Home » News » New roadblocks loom for Keystone XL pipeline
News
New roadblocks loom for Keystone XL pipeline
News Articles Featured | Globe and Mail | June 07, 2011
Read the full article on the originating site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking to throw up new roadblocks for TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP-T42.44-0.10-0.24%) proposed $7-billion (U.S.) Keystone XL pipeline, arguing the project would pose serious environmental risks.
In a letter to the State Department, the EPA outlined a lengthy list of concerns about the pipeline project, and argued State’s draft environmental impact statement was seriously flawed and required far more work.
Among other things, the U.S. environmental regulator wants a detailed description of efforts by producers and the government of Alberta to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil sands which, as the industry booms, represent the fastest growing source of emissions in Canada.
TransCanada’s Keystone XL project would connect Alberta’s oil sands with the world’s largest refining hub, located along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is charged with determining whether the cross-border pipeline is in the U.S. national interest, but the EPA can appeal that decision to President Barack Obama if the State Department does not address its concerns.
“We have a number of concerns regarding the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project, as well as the level of analysis and information provided concerning those impacts,” Cynthia Giles, EPA’s assistant administrator for enforcement, said in the letter, which was dated Monday and released Tuesday.
Ms. Giles said the concerns include potential impacts to groundwater and the Ogallala aquifer in the event of a pipeline spill, and higher pollution from refineries along the Gulf Coast that will be refining the oil sands bitumen.
“Pipeline oil spills are a very real concern,” Ms. Giles said, pointing to recent leaks on the existing Keystone line and a major spill by Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T30.58-0.40-1.29%) into the Kalamazoo River system last summer.
The EPA does not accept the argument that the Keystone XL pipeline will have little impact on global greenhouse gas emissions. The State Department concluded that if the line is not built, the oil sands production will simply be diverted to other markets, while the Texas refineries will process heavy crudes from offshore.
But EPA says a full review must include an estimate of the “social cost of carbon” associated with increased emissions, and consideration of emissions in Alberta from the production of the bitumen, including an assessment of efforts to reduce them.
Environmental groups applauded the EPA’s intervention, and said it should, at the very least, delay a final permitting decision until 2012. The State Department has said it wants to conclude the process by the end of this year, and Republicans have introduced legislation in Congress that would require a final decision by the end of November.
“With this rating, the EPA is standing up for the people who would be hurt by the Keystone XL pipeline, including Midwest farmers and low-income people around Texas refineries,” said Alex Moore, dirty fuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
“All eyes are on Secretary of State Clinton. Will she comply with the law and ensure that these impacts are studied or not?”
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, pipeline
