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December 3, 2013

Feds call for review of pipeline changes

The U.S. Department of State has told operators of a Maine-to-Montreal oil pipeline it wants to review any plans to reverse the pipeline’s flow to carry tar sands oil from Canada.

The Bangor Daily News reported the letter contradicts a 2008 statement by the State Department, which said the reversal of the Portland Pipe Line Corp. pipeline would not require a new federal permit. The federal letter does not say the project would need a new federal permit, but only that it could in pursuing such a plan be required to provide information to the federal department for review.

Company officials have maintained they have no plans to reverse the flow of the pipeline, deciding to surrender a state permit for such a reversal amid a South Portland campaign that would have restricted zoning around the company’s waterfront terminal.

In September, regulators in Vermont ruled that reversing the flow of the pipeline would require a new land-use permit there.

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