The spill of Canadian tar sand crude in Mayflower is being used by environmentalists to slow approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry a similar material through the Great Plains across a sensitive aquifer in Nebraska.

From the Sierra Club:

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Environmental organizations today requested for the second time that the State Department extend the 45 day public comment period on the Keystone XL environmental assessment to answer specific questions about tar sands pipeline safety raised by the failure and spill of the Exxon Pegasus pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas. The letter can be viewed here.

In response, Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director, released the following statement:

“The Mayflower, Arkansas, tar sands spill demonstrates that the State Department needs answers to exactly what went wrong with the Pegasus pipeline, why Exxon couldn’t shut down the pipeline immediately, and how the administration can assure Americans that the Keystone XL pipeline—at nearly ten times the size—would be safe. The short answer is, it wouldn’t.”

Is it asking U.S. Rep. Tim “Pipeline” Griffin too much to get answers to these questions before pushing ahead with Keystone? Apparently.

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