Photographer Files FOIA To Find Exact Keystone Route, But Discovers State Doesn't Even Know
EDIT
BACHAND: Yes, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request when I hit a wall with the states. Some states would share the information, and some states wouldn’t share any information. And I would have to interpret where the route was, and I wanted to know exactly where it went. So I went to the State Department and I filed a Freedom of Information Act request. And I asked for expedited service, and I was denied. And I felt this was a very urgent situation because lots of people wanted to know where it goes, and they said it would take eight to 12 months.
CURWOOD: So describe the response you eventually got from the State Department for me.
BACHAND: Well then, you know I’ve been phoning them every few weeks to see what the status of my application is, and finally, I received a letter just last week, the week before, stating that they didn’t even have the information.
CURWOOD: Can you read a bit of that letter for me please?
BACHAND: Yes, hold on a second. Yes, probably a key sentence here. Let me see. ‘We were informed by employees familiar with the records and organization of those offices that the department does not have copies of records responsive to your request because the Environmental Impact Statement for Keystone Pipeline project was created by Cardno Entrix under a contract financed by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP, and not by the US government. Neither Cardno Entrix nor TransCanada ever submitted GIS information to the Department of State, nor was either corporation required to do so.’ So the Department of State didn’t require the information, and they never asked for the information.
CURWOOD: So, wait a second. You’re saying that State never asked and didn’t have the actual route of the pipeline, even though it was asked to approve the environmental impact on it.
BACHAND: Yes. Now I’m not familiar with what the protocol is at the State Department. But you would think that if they’re asked to approve the document, that the document would contain the actual route information.
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http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00028&segmentID=1
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