Contact: Paul Seamans, landowner crossed by Keystone XL: 605-280-7546
John Harter, landowner crossed by Keystone XL: 605-840-9478
Sabrina King, Dakota Rural Action Office: 605-939-0527
LANDOWNERS SLAM NOEM, THUNE FOR VOTING AGAINST SOUTH DAKOTA FARM AND RANCH INTERESTS IN FAVOR OF BIG OIL
Noem votes against requiring Keystone XL operator to pay into Oil Spill Liability Fund, while Thune speaks on the Senate floor in favor of pipeline despite unfinished in-state process
Brookings, SD – With the Senate once and for all voting no on Keystone XL, South Dakota’s landowners continue to be dismayed at Representative Kristi Noem and Senator John Thune’s ongoing representation of big oil interests, rather than the interests of their own constituents.
Noem took a stand last week against South Dakota’s ranchers by voting no on an amendment to HR 5682, which would have required operators of tar sands pipelines like Keystone I and Keystone XL to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Fund. And today, Thune advocated for TransCanada on the floor of the United States Senate.
“TransCanada wants to duck responsibility to pay into the trust fund, and at the same time they want to shift liability of spills to landowners,” says Paul Seamans, in response to Noem’s vote on HR 5682. Because the product carried by both Keystone I and Keystone XL is diluted bitumen for Canada’s tar sands mines, not oil, carriers are not required to pay into the fund that covers oil spills. As a result, those costs and risks are shifted onto landowners and taxpayers.
And despite South Dakota’s on-going review of the pipeline permit by the Public Utilities Commission, today Thune advocated for the passage of S 2280, forcing the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. John Harter, a South Dakota landowner crossed by the route and facing on-going legal battles to protect his land from TransCanada, called Thune out for his statements, saying, “Republicans are trying to pull what they’ve been slamming President Obama for: forcing policy through without going through the proper channels. They’ve been slamming him and now they’re doing it.” Harter and other South Dakota landowners have met with Thuen about the pipeline, and he says, “Thune knows the farmers and ranchers aren’t for this. It will hurt our water resources and our agriculture.”
Dakota Rural Action is a grassroots family agriculture and conservation group that organizes South Dakotans to protect our family farmers and ranchers, natural resources, and unique way of life.www.dakotarural.org