Keystone XL: Nebraskans uniting to fight pipeline

 
The People’s Tribune interviewed Art Tanderup of Nebraska about the Keystone XL pipeline that has been approved by the Trump administration. In our May, 2017 edition, Art talked about the danger to the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest fresh water aquifer in existence.  In part two, Art refutes Trump’s claim that the pipeline will create jobs and emphasizes how the commonality of the need for water that unites the pipeline fighters across the political spectrum.
NELIGH, NE — The president talks about all the jobs the pipeline will create. Temporary construction jobs will bring people in but not jobs for a lot of local people.  Only 35 permanent jobs; none will be in any of the communities along the route.
A leak occurred last year on Keystone 1, in South Dakota, 75 miles from where I live. It just happened that the pipeline crossed a highway, and to get under the ground, had to be buried 30-40 feet. Thousands and thousands of gallons of oil and chemicals leaked out through pinhole type leaks which detection equipment missed. A local farmer found it when it surfaced in his field; it had been leaking since it was installed, over a very heavy soil, so did not get into the groundwater. It ruined this guy’s field. They hauled the dirt out of there. Had that happened on my farm, it would have all been on the Aquifer. Estimates are this could have been leaking for the lifetime of that pipe and it could have gone totally unnoticed. That’s where the jobs come in; people come in to clean up. The future is in renewable energy and that’s where the jobs should come in.
It’s amazing that our group of pipeline fighters come from every political spectrum. Don’t know how many voted for Trump, sure it was half. But we could not approach from a Democrat or Republican type thing. It had to be approached from “Let’s talk about water, our environment, our rights,” these are the things that draw people together and all on the same page. Because if we were not together as a group of landowners that pipeline would be pumping tar sands today. We have been networking (with other people) in states doing the same things. There are pockets of resistance, and the goal is to get them to come together.
To learn more on the resistance visit BOLDNEBRASKA.ORG.
To see part one of Art’s interview visit peoplestribune.org/