As TransCanada seeks to re-certify permits in South Dakota to build its Keystone XL pipeline, opponents are vowing to renew the fight against the project.
In a press release issued Friday, Dakota Rural Action, a group that advocates for agriculture and conservation issues, announced it would contest the permit proceedings.
Paul Seamans, chairman of Dakota Rural Action and an owner of land crossed by the proposed pipeline route, said in a statement that TransCanada's permits, which lapsed in June, were first granted by South Dakota's Public Utilities Commission in 2010 under the premise that the pipeline would bolster US oil supplies.
“The shale oil revolution in the U.S. during the last six years has precluded any need for importation of tarsands crude from Canada for domestic use,” he said.
Dakota Rural Action said that it anticipates multiple parties will contest TransCanada's re-certification.
“While TransCanada would have everyone believe that certification will be a simple matter of submitting their application to the PUC,” Seamans said. “Dakota Rural Action members and landowners feel otherwise and will be contesting the need for the KXL and fully expects the PUC to hold extended hearings on the permit."
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