Public Hearings into Keystone XL Pipeline

A map of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Expansion

 

 

Hundreds of environmentalists have packed a meeting hall in Washington, DC, as the US State Department holds its final public hearing on TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline has become a lightning rod for the US environmental movement.

As the hearing began, an official asked those in attendance to behave in a civil manner and told them not to display signs or posters.

The State Department is to decide before the end of the year whether to approve the pipeline, which will carry Alberta oilsands crude to the Gulf of Mexico.

It will run through southwest Saskatchewan and up to a few kilometres away from Shaunavon.