Parts of northeastern South Dakota are still dealing with the aftermath of a major oil pipeline leak which occurred last week near the town of Amherst. Officials with TransCanada Corporation shut down a portion of the Keystone Pipeline system last Thursday after a significant leak was discovered within the pipeline system in Marshall County, just south of the North Dakota border. By the time the leak was contained, more than 200,000 gallons of oil had poured out onto the ground, making it the largest oil spill in South Dakota history. Dean Price, a member of the Sisseton/Wahpeton/Sioux Indian Tribe and Associate Manager for the Dakota Sioux Casino says he and other tribal members have become increasingly concerned with what lies ahead for the reservation after the recent oil disaster…
Dean says he knows there are others who are equally concerned about what is taking place today with major oil companies which are taking over large areas of land to construct massive underground oil pipeline systems…
Dr. Terry LeFleur, a republican candidate for governor of South Dakota says the amount of property damage and related aftermath incurred during incidents like the recent oil spill in South Dakota is astounding when you consider everything that’s involved…
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in making use of cleaner modern day renewable energy sources for the future, a trend which according to Dr. LeFleur needs to continue if South Dakota and the nation as a whole hope to completely avoid crisis situations like the recent oil spill which occurred this past week in northeastern South Dakota…
Further south, state regulators in Nebraska yesterday (Monday) gave the go-ahead for oil executives to extend the Keystone Oil Pipeline through that state, although it appears a different route has been chosen for the project than what was previously mapped out.
