FILE - This Feb. 4, 2011 file photo shows environmental activist Alex Moore, left, joining protestors gathered across the White House in Washington, during a rally against the 1,900-mile oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands which would stretch through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma to Texas.
Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP
I continue to be a fan of Bob Bennett, but there is one error of commission in his recent column ("The health hazards of unemployment," Nov. 21) regarding President Obama's objection to the new Canadian-U.S. pipeline.
Obama didn't just object to the pipeline on environmental grounds. He reflected on local and state objections that the pipeline, as routed, puts a major water supply in jeopardy.
That is a much more compelling argument to those in the affected area, and we need to be sensitive to their concerns. Here in the Wasatch, too, all of our federal legislators (except Rep. Jim Matheson) have agreed to turn over critical Salt Lake Valley watershed to private developers without considering how vital water is to almost half of Utah's population.
There is a difference between debating unemployment vs. commerce and favoring commerce over our very survival. When safe water is at stake, it must be protected, or the economic consequences are immeasurable.
Stan Rosenzweig
Cottonwood Heights
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This reminds me quite a bit of the Las Vegas plan to pump Utah groundwater to feed its growth. In each case powerful special interests drive the proposals forward under the justification of economic growth. In each case an important aquifer is at More..
How is pumping water from an aquifer in any way related to running a pipe-line across an aquifer? Even if the oil pipe-line broke and oil were spilled, it could be easily cleaned up BEFORE it contaminated the aquifer.
For those who More..
Mike,
From what I've read the water table is quite close to the ground in the Sand Hills. There is no plausible guarantee that an oil spill could be cleaned up quickly enough to prevent contamination of the aquifer. And once contaminated, More..