The company remains strongly committed to obtaining approval to safely build and operate the pipeline, and will continue to be engaged in the process as the DOS enters its final stages of reviewing the project.
While TransCanada is still reviewing the DSEIS, it builds on more than 10,000 pages of review already completed for Keystone XL. The DSEIS reaffirmed that “there would be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route.” It noted that Keystone XL would result in no “substantive change in global green house gas (GHG) emissions” and it is “unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area.” Finally, it also noted that “the denial of a Presidential Permit would likely result in actions by other firms in the United States (and global) petroleum market, such as use of alternative modes to transport WCSB and Bakken crude.”
“Completing the DSEIS or Keystone XL is an important step towards receiving a Presidential Permit for this critical energy infrastructure project,” TransCanada’s President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said. “No one has a stronger interest than TransCanada does in making sure that Keystone XL operates safely, and more than four years of exhaustive study and environmental review show the care and attention we have placed on ensuring this is the safest oil pipeline built to date in the United States.”
The August 2011 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) further notes that TransCanada has also agreed to adopt 57 special safety measures for the pipeline developed by the US federal pipeline safety regulator (PHMSA), which the FEIS said would give the pipeline “a degree of safety over any other typically constructed domestic oil pipeline system under current code.” The 57 conditions include burying the pipe a minimum of 4 feet below the surface, increased pipeline inspections and a greater number of remote-controlled valves that can shut down the pipeline within minutes.
Throughout 2012, TransCanada completed the process established by the State of Nebraska and Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality to develop a revised route through Nebraska that avoids the Sandhills area and minimises potential impacts on other environmentally-sensitive features in the state. The revised route was approved in January 2013 by Governor Dave Heineman.
TransCanada’s existing Keystone Pipeline has safely and reliably delivered more than 389 MMbbl of crude oil from Canada to refinery markets in the US Midwest since it began operation in July 2010.
Keystone XL will directly employ 9,000 people during two years of construction. Once complete, it will generate millions of dollars in tax revenues for local communities along the pipeline route and will transport up to 830,000 bbl/d of Canadian and American crude oil that can replace higher-priced oil imported from countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Iraq. In addition, TransCanada began construction on the 780 km Gulf Coast Pipeline Project from Cushing, Oklahoma to Nederland, Texas in August. That $US2.3 billion project is more than half complete and has directly employed 4,000 skilled American workers.
Combined, Keystone XL and the Gulf Coast Pipeline projects will invest about $US7.6 billion in the US, directly support 20,000 construction and manufacturing jobs and enhance America’s energy security by supplying refineries in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast refining hubs with Canadian and American oil to displace crude from other countries and regions.
“The latest forecasts from the International Energy Agency and the US Energy Information Agency indicate that the United States will continue to import 3.5 million to 7 million bbl/d of oil to meet its domestic needs until 2035 and beyond,” Girling said. “It makes sense for this oil to come from a stable, democratic neighbour such as Canada that shares common values and an integrated economy with the United States.”
“President Obama and others have talked about the importance of moving towards a less carbon-intense economy – we agree. TransCanada has invested over $US5 billion in emission-less energy over the past few years. But we also know a complete transition to renewable energy will take decades,” concluded Girling.
The facts also show that Keystone XL is the safest, most environmentally responsible way to deliver the oil that refineries and consumers need to fuel our economy, businesses, homes and maintain our quality of life.
Keystone XL is the most studied cross-border pipeline ever proposed. TransCanada continues to believe that it remains in America’s national interest to approve a pipeline that will enhance American energy security, provide thousands of good jobs, stimulate additional economic benefits and have a minimal impact on the environment.