A proposed 1,700 km pipeline to carry Canadian crude through a swath of eastern Montana cleared an important regulatory hurdle Friday as a federal environmental impact statement (EIS said the pipeline would have no environmental impact.
The EIS for the U.S. State Department, nearly three years in the making, sets the stage for a final review by federal agencies about whether the Keystone XL Pipeline is "national interest" and must obtain a permit approved Barack Obama for president.
The pipeline proposed by TransCanada has also been the target of environmental protesters near the White House earlier this week, leading to dozens of arrests.
Canadian oil giant Trans
Canada proposed the pipeline, and oil producers in Montana on Friday praised the EIS as a major step toward the eventual construction of the subway line, which is said will help the U.S. become less dependent on oil from outside the continent.
"We talked about how our oil from domestic sources or at least the U.S.," said Dave Galt, executive director of the Montana Petroleum Association. "It's a positive step toward energy security. … The pipeline is important for America and it is important that (the producers of Montana."
Keystone XL line would be a freight terminal near Baker, giving oil producers in eastern Montana another way to transport their products, he said.
However, critics of the pipeline, including owners and area environmental groups, said he feared that the EIS ignores backup and recovery requirements they believe are needed.
Irene Moffett, a farmer whose property south of Glendive would be crossed by the pipeline, said Friday the original plans and review does not require an adequate emergency response plan or recovery techniques.
"With the prairie, just plan to push all that (again in the dirt and stacked in a hole," he said. "That will not do anything to get grass to grow worth a damn."
However, Moffett said he has not had the opportunity to read the last pages, more than 1,000 of the final EIS, to see if they could have addressed some of their previous concerns.
"I really doubt it, but just do not know yet," he said.
The EIA includes a list of 57 conditions that federal regulators say pipeline should be in the presidential permit.
The terms of addressing all types of building materials to the pressure and temperature limits of the requirements of information leaks. The list seems to include an emergency response plan.
The pipeline of $ 7 billion to transport to 830,000 barrels of oil a day from oil sands in northern Alberta to the oil refining plant in Texas.
Montana would enter the station the US-Canadian Morgan, north of Malta, and running southeast to near Baker, before crossing into South Dakota. The line also cuts through Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma before coming to East Texas.
TransCanada hopes to begin construction of the pipe diameter of 3 meters next year and have it operational by the end of 2013.
In Montana, the pipeline needs a "certificate of compliance" in the Chiefs Act facility location before it can proceed.
Tom Ring of the State Office of Environmental Management, said Friday the state has to wait at least 15 days after a final EIS before issuing a certificate, but could wait until a final "record of decision" by the U.S. State Department or other federal agencies.
The certificate of environmental conditions have been attached to it, and the state would have to review the sites where the pipe crosses under the streams and major rivers such as the Missouri and Yellowstone, he said.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said Friday he is glad the project said "this major issue, as the support pipe of Montana jobs and help alleviate our dependence on Middle Eastern oil." Montana also encouraged to comment in the coming days in the environmental and safety concerns.
One of several hearings on the national interest determination is scheduled Sept. 27 in Glendive.
The EIA reviewed the impact of the pipeline on wildlife, agriculture, rivers, groundwater, air quality, local communities and of greenhouse gases.
He said the impact is not important – and that the pipeline would not lead to a dramatic increase in greenhouse emissions, simply because it is the transport and encouraging the production of oil from the tar sands of Alberta.
Protesters have been out of the White House last week, saying that the pipeline is unsafe and that the development of tar sands, is damaging the environment.
Among those arrested this week was the Canadian actress Margot Kidder, who lives in Montana.
Environmental groups on Friday denounced the EIS as a "rubber stamp" of the proposed pipeline and suggested that test in court.
Galt, Montana Petroleum Association, said the distribution of oil in Canada is not much different than it imports from the United States in places like Venezuela or other countries, and is good for oil imports "a friendly ally. "
Eastern Montana oil producers should also be able to get a better price for their oil once the pipeline is built, he added, because it will free up capacity in the current pipeline system.
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