Landowners: Hearings In Huron Would Be Easier To Attend

Jeremy Moser, November 5, 2007, Keloland.com -- Those for and against TransCanada's Keystone crude oil pipeline project in South Dakota will soon have a chance to state their case. Landowners who live along the proposed route want upcoming hearings moved, so it's easier for them to voice concerns during the two weeks of testimony before the Public Utilities Commission.

The hearings, scheduled to start December 3rd, were set to take place in Pierre, but four landowners want the meetings moved to Huron, and Tuesday the Public Utilities Commission will decide if that will happen.

Ever since he heard a crude oil pipeline could run an eighth of a mile away from his house, Jerry Glanzer of Bridgewater, has been collecting any information he can find on the project.

Bridgewater farmer Jerry Glanzer says, "I have a son that wants to farm. Does he want to fight with a foreign oil company if there's a problem with it?"

Glanzer is concerned that the proposed route runs through a nearby creek his cattle drink from. He's filed written testimony with the South Dakota P.U.C., but wants to make sure he can voice his concerns in person.

Glanzer says, "They're in a farming state and they have to realize that a farmer has to be on his farm, he can't just run off."

That's why Glanzer and three other landowners have asked the P.U.C. to move the two week hearing on the project from Pierre to Huron. He says he can't afford to be away from his cattle and stay overnight in Pierre.

Glanzer says, "I think they definitely need to be put in a place that's convenient to the people that are involved."

Glanzer's farmland was homesteaded by his relatives 125 years ago, and he wants to have a say in what happens to it in the future.

Glanzer says, "You have to represent yourself, and yes we have an attorney and I'm sure he'll do his job, but we as people that live here, we have to have our say in it to."

Glanzer will give his testimony over the phone tomorrow to the P-U-C, as it makes a decision on whether to move the hearings.