Johanns cites concern over Canadian oil sands pipeline

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) says he is “troubled” with a State Department environmental review of a proposed pipeline carrying Canadian tar-sands-based crude oil to Texas, arguing that it could harm water quality in his state and that the department must consider alternative routes.
 
The concern by Johanns is a rare objection by a conservative Republican to a project that has earned pushback from Democrats and environmental groups.
 
Johanns – in a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – said TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline running from Alberta, Canada, to Texas could spoil a crucial aquifer in Nebraska.
 
“I believe it in our national interest to obtain oil from allies instead of from those who may not share our values,” Johanns wrote. But he added it is the State Department’s “responsibility of ensuring the impacts and alternatives to this proposed pipeline have been thoroughly examined and assessed.”
 
The concern is that crude could migrate into the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies 78 percent of the state’s public water supply and 83 percent of irrigation water in the state.
 
Johanns initially wrote Clinton in July about his concerns. After further reviewing the company’s permit application and related environmental review documents by the department, “I am troubled by the product of that review,” Johanns wrote.
 
TransCanada officials have said the project will not harm the environment.