Endangered beetle species holding up TransCanada pipeline in Oklahoma

Pipeline developer TransCanada’s Gulf Coast project has been dogged by protesters in east Texas but its progress in Oklahoma has been slowed by concerns about the American burying beetle. Some of the endangered insect’s habitat is along the route of the $2.3 billion pipeline being built from the crude oil storage hub at Cushing to refineries in the Houston area. The American burying beetle has been a troublesome issue for oil and gas companies in Oklahoma for more than a decade. The insect has been listed as an endangered species since 1989. To ensure the bug’s safety, environmental regulations require companies to hire biologists and survey areas for the beetles before they dig in areas where the beetle may be found. If any of the species are found in an area, biologists must trap or bait them away. Because the beetles hibernate in the winter, environmental regulations state the insects can be moved only in the spring and summer...more