LINCOLN — Operators of the Keystone crude oil pipeline are conducting 10 digs, including three in Cedar County, Neb., to investigate anomalies found recently in the 30-inch pipe.
A spokesman for the operators, TransCanada, said Wednesday that the digs were required by U.S. regulators as an additional step to discover if any remedial work, or additional digs, are required.
The entire 1,087 miles of the Keystone Pipeline in the United States was recently inspected to determine whether the pipe has expanded beyond guidelines established by the federal government, said TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha.
Besides the three digs in Nebraska, six excavations are occurring in South Dakota and one in Missouri. The pipeline went into operation earlier this year.
“These digs are just another step we are taking to ensure that our pipeline is the safest in the market,” Cunha said in an e-mail.
While Cunha said no leaks or problems have been found, the digs are likely to intensify the debate about the safety of a second pipeline that TransCanada is planning that would cross Nebraska’s groundwater-rich Sand Hills region.
That pipeline, the Keystone XL, has faced fierce opposition from environmentalists who maintain that pipeline leaks will foul groundwater supplies and ruin an invaluable state resource.
“This just confirms all the real concerns that Nebraskans have,” said Jane Kleeb of BOLD Nebraska, a Lincoln-based environmental and advocacy group.
Kleeb said her group recently discovered that there has already been a leak from the Keystone Pipeline — a 5- to 10-gallon leak near Hartington, Neb., when a check valve became stuck in the open position Aug. 10.
She said the discovery of anomalies points up the need for the state to adopt oversight and regulation of pipelines.
Several groups recently urged a special committee of the Nebraska Legislature to pass laws to better protect landowners from spills and from the use of eminent domain.
The U.S. State Department is now reviewing whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would be larger (36-inch diameter) and carry more crude oil (upward of 700,000 barrels a day) than the Keystone Pipeline, which has a capacity of 435,000 barrels a day.
Groups like the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Nebraska Farmers Union and two natural resources districts in Nebraska have voiced opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., has called for consideration of routes that bypass the Sand Hills. U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has called for a more rigorous review of the project.
Pipeline supporters say that the U.S. needs a reliable source of oil and can’t rely on Venezuela and nations in the Middle East. Unions also back the pipeline due to the construction jobs it will provide.
Supporters say pipelines are the safest means of transporting oil.
Cunha said that the Keystone Pipeline has been audited by federal pipeline regulators 55 times during construction and that TransCanada has met each of their requirements.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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