Officials explain pipeline plans

The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a massive line that would carry crude oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast, will impact local property owners if the project moves forward.

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A large number of people attended an informational meeting at the York City Auditorium, Wednesday afternoon, to hear details about the project from officials with the company TransCanada.

The company provided detailed maps that show the exact location the pipeline would run - and then met privately with land owners to talk specifics.

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The Keystone line would be designed to transport approximately 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada to markets in the U.S., and will complement the Keystone Pipeline currently under construction. The pipeline could transport as much as 900,000 barrels of crude oil per day, with additional pump stations.

The pipeline would be 36 inches in diameter and would be buried four feet underground.

The partners in this proposed project are ConocoPhillips and TransCanada, both North American companies in the energy industry.

Construction is tentatively set to begin in 2010, with completion in 2011.

The company says such public meetings "help us understand local issues and avoid or minimize impacts on sensitive areas. As part of our route evaluation, we are seeking permission to conduct environmental, archaeological, cultural and other surveys that are a necessary part of planning a pipeline. The information gathered by these surveys will also be used by state and federal agencies in their reviews of the proposed pipeline." The company provided a map that showed details of the proposed routing ‹ the pipeline (see map) would cross Highway 34 four miles west of York and then angle off to cross Highway 81 two miles south of York.

"The planning, however, is in the very preliminary stages," said Jeff Rauh, an employee of TransCanada. "The routing you see here has been done with very general data and is not set in stone. The next step, after these open houses, is to ask permission from landowners to survey their property." Also indicated on the preliminary map is that a pumping station might be located in the Exeter area - which will bring extra property tax revenue into Fillmore County.

Rauh said the company plans to invest over $1 billion in Nebraska alone ‹ which will impact the revenues in the affected counties.

Glen Johnston, project manager, explained the project at length, noting that the crude oil to be carried through the line would be derived from the oil sands in Canada.

"Much of the oil that exists there (in a specific, massive field the size of the state of Florida) is quite shallow and is intermingled with sand," Johnston explained. "It would be acquired through the mining process, then processed." Right now, Canada produces 2.5 million barrels of oil a day - Johnston says projections show that in 15 years, the amount will be double.

For local property owners, there was pertinent information that directly impacts them. First of all, the company will need to have a 50-foot-wide easement plus "working space" (which would entail an area for crews to move freely during construction).

Johnston said that if, for example, the pipeline would cross through the middle of a field where a pivot needed to move - the company would ensure that the pivot could continue. The same would hold true for transportation, livestock, etc.

Once the construction is complete, the land would be restored to the way it was prior.
Monitoring of the line, Johnston said, would be intense and often. The entire line would be flown (with airplane) every two weeks, and it would be instrumented with 24-hour monitoring in Canada.

If there were ever a leak?

"We can guarantee," said Rauh, "that we will do all we can to prevent it from happening at all, and we can guarantee that if it did happen, we would respond immediately."

Rauh said the pipeline would be constructed from high strength, state-of-the-art steel, and the corrosion status would be monitored from the inside and outside.

"If a leak would happen, it is the company¹s responsibility to respond, clean-up the damage, and pay the property owner for any damages suffered, plus any future damage," Rauh said, which was substantiated by Johnston.

The company will be meeting with private property owners in August and September ‹ to talk more closely about their specific acres, the company¹s need for easements, and any concerns that may exist.