Home » News » TransCanada plays down effect of leaked 2009 Keystone memo
News
TransCanada plays down effect of leaked 2009 Keystone memo
News Articles Featured | Vancouver Sun | July 15, 2011
Read the full article on the originating site
A leaked memo from 2009 suggesting the United States was ready to approve TransCanada Corp.‘s Keystone XL oil pipeline project has little bearing on current realities, said the energy and pipeline company.
The proposed $7-billion pipeline extension has faced numerous regulatory delays and revamps since the 2009 cable obtained by WikiLeaks, said James Millar, with TransCanada.
“We have to look at the fact that post this cable, we had the BP (Gulf of Mexico oil spill) incident and the (Enbridge oil spill) incident in Kalamazoo, that changed the debate and was a game-changer,” Millar said. “In 2009 we were still working through the process for the draft environmental statement that didn’t come out until the spring of 2010.”
Keystone XL would stretch from Alberta down to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, crossing six states and various waterways, most notably the Ogallala aquifer. Environmental and political groups have argued against the pipeline on concerns about possible oil spills.
The 2009 memo describes the U.S. State Department’s then energy envoy, David Goldwyn, as having “alleviated” Canadian officials’ concerns about getting their crude into the U.S.
It also said Goldwyn had instructed them in improving “oilsands messaging,” including “increasing visibility and accessibility of more positive news stories,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Millar pointed out the State Department ordered a supplemental environmental impact assessment in 2010, and that the project has faced almost twice as long a regulatory process as the existing Keystone oil pipeline from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma.
The U.S. government has denied already giving the extension a green light, but some say the WikiLeaks memo suggests the contrary.
Environmentalists and industry experts quoted by the newspaper said the cable is among several examples that signal the administration’s willingness to push ahead with the controversial pipeline.
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, pipeline, wikileaks
