"US Department of Interior Criticises State Over KXL Impact Report"

"Letter calls draft environmental impact statement on controversial transnational oil-sands project 'inaccurate'"



"The US Department of the Interior has criticised as "inaccurate" the State Department's draft conclusions that the impact of the Keystone XL pipeline on wildlife would be temporary, and has warned instead that it could have long-term, adversarial effects.

It is the second major government body to publicly criticise State's draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), a much contested document which examines the pipeline's potential impact on the natural environment, endangered species, communities and the economy. The DEIS, published in March, concluded that the project would only have a temporary and indirect impact on wildlife.

A 12-page letter, dated 29 April by the Interior Department's Office of Environmental Protection and Compliance and posted on the department's website on 15 August, warned that some effects of the pipeline on wildlife may be permanent."

Karen McVeigh reports for the Guardian August 20, 2013.

Source: Guardian, 08/21/2013