The Keystone XL pipeline poses all sorts of risks for South Dakotans to bear for the sake of private Canadian profits. Vi Waln points out that the man camps necessary to house the workers needed to build this pipeline across western South Dakota pose a risk to the safety of our women and children:
If President Obama signs the Presidential Permit approving TransCanada’s application to build their death project, there will most likely be a man camp established in the Colome, SD area with at least 600 roughnecks from all over the country staying there. They will be making good money to build the monster pipeline. We have tribal members living in this area.
...Those of us who choose to live here already know our Indian Reservations are extreme poverty areas. We have vulnerable women and children. What do you think is going to happen when we have an influx of wealthy strangers who lack integrity?
If you research the areas where man camps are established you will find they have a whole lot of horrid side effects – prostitution, drug activity, disappearances and even unsolved murders of women. Would you want your mother, aunt, sister, daughter, granddaughter or other women relatives spending time with men who are staying in these camps? [Vi Waln, "Tribes Must Be More Aggressive to Stop Tar Sands Pipeline," Sicangu Scribbler, 2013.04.30]
President Obama delivered a great victory to our Indian neighbors when he signed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in March. It would be a shame to see him undo some of that good by allowing Keystone XL to drag its ills across western South Dakota.
Undoubtedly there are many pros and cons to the pipeline, but Yankton's experience with the pipeline workers is that they are about the best bunch of folks you'll ever meet. They were headquartered out of Yankton for quite a spell, and I never heard a single negative comment ... not a one. And they loved working in South Dakota. Many said they were intending to bring their families back for a vacation surprise.
I would think that the law of averages would prevail here and that the author may be right. In the oil patch in North Dakota, I am sure that most of the workers are just fine. There are those that do things like the abduction and murder of the Montana teacher that was out jogging that give this article the facts needed. So the workers that were in Yankton may have been just swell, while the workers that may come to work on the other pipeline, may not be. In short, why take the chance, just another reason to stop the thing.
In short, why take the chance, just another reason to stop the thing.
I guess you must feel the same for building large wind farms, solar farms, and ethanol plants? You know.....the same construction crews that do large dirt operations like building pipelines. The generalizations in this blog post stink and the argument is horrible. Why take the chance? Maybe because our environment will be affected even more when we don't send oil through pipelines. Anyone who wants to send this oil over our aging rail system is nuts, but apparently that is what everyone is hoping for.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324685104578386662069983532.html
Use a little logic and realize pipeline is the safest way to move oil that is going to come across our soil. Obama will make sure it does. Just watch.
Wrong again, DimBulb: "Freight rail had 35 incidents in which the amount of oil spilled was more than 5 gallons, said the rail-promoting group. Pipelines had 1,784."
http://journalstar.com/news/local/do-railroads-offer-safer-transport-option-for-keystone-oil/article_f93bd0b8-b227-5092-a93f-80ed9b019b3c.html
Stay classy Larry. I never expected you to understand ratios. The ratio of oil spilled to oil shipped by pipeline is still lower than with any other form of transportation. With an aging infrastructure that sees little attention, it will only make pipelines look better when they ramp up the volume.
meanwhile, all the floodwater canada needs to refine their tarsands bitumen is raising ocean levels when north dakota could have sold them that water.
Where do you think a majority of that floodwater is coming from? Take a drive in southern manitoba.....it will look a lot like the landscape around here once they are done tiling and removing tree belts to exploit overly-inflated corn prices. Madison is going to find out real quick what removing natural watershed's will do. I'm just glad I don't live in a low area of town when some event causes a lot of water to move through.
Bernie, I'm curious about the construction of the first Keystone pipeline. How many construction workers were stationed at Yankton while they tunneled under the Missouri River?
http://interested-party.blogspot.com/2011/05/flooding-inevitable-after-paving.html
Get with solar, wind, and Thorium nuclear and super-insulation for homes, and we won't need tar sands oil by pipe or train.
It is hard to see that their is not money for the transition when Rapid City is deciding whether to spend $31 million to enable handicap accessibility to the events center based on one anonymous complaint... or more insane, demolishing the event center and spending another $100 million to build an events center which acts as a pipeline for money out of South Dakota.
DB, it is good to see that you are in Bernie's corner on this. You two crazy kids somehow seemed to find one another in this discussion.
http://brainerddispatch.com/opinion/2013-04-30/therell-be-200-250-years-global-cooling-just-ahead
try harder, mb.
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/may-snow-/?id=147453
http://www.newsmax.com/LowellPonte/Obamanomics-Ice-Age-warming/2013/02/08/id/489525
clearly your hell has frozen over....
Obama is contributing to climate change, Larry. More than you or I. Well, more than you anyway.
consider self-immolating, grud.
Every day, larry. Every day.
icymi: pp just blinked:
http://dakotawarcollege.com/noem-statement-on-restoration-of-training-flights/comment-page-1/#comment-156110
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/02/23/oil-boom-creating-dark-side-of-industry-in-north-dakota/
prosecution rests.
DB, I believe our rail system does a pretty good job of keeping itself updated. Our rail system also has a distinct advantage over pipelines as in they are not confined to one destination. They can deliver east, west or gulf coast from anywhere. And I would probably tend to agree with Bernie on this. I hope anyway beings there is a KXL man camp planned 4 miles from my house.......
You have all the luck Brett. Make your fortune while the iron's hot. "Clanton's Bar & Ca$ino"
Les is onto something, Bret. Cash in! And boost your profits by getting those strippers from Smoky's to come over from Meadow. But you'll need a catchier name than Les suggests. Try "Bret's XXXL Pumping Station."
Just when I think you can't go any further, Cory, you sink to a new low.
The people that live in these camps, and work on a pipline, in the oil fields or whatever are hard working people. They pay their taxes and they spend money at local store for things they need. Many of these people are family people looking to support their families, that they left for work.
you managed to demonize just about every hard working roughneck and constuction worker. you should be so proud of yourself right about now.
There might be a few bad apples in the group, but not everyone who lives in a man-camp is a heatless killer, or a drug pusher. I dare say most of them are just using the skills that God gave them to support their family.
We all know you hate oil, oil pipe lines, and maybe even cooking oil. Attacking the people who work, and work hard, to build these projects is really low. What's next, suing land owners for not fighting hard enough to stop the pipe line?
MC, I stand by Vi Waln's reasonable concerns, based on the empirical evidence of increased crime and other social problems in the man camps of the Bakken. You try to explode that reasonable concern into an easily demonizable attack that it is not.
One of the great things about us humans is we can learn from our mistakes. We now know what can happen and take steps to deal ahead of time. The way this was written, you insulted the hard working, tax-paying, labors. you used a very broad brush to do it with.
Instead of bashing hard working people, you might try to have the United State fully implement the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and return ALL lands illegally taken. All buildings, roads, pipelines, etc. should be removed.
Talk about strawmen up and breathing amongst us. I guess I missed Cory bashing hard-working, honest, moral workers.