ND Delays Transcanada Decision

AP reports this afternoon that the North Dakota Public Service Commission (our PUC's counterpart) has pushed back a deadline for deciding where Transcanada can lay its Keystone pipeline across the frozen tundra of our northern neighbor. The city of Fargo and the North Dakota Water Users Association (that would be everyone in North Dakota, wouldn't it?) want to intervene in the approval process. According to AP), the "intervention" deadline passed months ago, but the ND PSC is considering hearing their objections. The North Dakota regulators have thus moved their decision deadline back from November 21 to December 12.

According to the Bismarck Tribune (you can try the Fargo Forum, but they charge for archived news), Fargo mayor Dennis Walaker doesn't like Transcanada's plan to run 590,000 barrels of oil a day right alongside the Sheyenne River (1.3 MB map!), Fargo's main water supply. Google isn't popping up any direct quotes, but one might imagine the ND Water Users Association has similar concerns.

South Dakota landowners facing eminent domain at the hands of the invading Canucks shouldn't celebrate yet: it's only a three-week delay, and not at all a clear statement that North Dakota regulators will take Mayor Walaker's (and this blog's) advice and kick Transcanada out of the state. But every spoke in the wheel helps. Our own PUC has sent its "sternly worded letter" to Transcanada; maybe it's time for the PUC to show some teeth on behalf of its fellow citizens and issue a delay of its own. Big corporations usually understand actions better than words. Let's try a little forced inaction, and give out landowners a little more time to fight for their land.

Update 2007.10.25: The Fargo Forum offers a little more detail today [see Janell Cole, "High-Risk Venture," In-Forum News, 2007.10.25]. PSC Commissioner Kevin Cramer criticized Fargo city officials for not bringing up their concerns during the regular hearings in July and September. Fortunately, though, "Cramer said he had no desire to penalize citizens for the negligence of their local officials, so he doesn’t oppose to reopening the official record and delaying a decision" [Cole]. TransCanada, of course, doesn't think the PSC should give anyone but the company a break. "We don’t think any additional information is necessary," says TransCanada lawyer Todd Kranda. Indeed -- more information can only hurt Big Oil's chances of ramming its pipeline down our throats.