Yesterday I posted a blog that featured arguments made by David Frum, a moderate Republican commentator, in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. Frum pointed out that oil and gas pipelines already criss-cross the state of Nebraska, so the environmental concerns in that state related to Keystone were bogus.
Let’s look at the flip side to that argument.
In the furor that has erupted over the past 24 hours over President Obama’s decision to reject the oil pipeline – at least for now – some of the fine points surrounding this issue have come to the forefront.
For the most part, the pipelines that currently traverse Nebraska are located above ground; most transport natural gas, not oil; and Keystone would be pumping sludge-like oil products that are much more difficult to clean up in the event of a spill.
The 1,700-mile Keystone would be buried underground which, in the environmentally sensitive area of Nebraska, means burying the pipes in sand, not steady soil. In the Nebraska Sandhills, the pipeline project would destroy the tall grasses and vegetation that prevent erosion, inevitably damaging one of the state’s main tourist attractions.
And, of course, a spill of thick, heavy oil into sand prevents a substantial threat to the most heavily used aquifer in the United States. The Ogalla aquifer covers 175,000 square miles, serves as a drinking water source for eight states and supplies about 30 percent of the groundwater pumped for irrigation nationwide. That irrigation is vital to farmers (and ranchers) that produce about a fifth of America’s agricultural output, worth at least $20 billion a year.  
So, obviously, a spill in the aquifer area could have disastrous consequences for the entire nation, not just a little slice of Nebraska.
The other concern of environmentalists (one that worries me the most) is that TransCanada, the company proposing the pipeline project, reportedly has a track record of undercutting quality at the expense of the environment.
Mike Klink, a former inspector for Bechtel, one of the major contractors that worked on TransCanada’s original Keystone pipeline in the Midwestern states, has become a whistleblower with a frightening tale to tell.
After he raised numerous concerns about shoddy materials and poor craftsmanship during construction of the first Keystone, Klink claims that he was fired in retaliation. Meanwhile, the first pipeline, completed in 2010, has already leaked 12 times.
Klink recently told his story to the Lincoln Journal Star. 
Here’s a portion of what he wrote in an Op-Ed:
“What did I see? Cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it; foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home; fudged safety tests; Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as ‘not too bad;’ shortcuts on the steel and ‘rebar’ that are essential for safe pipeline operation; and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots, like wetlands.”

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