
1871 to today, the Omaha have never signed away
their water rights or air rights.
It is a violation of treaty rights and
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of the U. S. Constituti on for thi s to be so.
Is that one minute? Okay.
As a part of the Sandhills, the Omaha
ancestral hunting grounds where numerous living
relations, including berries, stalks, deer and
buffalo were provided by the creator to the
Omaha for daily tribal life. As death is as
much a part of daily life as birth, numerous
Omaha grave sites, some known to the Omaha,
some unknown, lay scattered through these
portions of the Sandhills, and as such are
sacred sites to the Omaha.
The region also serves as part of the
continental flyway for hundreds of species of
birds, including endangered species such as the
Whooping Crane. The remains, as well as an
abundance of fish in the streams and rivers,
insects in the grasses and microorganisms in
the soil necessary for the organic sustenance
of Mother Earth.
We should stop bullying the American
people in the name of the oil petroleum
companies.
We should stop lying to the American
people. We need to have an honest and truthful
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government and answering to the multi-national
corporations, and the John Burgesses of this
world will not do so.
What I'd like to do, since -- since we
have certainly more than three minutes before
3:30, is to go through Nos. 55 through 60 and
then end at 60. We'll have a break. And then
we'll resume at four o'clock.
Speaker No. 55. Speaker No. 56.
CHAD GILBERT: Hello. My name
Chad Gilbert. I'm a welder, and I'm a member
of Pipeliners Union 798.
I do not feel any person who is educated
in the Keystone XL thinks that a pipeline is
not the safest mode of transportation to
transport this oil.
Ask yourself, is a truck safer? Is a
ship safer? What about a train? No, it isn't.
So why protest this job opportunity that
my members desperately need? Could it be
because of the Canadian oil sands or possibly
the fossil fuels itself?
Well, if that's what you're protesting,
it's not going to change by holding up a
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pipeline. The oil will be shipped. This
hearing will not change anything to do with
those issues. This -- this hearing will
determine how the oil will be transported.
I would think I would be safe in saying
everyone in this room wants to help with global
warming. One way to help is to cut down on
your personal contribution to the production of
carbon. You're not going to do that by sending
10,000 people to Washington by air or
automobiles to protest the best way to
transport fuel.
Why not put your resources into lobbying
Congress to make laws against those adding to
pollution?
What I see is people trying to live in
trees or locking themselves to cars to protest
the safest way to transport fuel. That's my
perception.
My members need these jobs. The money
made on the Keystone XL will help supply
healthcare for members who have none and for
those with hopes of having that in the care in
the years when they are elderly and unable to
work.
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Our members work hard, under sometimes
unbearable conditions to bring the communities'
needed pipelines that have provided everyone
here with needed oil and gas. We built lines
from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the
northern points to the southernmost points.
Yes, we are real people, seeking real
work. We believe in working hard, building
safe pipelines and taking pride in what we do.
We believe we can do this as we have in the
past on this pipeline. That's why we're here
today.
This job will be done with union workers
and high-paying jobs with benefits. If that is
not in the nati onal interest of this country,
what is?
My father taught me to pick my battles.
From my educated viewpoint about this job, I am
here to say TransCanada has done what is right
by workers. And I wi 11 stand and I wi 11 fi ght
for the Keystone alongside them and 70 percent
of the American people.
Thank you.
Speaker No. 57.
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KAREN PROSOSKI: Hi. My name is
Karen Prososki. That's K-A-R-E-N,
P-R-O-S-O-S-K-I.
I am opposed to the TransCanada's
Keystone XL Pipeline because it is all risk and
no reward.
When the first route was proposed
through Nebraska, some landowners were opposed
to it going through their property. For
whatever reason they had, I thought, how can
something that's going to be for the good of
the United States, as TransCanada was saying,
be so bad?
They were going to promote new jobs,
cheapen our fuel prices and, at the same time,
make transporting tar sands oil safer. Even
the Natural Resource District was not opposing
it.
As you know, the NRD is the government
agency whose job it is to keep landowners from
harming our environment and, most importantly,
our water.
As ti me passed, I became more educated
about the dangers and risks of the pipeline,
mainly because the proposed reroute now goes
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through our farm.
After 1earni ng the real story, I cannot
understand how anyone would want the risk of
having this pipeline anywhere, let alone going
through our high water table and our highly
sensitive soils. The Keystone XL Pipeline is
all risk and no reward.
100 percent of the still is coming from
outside the U.S. It will not create a lot of
jobs. The pipeline will leak and will cause
great danger to our environment and our water,
which will be impossible to clean up.
Keystone XL Pipeline is threatening our
livelihood and our clean water. Please do not
let this pipeline go through.
Thank you.
KEN PROSOSKI: My name is Ken
Prososki. That was my wife back there. She
did a real good job. K-E-N, P-R-O-S-O-S-K-I.
I live in Nance County. And I have a
mile of this reroute going across my land.
The last I knew, we still lived in
America. But according to TransCanada, a
foreign oil company, we have no rights.
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They want to buy our legacy, our family
farm with their perpetual easements for another
country to pump their tar sands and their toxic
chemicals like benzene and whatever other
cancer-causing products. Then to be shipped to
a foreign-owned port and exported to another
foreign country and at the expense of our only
source of clean drinking water. And that is
not acceptable.
When wells were put in years ago in our
area, they used steel casi ngs. But they
deteriorated in this area bean the Loup and
Platte Rivers. The water seemed to just eat up
the metal.
So in the '70's, the drilling companies
put cement casings in. But they started to
crack. And they don't work very well.
Then in the mid '80s, most wells were
replaced with PVC casings, which are still
being used today. They do not deteriorate, and
they do not crack.
This XL tar sand pipeline will be placed
at a depth of 7 feet, which our water table's
only 4 foot or less in places in the reroute.
It will leak right into our sand and gravel
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textures of the soi 1.
Our groundwater travels at a rate of 3
foot or more a day. And that being said, our
house, our livestock wells, which are only 15
feet deep, will hold less than a year of safe,
clean drinking water to drink and bathe in.
TransCanada's reps said they cannot
detect a leak of 2 percent or less, even with
that -- their new sensors. That means
approximately 16,000 barrels a day could go
directly into our ground water undetected.
This is not acceptable.
If TransCanada, a foreign country, and
our state senators get their way, this 36-inch
metal pipe would be placed into our groundwater
knowing that it will deteriorate and leak,
knowing that benzene and other toxic chemicals
will leak and contaminate our fresh drinking
water, is that -- this is what I would classify
as a form of chemical warfare against the
people in these 15 miles between the Loup and
Platte Rivers and downstream.
Our local NRD and state DEQ dropped the
ball in protecting us as stewards of the land.
Our NRD said we are standing neutral and when a
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leak happens, they would treat it as a plane
crash or a train wreck.
Well, if TransCanada gets this pipeline
in, look out, Columbus, Schuyler, Fremont,
Omaha and Lincoln. The train is coming at
1,600 pounds of pressure and 140 degrees.
These cities get all their water supply from
the Loup and the Platte Basins.
Our family will fight this dirty battle
pipeline to the end to protect our upcoming
fifth generation of family farm.
Our oldest grandson is 15 and is -- as
engaged in the FFA programs. For 35 jobs in
Nebraska, forget it. This is Nebraska, in the
U.S.A. And we will provide food for the world
but not tar sands.
Speaker with No. 59.
Mean SPRAGUE: Welcome to
Nebraska.
I woul d 1 i ke to remi nd some of the
people that have spoken that Canada is a
foreign country. So, you know, that's still
importing foreign oil.
My name is mean, M-E-N-A, Sprague,
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S-P-R-A-G-U-E.
We live in northeastern Howard County,
Nebraska. To our north is Greel ey County. To
the northeast is Nance County. And to the east
is Merrick County.
I am a past shop steward for the BRAC
Union. Dave is a past shop steward for the
lAM.
We are against the pipeline for many
reasons. But my health is the main reason. I
have multi pl e chemi cal sensiti viti es. All
petrochemicals adversely affect me.
In the earl y '80s, we moved to Laurel,
Montana, from Miami, Florida, to get away from
the prevalent mold and the tropical climate
that was affecting my health, only to find that
there were two oil refineries to the east and
one to the west. And their emissions made me
sicker than the mold did. I was sick the four
years we lived there.
By the grace of God, we found out that
my health improved by moving to a cleaner
environment of central Nebraska on the farm my
grandfather bought March 1st, 1902, just prior
to marrying my grandmother. We have no other
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place to move to if this pipeline is approved.
A chemist told us 1 teaspoon of benzene
in 1,000 gallons of water is fatal. Calling
tar sands bitumen instead of oil relieves
TransCanada of the responsibility of paying for
cleaning up after their leaks. Plus, oil
companies and the media hide from the public
the many oil pipeline leaks and spills
happening in the U.S.
The newer pipeline to the north and east
of Nebraska had 14 1 eaks in 12 months. If thi s
pipeline is approved and when it leaks
chemicals into my water, it could be life
threatening to me and thousands -- excuse me,
and thousands of Americans with compromised
immunities, as in the very young, those with
health issues and the elderly.
TransCanada has their trained employees
who will build and install their pipelines.
They will only hire a few nonCanadians for
temporary positions.
Paragraph 2 of the Declaration of
Independence states, "We hol d these truths to
be self-evident that all men are created equal
and endowed by their creator with certain
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unalienable rights, that among these rights are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
No foreign oil company should have the
ability to take these rights from us. This
pipeline will be of no benefit to America.
Tar sands oi 1 is used to make cheap
diesel to be exported to China and other
countri es. It has onl y one purpose. And that
is to make some Canadians, Saudi Arabians,
Chinese and the Koch brothers more wealthy.
These people are not concerned with the
harm the pi pel i ne will put into our 1 i ves, our
ability to make a living, our environment and
especially to our precious water.
The Keystone XL Pipeline is just plain
greed and needs to be denied. We can live
without oil. We can't live without water.
Thank you.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. Last
speaker before the break, speaker No. 60.
BARBARA BAILEY: My name is
Barbara Bailey, B-A-R-B-A-R-A, B-A-I-L-E-Y.
I am a Nebraska citizen strongly opposed
to TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline.
Corporate and political greed continue
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in spite of overwhelming scientific data to
place short-term profit and expedience before
the protection of human life and that
ecosystem.
TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline is
part of the final phase of extreme exploitation
by the fossil fuel industry to - which intends
to squeeze the last trace of profit from an
ecosystem careening towards collapse.
The charade of moving the Nebraska route
to one less environmentally threatening, just
like the exaggerated job promise, the dishonest
safety record or the claim of energy security
provided by an export-only pipeline is a
distraction from the real issues and meant to
mislead and obscure the truth.
There have been countless intelligent,
independent, well-documented reports published
to convincingly refute these red herrings.
Allowing TransCanada to build an export
pipeline through the U.S. to secure profits on
the foreign market at the expense of landowner
protection and the health, safety and
environmental well-being of our state and the
planet, as well as undermining U.S. efforts to
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reduce carbon emission make this debate far
more than a routing and permit evaluation.
This is a moral decision.
Tar sands pipelines operate at higher
temperatures and pressures, have a greater risk
of corrosion. And spills are significantly
more damaging and impossible to clean up,
especially in water.
In the rush to provide -- in the rush
for profit mentality, there is no engineering
plan or understanding by the fossil fuel
industry for cleaning up tar sands-diluted
bitumen. The spills in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
and Mayflower, Arkansas, and the ineffective
and deceptive manner in which the oil and
pipeline companies responded should be far more
telling than just one page of yet another
flawed Draft Environmental Impact Statement by
another industry-biased contractor with a poor
track record.
To consider constructing a monstrous
36-inch pipeline pushing noxious,
chemical-laden and corrosive tar sands bitumen
at extremely high pressure through one of the
largest drinking water supplies in the nation
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176
is not only deranged, it is criminal.
The landowners, citizens and indigenous
nations opposing this pipeline are not trying
to sell anything. We are speaking the truth
about this tragedy unfolding with common sense
from our hearts.
I hope as the recorders of this hearing
and inhabitants of this planet, you will have
the courage and integrity to break through this
web of corporate and political greed and
deceit.
I hope you will have the genius to carry
our message. This pipeline is a threat to our
life-sustaining rivers and aquifer, our land,
our communities' wildlife and future existence
on earth as we know it.
The TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline is
not in our national interest.
MS. HOBGOOD: Thank you. Thank
all of you for your comments.
We will now break and resume promptly at
four o'clock with speaker No. 61.
(Recess taken 3:33 p.m. to 4:05 p.m.)
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*

Transcript: U.S. State Dept. Public Hearing On Keystone XL Pipeline (1 of 2)

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