DirtyOilSands.org

For Immediate Release

CONTACTS: Graham Christensen, Nebraska Farmers’ Union: (402) 476-8815

Ryan Salmon, National Wildlife Federation: (703) 438-6000

National Farmers Union:

Protect Clean Water and Landowners from Pipeline Threats

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28 – As Midwestern farmers’ concerns mount about the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, the National Farmers Union has adopted strong policies opposing any project that threatens water supplies and condemning the use of unfair tactics to secure right-of-way from farmers and other landowners.

NFU, which represents farms and ranchers nationwide with 32 state affiliates, adopted the pipeline policy at its national convention March 15. The resolution comes in response to farmers’ concerns about the Keystone XL, which TransCanada Corp. proposes to build to carry crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries.

The proposed route of the 1,980-mile pipeline would slice through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It would cross the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska – source of 30 percent of the nation’s agricultural water and drinking water for millions – with a pipeline carrying diluted bitumen, a thick, heavy, corrosive and toxic form of crude oil associated with pipeline ruptures at 16 times the rate of conventional crude.

Along the route, landowners and lawmakers are decrying TransCanada’s bullying and aggressive  use of eminent domain to push the pipeline through. Farmers in Oklahoma and other states have taken TransCanada to court on grounds that as a foreign corporation it can not take right-of-way under eminent domain.  And in a report to Canadian energy officials, TransCanada stated that one reason for the pipeline is to raise the price Midwestern refineries pay for crude oil by as much as $5 billion. That could bring a 20 cent per gallon increase in the cost of gasoline at the pump, which would hit farmers hardest.

“We oppose any infrastructure or resource development that jeopardizes the health, safety and quality of the Ogallala Aquifer and other freshwater resources,” says the new policy. It opposes “the use of eminent domain without the developer putting into place environmental safeguards and assuming liability for damages,” and calls for “transparency in the planning and routing process including public input, fair compensation to landowners, and a process to deal with landowner and public complaints and conflicts.”

“Midwestern landowners have felt they have been misled by a multi-national oil company that is planning to build a pipeline at all costs,” said Graham Christensen, public affairs director for the Nebraska Farmers Union, which introduced the pipeline resolution at the national convention. He said the policies would “give landowners some basic protections from pipeline companies that may have conflicting economical and environmental interests.”

The National Farmers Union resolution raises yet another hurdle for the troubled pipeline, which is awaiting a decision from the State Department on whether to issue a permit for the project. In early March, in response to the pipeline’s threat to the Ogallala aquifer and the high accident rate for pipelines carrying tar sands oil, the State Department ordered additional study of the Keystone XL’s environmental impact.

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