The Public Service Commission is considering whether to allow public comments submitted after hearings ended on a proposed oil pipeline from Canada.

The comments include Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker's plea that the commission deny a permit for the 218-mile Canadian crude oil line through eastern North Dakota unless more precautions are taken. The letter arrived at the commission's office a week ago, nearly a month after the September hearings closed on the proposed Trans- Canada Keystone Pipeline.

Walaker said if the line leaks, it might pose a risk to Fargo's drinking water supply, which comes in part from Lake Ashtabula, a reservoir of the Sheyenne River north of Valley City.

Commissioner Tony Clark and Susan Wefald disagreed Friday morning about what to do with the late input. Commissioner Kevin Cramer was absent.

Both commissioners acknowledged that state law mandates they consider only the formal testimony, exhibits and cross-examination from the official hearings, which were spread over two days in July, and Sept. 5 and 6.

"The city (Fargo) and these others would have done themselves a huge favor" if they had simply shown up for the public hearing, Clark said. "I'm interested in what are our options."

Wefald thinks the three-member body has all the information it needs.

"I think the commission has a very complete record," she said.

The commission's lawyer will write the administrative law judge who conducted the hearings and ask how the PSC should handle the late letters from Fargo and others.