Last week you met some angry landowners in Wood County who are in the path of a proposed oil pipeline from Canada.
 

A new citizens groups called S.T.O.P. or Stop the Tarsands Oil Pipeline, was organized in Winnsboro.

Landowners who don’t want a pipeline under their property have vowed to fight it.
 

The pipeline company says, many of their fears are unfounded. But as we have learned, ultimately, it may not matter…
 

The Keystone Pipeline is already underway in the northern part of the country, and the legs through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas are the last legs of the project to bring oil from the Canadian Oilsands.
 

“This is a pipeline project that will expand our relationship with a reliable, dependable and abundant source of oil,” says James Prescott of TransCanada. “Canada is our largest oil export country by far, it’s not even close.”
 

It’s not really oil as we know it, but a semi-solid that must be mixed with other chemicals to be fluid enough to be piped, and that is one worry the landowners have.
 

“What’s in the pipeline, no we don’t mix it with a lot of chemicals,” said Prescott. “Let’s talk about that. Let’s have that discussion. Now you’re getting into some fairly detailed stuff, and I’d be happy to provide you with that information. It’s not secret. We’re unbelievably forthcoming on this project.”
 

Prescott later called and said they add diluents. That is a process for diluting this thick, immovable material.

He would not explain what is in it. But we found out.
 

For oilsands they use a compound called Dilbit. It’s 50% naphtha. Naphtha is volatile, explosive. It is where we get the letters N-A-P in the word Napalm.
 

“We understand the sensitive nature of the business we’re in,” Prescott maintained. “That’s why we take it very seriously.”
 

The other concern is that TransCanada, has the power of eminent domain. That’s because in Texas, an oil or gas pipeline is considered a community benefit like a highway or a park.
 

“It’s a tool of last resort,” he assured us. “It’s not a perfect world, but we do the best that we can. And if a landowner disagrees, we’ll see if we can work it out. That’s why it’s a negotiation.”
 

Prescott says the overwhelming majority of landowners have accepted TransCanada’s offer for an easement. But to be fair, there’s not much choice in the end.
 

TransCanada has submitted an Environmental Impact Statement that the EPA says is inadequate.
 

But Prescott told us he expects that to be cleared up and the Presidential permit to be issued next year.