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January 6, 2012

Ex-Inspector Urges Cancellation of Keystone XL Pipeline 
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A former inspector on the original Keystone pipeline is sounding the
alarm over Trans Canada's plans for the Keystone XL. Mike Klink, a
former Bechtel employee who surveyed the first Keystone pipeline, says
he raised numerous concerns during construction that went ignored. The
first Keystone carries tar sands oil from Alberta to refineries in the
Midwest, while the XL would extend that route to the Gulf Coast. Writing
in Nebraska's Lincoln Journal Star, Klink describes a number of safety
and design flaws, including cheap foreign steel, weak foundations and
rigged safety tests. He concludes: "I am coming forward because my kids
encouraged me to tell the truth about what was done and covered up. …
I am not telling you we shouldn’t build pipelines. We just should not
build this one." Klink says Bechtel fired him for voicing his
complaints.



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