To Build Or Not to Build? The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has many pros and cons just as any project does, but this project has way bigger cons than most projects this country will face today. “The Keystone XL Pipeline is an environmental crime in progress.” “It’s also been called the most destructive project on the planet.” The major issues with the Keystone XL Pipeline are “the dirty tar sands oil, the water waste, indigenous populations, refining tar sands oil and don’t forget the inevitable; pipeline spills.” And these are just some of the environmental issues, not too mention how building this thing from Canada to Texas; 2,100 miles to be exact, is affecting the people and their land, as stated “this isn’t a little tiny pipeline, …show more content…

Now to the inevitable: pipeline spills, it will happen, “the only question is how soon and how badly.” Unfortunately “current regulations do not ensure safe operations on even traditional oil pipelines.”7 “But thankfully the pressure exerted by Friends of the Earth and allies, TransCanada withdrew its safety wavier application in which it tried to cut corners by seeking a safety wavier to build the pipeline with thinner-than-normal steel and to pump oil at a higher-than-normal pressure.”6 Even with TransCanada withdrawing their wavier they still will face many oil spills. How many to be exact? We don’t know that just yet and one reason we don’t is because “TransCanada has yet to produce an analysis of the worst-case spill scenario, as required by the Clean Water Act.” What we do know though is that “TransCanada already has one tar sands pipeline in operation, Keystone I, which has leaked 33 times in just its first year of operation.”8 Even worse is that “dilbit (which is the nickname for diluted bitumen) can corrode pipelines faster than traditional oil because it’s more acidic than regular crude oil, contains more abrasive particles, and is pumped at higher pressures and temperatures.” Although “the company has consistently downplayed the potential damage.