Vermont Groups and Residents Seek Tar Sands Pipeline Input

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A number of residents of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and environmental groups say they want any effort to move tar sands oil in a pipeline between Montreal and Portland, Maine, to be subject to the state's land-use permitting process.

On Tuesday, the groups asked the Environmental Commission for a section of northeastern Vermont for permission to intervene if efforts are made to move tar sands oil through the pipeline. Currently, the pipeline carries regular crude oil between Portland and Montreal.

The company that owns the pipeline says there are no plans to change its use.

Officials with the National Wildlife Federation and others say tar sand is different than conventional crude, releasing more greenhouse gases into the environment and it poses a greater threat of a pipeline spill.

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