PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups say a decision by the Canadian National Energy Board shows how a crude oil pipeline could be repurposed to export large amounts of oil through the Maine city of South Portland.
The Canadian board on Thursday approved a plan to reverse the flow of a pipeline that would allow for Western Canadian oil to be transported to Eastern Canada.
Maine environmental groups say that a similar decision for the Portland Pipe Line could bring that oil into Maine and endanger wildlife and watersheds.
The South Portland City Council voted in December to put in place a temporary moratorium that bars tar sands from coming into the city after an earlier referendum failed.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, Jr., of Maine, is urging an environmental study be conducted.