Keystone XL Pipeline Decision to Be Investigated

The State Department’s inspector general will conduct a special investigation of the handling of the pending decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in response to reports of improper pressure on policy makers and possible conflicts of interest, according to documents released on Monday. The internal investigation could delay the Obama administration’s decision on whether to approve the $7 billion project, which would carry oil extracted from Canadian tar sands to refineries in Oklahoma and along the Gulf Coast. The State Department had set a deadline of year’s end to determine whether the pipeline is in the national interest, but officials suggested last week that the schedule could slip. Objections by states along the pipeline right of way — particularly Nebraska, which is asking for a review of the proposed route — could also delay the decision for months. More than a dozen members of Congress had asked for an independent inquiry into the department’s review of the 1,700-mile pipeline, citing reports in The New York Times and elsewhere that the State Department allowed the pipeline developer, TransCanada, to choose the company that prepared an assessment of the project’s environmental impact. That company, Cardno Entrix, listed TransCanada as a “major client” on other projects and has a financial relationship with the pipeline developer...more