A few days ago one of the front page articles in the Brainerd Dispatch was about several different county commissioners signing a letter sent to Governor Dayton to basically speed up the permitting of the Sandpiper and Line 3 oil pipelines. On Page 2 of the same Brainerd Dispatch was an article about several hundred barrels of oil spilling out of the ground and from a yet to be located pipeline leak.
The commissioners indicated the economic benefits when building the pipelines and future taxes on the pipeline. The commissioners did indicate that pipelines are the safest way to transport this crude oil which is agreed to by many individuals and groups that pipeline transportation as a safest way. The concern has always been location of the pipelines.
So a question could be asked is money more important than the environment today and in the future? It appears that some commissioners and some area state representatives think more of money than the environment.
Kent Rees
Emily
