New Hampshire U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter has introduced an amendment that would protect pipeline activity between Portland, Maine and Montreal, Canada.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ The amendment introduced Tuesday protects environmental interests from being affected by pending legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta across six U.S. states to the Texas Gulf Coast. The Obama administration is considering whether to approve the pipeline.
Shea-Porter says her measure clarifies that the expedited process made available for Keystone would not be used to short-circuit any environmental review for possible changes to the Portland-to-Montreal pipeline. There has been concern that the oil-carrying pipeline could have its flow reversed and carry Canadian tar sands oil through Vermont, New Hampshire and western Maine.
