Keystone Spill A Warning For Iowa

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1:00 p.m. CT, Thursday, April 7, 2016
Contact Ed Fallon at (515) 238-6404 or Ed@boldiowa.org

Latest Keystone Spill A Warning For Iowa
Officials called on to put brakes on Bakken Pipeline in light of SD spill

Des Moines, IA — Bold Iowa today called on elected and appointed officials to heed the lesson of TransCanada’s most recent pipeline spill in South Dakota, and step back from allowing Dakota Access to move forward with the proposed Bakken Oil Pipeline.

On April 2 at 12:30 p.m., South Dakota landowner, Loren Schulz, found oil in the surface water near the Keystone pipeline’s right-of-way. Schulz reported the spill, which TransCanada didn’t confirm until nearly a day later.

Site of TransCanada Keystone pipeline spill near Freeman, S.D. (Photo courtesy Cindy Myers)

Site of TransCanada Keystone pipeline spill near Freeman, S.D. (Photo courtesy Cindy Myers)

“As citizens have testified over the past decade, TransCanada’s leak-detection system is hardly fool proof,” said Amy Schaffer, a Nebraska Sandhills’ native and Bold Nebraska’s program coordinator. “Last weekend when the pipeline spilled, a landowner — not a pipeline employee — called in the oil sheen. TransCanada’s leak-detection system, which it brags about all the time, failed. Again.” (See here for full story and updates.)

“When it comes to pipeline spills and leaks, some Iowa officials have amnesia,” said Ed Fallon, director of Bold Iowa. “No matter how many times we say it, officials in the pocket of Big Oil want to forget the toxic, costly reality of hundreds and hundreds of pipeline spills and leaks over the years.”

Dakota Access is still waiting to receive a permit from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). The Board meets again on April 15.

“What happened in South Dakota should cause the IUB to step-back and reconsider the wisdom of allowing such a grave risk to Iowa’s land and water,” continued Fallon. “Furthermore, Iowa lawmakers should weigh-in on the matter, too, and take a page from the Georgia Legislature, which just rejected Kinder Morgan’s Palmetto Pipeline by an overwhelming majority.” (See full story here.)

Bold Iowa is part of the newly-launched Bold Alliance, which grew out of Bold Nebraska’s successful fight against the Keystone XL pipeline. The Bold Alliance is building a coalition of  “small and mighty” groups in rural states to fight Big Oil, protect landowners against the abuse of eminent domain, and work for clean energy solutions while building a political base of voters who care about the land and water.  Besides Iowa, Bold efforts are underway in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Jane Kleeb of Nebraska is president of the Bold Alliance.

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