The Keystone XL pipeline in Texas is slated to start up next week, pumping toxic tar sands to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast, unless Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott steps up to protect our land and water.
Last November Public Citizen came out with a report detailing hundreds of anomalies at over 125 sites where pipeline was dug up along the route in Texas. CBS News reported on Public Citizen’s report and on warning letters (click here and here to see two from last September) issued by PHMSA, the federal agency that oversees pipelines, to get TransCanada to fix their faulty pipes.
We already know the dangers that communities face from toxic tar sands, whether it’s the land owners whose property is at risk from a spill or the fence line communities that live adjacent to the referies and have to breathe the toxic emissions .
Director of Public Citizen Texas Tom “Smitty” Smith says, “Attorney General Abbott claims to believe in private property rights. If he really does, he should take action now to protect landowners in East Texas from tar sands contamination.”
