Feds give positive eco review to U.S.-Canada pipeline
U.S. officials issued a mostly positive environmental review Friday to a controversial, 1,661- mile extension of a U.S.-Canadian private pipeline that will carry heavy crude oi across six U.S. states.
The State Department, which needs to give the project a permit because it crosses the U.S. border, issued a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that “does not alter the conclusions” in its initial review last April.
In the 2010 EIS, the department said the pipeline would have “limited adverse environmental impacts during both construction and operation” if done in compliance with U.S. laws.
The Keystone XL pipeline by Calgary-based TransCanada would extend an existing 2,154-mile pipeline, which runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Neb. and then east to Patoka, Ill., through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma to Gulf Cost oil refineries near Houston. It would carry a corrosive form of tar or oil sands that’s mined or drilled deep beneath the subarctic forests of western Canada.
Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) complained that the darft 2010 review did not fully consider the project’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and – should a spill occur – water quality since it crosses a major aquifer in Nebraska.
They asked for a more comprehensive environmental review, citing public concerns aired and revisions made last year to the project, and the State Department agreed to do a supplemental EIS last month.
“This (supplemental) environmental review …is as inadequate as their first go-round, with the State Department merely paying lip service to critical issues such as pipeline safety, the routing over the Ogallala Aquifer, and environmental justice around refineries,” Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, NRDC’s director of international programs, said in a statement.
The NRDC said it’s concerned that the 45-day public comment period, which begins April 22 and ends June 6, will not be enough time for farmers, local communities, and others to evaluate the draft supplemental review. It said its lawyers will be doing an in-depth analysis in coming days.
“We haven’t had time yet to look at it,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard told Green House citing the 900 pages of the full report. Yet he said the company is pleased that the State Department, which has to coordinate with nine other government agencies on the project, is keeping to a schedule it outlined last month.
“Our hats are off to them on that,” Howard said. The State Department said Friday that it plans to decide whether to grant or reject the Keystone XL’s permit by the end of 2011.
The State Department, which needs to give the project a permit because it crosses the U.S. border, issued a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that “does not alter the conclusions” in its initial review last April.
In the 2010 EIS, the department said the pipeline would have “limited adverse environmental impacts during both construction and operation” if done in compliance with U.S. laws.
The Keystone XL pipeline by Calgary-based TransCanada would extend an existing 2,154-mile pipeline, which runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Neb. and then east to Patoka, Ill., through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma to Gulf Cost oil refineries near Houston. It would carry a corrosive form of tar or oil sands that’s mined or drilled deep beneath the subarctic forests of western Canada.
Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) complained that the darft 2010 review did not fully consider the project’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and – should a spill occur – water quality since it crosses a major aquifer in Nebraska.
They asked for a more comprehensive environmental review, citing public concerns aired and revisions made last year to the project, and the State Department agreed to do a supplemental EIS last month.
“This (supplemental) environmental review …is as inadequate as their first go-round, with the State Department merely paying lip service to critical issues such as pipeline safety, the routing over the Ogallala Aquifer, and environmental justice around refineries,” Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, NRDC’s director of international programs, said in a statement.
The NRDC said it’s concerned that the 45-day public comment period, which begins April 22 and ends June 6, will not be enough time for farmers, local communities, and others to evaluate the draft supplemental review. It said its lawyers will be doing an in-depth analysis in coming days.
“We haven’t had time yet to look at it,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard told Green House citing the 900 pages of the full report. Yet he said the company is pleased that the State Department, which has to coordinate with nine other government agencies on the project, is keeping to a schedule it outlined last month.
“Our hats are off to them on that,” Howard said. The State Department said Friday that it plans to decide whether to grant or reject the Keystone XL’s permit by the end of 2011.
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