Keystone XL Seen Harming ‘Quality Night Skies’ Near Parks

Building the Keystone XL pipeline would lead to more manmade light and noise in sparsely populated regions, which may harm natural resources, wildlife and visitors to national parks, the U.S. Interior Department said.

In comments submitted to the State Department as part of an environmental review, Interior warned that developer TransCanada Corp. isn’t adequately dealing with risks to “cultural soundscapes” and “high quality night skies” from disturbances during construction and from pumping stations that keep oil flowing along the route.