Oil Pipeline Plan Questioned at Nebraska Hearing

Associated Press

YORK, Nebraska -- Plans for another pipeline to carry Canadian oil across Nebraska are attracting questions and concerns.

About 100 people attended a U.S. State Department hearing about the project in York Monday. It was the fifth of 19 hearings planned in the six states the pipeline would cross between the tar sands near Hardisty, Alberta, and refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.

Landowner Randy Thompson of Martell expressed concern about the proposed 36-inch-diameter pipeline's proximity to the vast natural underground reservoir known as the Ogallala Aquifer.

The State Department is involved because the pipeline crosses the U.S. border. One more Nebraska hearing is planned for Tuesday night in Atkinson, but comments are being accepted online and via mail or fax.