US: Canadian oil pipeline hazardous to the environment

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Canadian oil pipeline hazardous to the environment
Protestors gathered near a large inflatable oil barrel outside the Canadian Embassy and donned bright orange Oil Spill Prevention Team t-shirts. The protesters later marched to the White House carrying signs and a banner reading No Keystone XL Pipeline, Clean Energy Now.Photo By Douglas Graham/Roll Call via Getty Images)

By Mark Guarino, Staff writer
Christian Science Monitor
June 4, 2011

Chicago
A controversial oil-sands pipeline operated by a Canadian oil company was ordered shut down Friday by the US Department of Transportation on charges that its continued operation “would be hazardous to lives, property, and the environment.”

TransCanada, a leading North American pipeline operator, started operation of Keystone I, a 36-inch pipeline system, in June 2010, making it possible to deliver Canadian oil to markets across Midwest farmland in several states, from the Dakotas through Illinois.

The company wants to expand the system so that it snakes from the Canadian province of Alberta, taking oil southeast through Oklahoma and eventually into refineries located in Nederland, Tex., along the Gulf Coast. The company says its new system, titled Keystone XL, will contribute $20 billion to the US economy through job creation and local property taxes.

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