Microsoft Word - ERM Sign On Letter Final.docx

A letter from multiple organizations to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry requesting the suspension of the Keystone XL review process due to alleged conflicts of interest and misrepresentations by Environmental Resource Management (ERM), the firm hired to prepare the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).

• The signatories allege that Environmental Resource Management (ERM), the consulting firm that wrote the majority of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Keystone XL pipeline, provided false information on its conflict of interest disclosure forms. Specifically, ERM claimed to have no existing contract or working relationship with TransCanada, yet it had been involved in the Alaska Pipeline Project—a joint venture between TransCanada and ExxonMobil—since at least 2011.
• ERM is accused of further misrepresenting its relationships by certifying it had no direct or indirect relationship with entities affected by the proposed work. However, documents indicate that between 2009 and 2012, ERM worked for more than a dozen major energy companies involved in Canadian tar sands that would benefit from the Keystone pipeline, including Shell, Chevron, Total, Syncrude, Conoco Phillips, and ExxonMobil.
• The letter claims the U.S. State Department failed to independently verify ERM's claims and violated its own conflict of interest screening guidelines, despite a previous agreement to develop additional verification measures for third-party contractors seeking Presidential permits.
• The undersigned organizations request three specific actions from Secretary John Kerry: pursuing disciplinary actions against ERM for its misrepresentations, restarting the SEIS proposal process, and requesting a new Inspector General investigation into how a conflicted contractor was permitted to write the government's assessment of Keystone XL.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2013). Microsoft Word - ERM Sign On Letter Final.docx. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/ERM_Letter_30Jul2013.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Microsoft Word - ERM Sign On Letter Final.docx. 2013. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/ERM_Letter_30Jul2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Microsoft Word - ERM Sign On Letter Final.docx |date=30 July 2013 |url=https://www.ciel.org/Publications/ERM_Letter_30Jul2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2013microsoft, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - ERM Sign On Letter Final.docx}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2013}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ciel.org/Publications/ERM_Letter_30Jul2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }