Home » News » Report assesses impact of Keystone oil pipeline
News
Report assesses impact of Keystone oil pipeline
News Articles | Lincoln Journal Star | April 14, 2010
Read the full article on the originating site
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A federal report concludes there would be limited impact to the environment if the TransCanada Keystone XL oil pipeline is built and operated according to existing regulations and the company’s written plan.
The buried 36-inch-diameter pipeline across six states, including Nebraska, would carry crude oil from tar sands near Hardisty, Alberta to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.
The draft environmental impact statement issued by the U.S. State Department will be subject to a 45-day comment period that includes public meetings in the project area. The State Department is involved because the pipeline crosses the U.S. border and requires a presidential permit.
“While we’re still reviewing the document, altogether we are pleased to see the conclusion reached in the analysis that indicates the project would have limited adverse environmental impacts both during construction and operation,” said Jeff Rauh, project spokesman for TransCanada.
Environmental groups said they would use the comment period to renew their concerns about increased emissions from the refinery process.
“The global warming from this project is staggering,” said Pete Carrels of Aberdeen, regional representative for the Sierra Club. “This one pipeline carries the equivalent of putting 6 million new cars on the road.”
In Washington, Friends of the Earth said the environmental study ignores increased greenhouse gas emissions.
“This pipeline is dirty on all accounts,” said Alex Moore.
The report said the pipeline is the best option available to transport oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. It said existing or proposed pipelines and conventional land or sea transportation would not have comparable capacity or offer a significant environmental advantage, and that the reliability and safety of the project is expected to be well within industry standards.
“The low probability of large, catastrophic spill events and the routing of the proposed pipeline to avoid most sensitive areas suggest a low probability of impacts to human and natural resources. Nevertheless, the potential for construction and operation-related spills does exist,” the report said.
The project would involve 1,380 miles of new pipeline in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. It is an addition to another TransCanada pipeline that’s been under construction since 2008.
The Nebraska portion of the first TransCanada pipeline was completed late last year. It runs through 10 counties, including Butler, Seward, Saline, Jefferson and Gage.
The TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline would run through 13 Nebraska counties, entering the state in Keya Paha County and staying farther west of Lincoln before linking up with the first TransCanada lin at Steele City in Jefferson County.
It would have an initial capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, with 200,000 barrels going to a refinery in Cushing, Okla., and the remainder to refineries in Texas. Adding pumping capacity later could boost capacity to 900,000 barrels per day.
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, fuel
