2 arrested in Keystone Pipeline protest

HOUSTON – Two people were arrested during a protest over the Keystone Pipeline on Monday.

Dozens of protesters surrounded TransCanada's offices on Post Oak in the Galleria area.

The protesters wanted the company to know they do not approve of the work being done in the United States and Canada.

The Keystone expansion project is a more than 2,000-mile pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to Oklahoma and to Houston and the Gulf Coast. It would cost about $7 billion and create an estimated 20,000 jobs nationwide.

The protesters said the cost is too high. One sign said, "There are no jobs on a dead planet."

"In Texas and Oklahoma, you have TransCanada, the company that owns Keystone XL, systematically bullying landowners, forcing them to sign easement contracts that they don't want," one protester said. "If they don't agree to sign the contract, then they steal their land through an imminent domain process."

Supporters said the expansion would bring needed jobs to the Gulf Coast. Protesters claim the Keystone Pipeline projects have a history of leaks and poor oversight.

KPRC Local 2 left messages with TransCanada for comment, but those calls have not been returned.