Keystone pipeline plans worry EPA

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said regulators weren't doing enough to probe the problems tied to TransCanada's proposed Keystone oil pipeline.

TransCanada wants to build a 1,700-mile extension to the Keystone pipeline that would carry oil from the Canadian border in Montana to refineries on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. State Department announced plans for public meetings in Washington and planned transit states to hear concerns about economic, energy security, environmental and safety issues related to the pipeline.

The EPA called on the State Department to conduct more analysis of the potential for oil spills. Cynthia Giles, an administrator at the EPA, said spills were a real concern following major spills in similar lines in Michigan and Illinois last year.

"If a spill did occur, the potential for oil to reach groundwater in these areas is relatively high given shallow water table depths and the high permeability of the soils overlying the aquifer," she was quoted by the Platts news service as saying.

"In addition, we are concerned that crude oil can remain in the subsurface for decades, despite efforts to remove the oil and natural microbial mediation."

Environmental groups worry about the potential for spills and uncertainty about the safety of transiting oil from tar sands in Canada. Senate Democrats have expressed similar concerns in a recent letter to the State Department.

There have been 11 spills in the existing route, including a leak in Kansas last week.