News / Politics

FBI violated internal rules by spying on Keystone XL pipeline opponents

Wednesday, 13 May 2015 9:10 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 May 2015 9:10 AM ]

Demonstrators hold signs against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2015. (AFP photo)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation violated its own rules in 2013 when it spied on environmental activists who opposed the Keystone XL pipeline, internal FBI documents show.

The FBI’s field office in Houston, Texas failed to get approval from senior agents before it cultivated informants and opened files on individuals protesting against the construction of the pipeline in Texas, bureau documents revealed Tuesday.

The bureau had received information about plots to damage part of the existing Keystone pipeline, which moves oil from Canada to oil refineries in United States.

As part of the investigation, FBI agents in Houston communicated with informants, who gathered information from environmental advocates.

The agents also conducted background searches on the advocates and reviewed local police reports about them. But the agents had not received approval from the head of their office and from its chief lawyer.

That authorization was required under FBI internal guidelines aimed at preventing agents from abusing powers that are most often used in national security and criminal investigations.

The FBI’s monitoring of activists was also in violation of guidelines designed to prevent the agency from becoming excessively involved in sensitive political issues.

The FBI is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, which also serves as the country's prime federal law enforcement agency. It operated under the jurisdiction of the US Justice Department.

The Keystone XL pipeline is part of an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States that was commissioned in 2010.

It runs from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and also to oil tank farms and oil pipeline distribution centers in Oklahoma.

Various environmental groups, citizens, and politicians have raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of the oil pipeline, mainly the risk of oil spills along the pipeline’s route.

AHT/AGB

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