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Ohio Environmental Groups Believe Approval of Keystone Pipeline Will Have a Negative Impact Here

Keystone pipeline
Pan Demin
/
SHUTTERSHOCK
Photo of the Keystone pipeline

President Donald Trump’s go-ahead for the Keystone pipeline that will run from Canada to the Gulf shore is triggering concerns from Ohio environmental groups. 

While the Keystone pipeline never gets close to Ohio, environmental groups believe President Donald Trump's giving it the go-ahead creates a bad precedent.

Ohio Environmental Council’s Melanie Houston says the Keystone project doesn’t go far enough to protect land and water.

“What we want to see at the OEC is that there’s adequate protections for drinking water before oil and gas projects go forward and that’s what we’re going to be looking at for some of the pipelines that are proposed in Ohio," Houston says. 

There are two major pipelines planned for Ohio with federal oversight. Houston notes that both are natural gas pipelines which don’t pose as big of a threat as oil.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.