Keystone XL Controversy Continues

UNDATED (Staff/AP) — Protesters Tuesday chained themselves to construction equipment in Winnsboro to protect a tree village in the path of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. Tar Sands Blockade spokesman Ron Seifert says they’ll do whatever it takes to stop construction because if the pipeline ever leaks, toxic chemicals will be released.

Meanwhile, a judge has ruled that developers of the planned Canada-to-Gulf Coast oil pipeline can take land by eminent domain from property owners in a coastal Southeast Texas county. However, the Beaumont Enterprise reports Jefferson County Court-at-Law Judge Tom Rugg has scheduled a Friday hearing. There, Keystone Pipeline and the property owners will hash out whether Keystone properly posted bonds for damage to properties if it ultimately loses the right to the land in later legal proceedings. Rugg also will determine if Keystone must send out new legal notices to property owners not included in previous value-setting.

Keystone and Canadian owner, TransCanada, want a federal permit to send crude oil through a pipeline from western Canada’s tar-sand oil fields to Jefferson County by way of a Cushing, Oklahoma hub. The proposed route will carry the pipeline through much of East Texas, including eastern Smith County.