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Bill seeks to limit access to pipe data
Bill seeks to limit access to pipe data
Austin American-Statesman
Thursday, October 11, 2001
WASHINGTON - A bill meant to protect pipelines and other energy infrastructure from terrorist attacks would sharply restrict public access to safety information and allow companies to conceal problems from independent scrutiny, critics say.
Renea Hicks, an Austin lawyer representing landowners and a water district in a lawsuit challenging the proposed Longhorn gasoline pipeline, said "I understand the motivation, but (Bingaman's bill) presents a huge danger to the public because we have an agency that is nearly universally recognized as inadequate to protect the public from the dangers of pipelines," referring to the federal Office of Pipeline Safety, part of the Transportation Department. "This closes off all avenues of public knowledge and leaves it only between the pipeline companies and their fairly puny regulator."
Austin American-Statesman
Thursday, October 11, 2001
WASHINGTON - A bill meant to protect pipelines and other energy infrastructure from terrorist attacks would sharply restrict public access to safety information and allow companies to conceal problems from independent scrutiny, critics say.
Renea Hicks, an Austin lawyer representing landowners and a water district in a lawsuit challenging the proposed Longhorn gasoline pipeline, said "I understand the motivation, but (Bingaman's bill) presents a huge danger to the public because we have an agency that is nearly universally recognized as inadequate to protect the public from the dangers of pipelines," referring to the federal Office of Pipeline Safety, part of the Transportation Department. "This closes off all avenues of public knowledge and leaves it only between the pipeline companies and their fairly puny regulator."
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