In a letter delivered to Nebraska legislative Speaker Mike Flood on Tuesday, the president of TransCanada Corp. has sent a letter to Nebraska Unicameral Speaker Mike Flood detailing the company’s stance why it may not be possible to shift the route of the proposed Keystone XL which would cross the Ogallala Aquifer.
In the letter, Alex Pourbaix says TransCanada would be willing to take several steps to alleviate concerns of opponents of the pipeline’s route which would cut through the state’s sandhills.
In the letter to Flood, TransCanada says it would be willing to do the following:
* Provide and maintain a performance bond of $100 million, to be made available to the state if TransCanada does not clean up a spill in the Sandhills.
* Put oil spill response equipment at three pump stations planned in Nebraska and assign personnel to a field office in O’Neill to minimize response time.
* Install concrete coating, rock jacket or other protective materials that would fully encircle 35 miles of pipeline in areas where the water table is near or at the surface.
* Provide water well sampling and an alternative water supply for any well where the water quality is compromised by a spill.
* Hire a public liaison to facilitate sharing information between TransCanada, its contractors and employees, and landowners and local communities.
