The State Department released a supplemental environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline today, essentially restating the findings of the first report.

Here are links to an executive summary of the report (PDF) and the report itself (WARNING: HUGE PDF!).

The Lincoln Journal Star says the report argues against moving the pipeline’s route away from the Sand Hills, a fragile ecological area that lies above the Ogallala aquifer, a major source of drinking and irrigation water for Nebraska and neighboring states.

In an emailed statement, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that has opposed the Keystone XL project, says the new review is “as inadequate as their first go-round.”

The State Department is “merely paying lip service to critical issues such as pipeline safety, the routing over the Ogallala Aquifer, and environmental justice around refineries,” she wrote.

A comment period on the new review begins April 22 and runs through June 6.

UPDATE: Alberta blogger Andrew Leach says the report diminishes the climate change case against the oil sands.

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.