LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline says it plans to start construction next year, after the U.S. State Department concluded major environmental damage from a leak is unlikely and could quickly be mitigated. TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said Monday that the company remains committed to moving ahead with the project following years of reviews from federal and state regulators. But the report issued Friday from the Trump administration’s State Department drew sharp criticism from environmental groups. They say they’ll continue to fight the project they view as an environmental threat. The report says the pipeline would have a “negligible to moderate” environmental impact under its normal operations, and continuous monitoring and the company’s response plan would mitigate the effects of any spill.

The post Keystone XL Developer Plans to Start Construction in 2019 appeared first on KFOR FM 103.3 1240 AM. </s> LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline says it plans to start construction next year, after the U.S. State Department concluded major environmental damage from a leak is unlikely and could quickly be mitigated.

TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said Monday that the company remains committed to moving ahead with the project following years of reviews from federal and state regulators.

But the report issued Friday from the Trump administration’s State Department drew sharp criticism from environmental groups.

They say they’ll continue to fight the project they view as an environmental threat.

The report says the pipeline would have a “negligible to moderate” environmental impact under its normal operations, and continuous monitoring and the company’s response plan would mitigate the effects of any spill.

The Trump administration issued a permit in March 2017 to build the Keystone XL pipeline, reversing the conclusion of the Obama administration and clearing the way for the $8 billion project to finally be completed. </s> LINCOLN, Neb. — The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline says it plans to start construction next year, after the U.S. State Department concluded major environmental damage from a leak is unlikely and could quickly be mitigated.

TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said Monday that the company remains committed to moving ahead with the project following years of reviews from federal and state regulators.

But the report issued Friday from the Trump administration’s State Department drew sharp criticism from environmental groups. They say they’ll continue to fight the project they view as an environmental threat.

The report says the pipeline would have a “negligible to moderate” environmental impact under its normal operations, and continuous monitoring and the company’s response plan would mitigate the effects of any spill.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> LINCOLN, Neb. - The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline plans to start construction next year, after a U.S. State Department review ordered by a federal judge concluded that major environmental damage from a leak is unlikely and could quickly be mitigated, a company spokesman said Monday.

TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said the company remains committed to moving ahead with the project following years of reviews from federal and state regulators. The company has already started preparing pipe yards, transporting pipe and mowing parts of the project's right-of-way in Montana and South Dakota.

The report issued Friday from the Trump administration's State Department drew criticism from environmental groups, which say they'll continue to fight the project they view as an environmental threat.

"The Trump administration sees no problem with building the Keystone XL -- in other news, the grass is still green and the sky is still blue," said Kelly Martin, a campaign director for the Sierra Club.

The updated, 338-page report was released a little more than a month after a federal judge in Montana ordered the U.S. State Department to conduct a more thorough review of the pipeline's proposed pathway after Nebraska state regulators changed the route.

Nebraska commission approves alternative route for oil pipeline

The original environmental impact study was issued in 2014, before Nebraska regulators approved a longer "mainline alternative" route that veered away from the company's preferred pathway. President Donald Trump approved a federal permit for the project in March 2017, reversing former President Barack Obama's decision to reject it amid concerns over greenhouse admissions.

The report said the $8 billion, 1,184-mile pipeline would have a "negligible to moderate" environmental impact under its normal operations, and continuous monitoring and automatic shut-off valves would help company officials quickly identify a leak or rupture. Additionally, the report said TransCanada has a response plan in place that should mitigate the effects if it's implemented quickly.

"Prompt cleanup response would likely be capable of remediating the contaminated soil before the hazardous release reaches groundwater depth," the report said.

Environmentalists, Native American tribes and a coalition of landowners have prevented the company from moving ahead with construction. In addition to the federal lawsuit in Montana that seeks to halt the project, opponents have a pending lawsuit before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the Nebraska case aren't expected until next month.

Critics of the project have raised concerns about spills that could contaminate groundwater and the property rights of affected landowners. In Nebraska, a major battleground for the project, opponents are trying to change the makeup of the Nebraska Public Service Commission in hopes of overturning its previous decision to approve an in-state route for the pipeline.

The latest State Department report is a draft that must still face public review and comments, but federal officials say they expect to have the final draft ready by December. In court documents from the Montana lawsuit, TransCanada's attorneys said they believe all the pending lawsuits will be resolved before construction begins.

The pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with the original Keystone pipeline that runs down to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. The State Department has noted that TransCanada has a lower overall spill rate than average in the pipeline industry. </s> Environmental groups are celebrating as the $8-billion Keystone XL pipeline faces further delays. The U.S. appeals court upheld a November 2018 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana that blocked construction on the controversial tar sands pipeline amid an ongoing legal challenge.In November, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris ruled the Trump administration violated bedrock environmental laws when approving a federal permit for the pipeline. The ruling blocked any construction while the government revises its environmental review.The outcome resulted in TransCanada and the Trump administration appealing the Montana decision to the Ninth District Court of Appeals. TransCanada has argued that if it could not begin construction on the pipeline by March 15, it would miss the 2019 construction season altogether. Now, with Friday's decision, TransCanada is saying construction won't be able to start again until 2020, if at all.“It’s been over a decade since this dirty tar sands pipeline was proposed, and TransCanada just keeps doing the same thing and hoping for a different result,” said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Doug Hayes. “Keystone XL would be a bad deal for the American people, and it’s never been more obvious that it will never be built.” CBC Canada is reporting that in a January legal filing, Norrie Ramsay, TransCanada's senior vice-president of technical center and liquid projects, wrote, "A one-year delay in the construction schedule would impose very significant consequences on TransCanada."Ramsey estimated this would "result in lost earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $949 million US between March 2021 and March 2022, based on the minimum take-or-pay shipper commitment." </s> The US State Department has come to a conclusion that the $8bn Keystone XL pipeline project planned by TransCanada will not have any significant impact on the environment.

The 1,900km long Keystone XL pipeline project will not cause any harm to either water or wildlife, as per the environmental assessment carried out by the State Department for the pipeline’s revised route.

Designed to transport over 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canadian oil sands into the US, the 36inch diameter crude oil pipeline will start at Hardisty in Alberta province and end south to Steele City in Nebraska.

A draft review compiled by the State Department for the proposed pipeline project said that even if there is case of oil spillage along the revised route through Nebraska, the groundwater is likely to remain unaffected.

It further reads that a prompt cleanup response in such situations is expected to help in remediating the contaminated soils before the hazardous matter enters into groundwater depth.

The State Department also said enforcing the revised route for the Keystone XL pipeline project will not have any significant direct, indirect or cumulative impact on the quality of the natural or human environments.

The department’s review has been condemned by environmental organization Sierra Club.

Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign director Kelly Martin said: “The Trump administration sees no problem with building Keystone XL — in other news, the grass is still green and the sky is still blue.

“Keystone XL is a threat to our land, water, wildlife, communities, and climate. We’ve held off construction of this pipeline for 10 years, and regardless of this administration’s attempts to force this dirty tar sands pipeline on the American people, that fight will continue until Keystone XL is stopped once and for all.”

In late January, TransCanada announced that it had secured adequate shipper commitments to move ahead with the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The Canadian energy infrastructure company, which plans to start construction on the crude oil pipeline in 2019, had secured close to 500,000 barrels per day of firm and 20-year commitments at the time of the announcement. </s> (FOX NEWS) WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has issued a presidential permit to pipeline builder TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted that President Donald Trump would discuss the pipeline later Friday morning.

The State Department says that it determined that building Keystone serves the U.S. national interest. That’s the opposite conclusion to the one the State Department reached during the Obama administration. </s> The U.S. State Department on Friday issued an environmental assessment of a revised route for the Keystone XL crude pipeline that concluded it would not harm water or wildlife, clearing a hurdle for the project that has been pending for a decade.

Even if the pipeline spilled crude oil along its revised route through Nebraska, a top concern of environmentalists, there would likely be no impact to groundwater, the nearly 340-page draft review said.

“Prompt cleanup response would likely be capable of remediating the contaminated soils before the hazardous release reaches groundwater depth,” the review said.

Last month a federal judge in Montana had ordered the State Department to conduct the review of a revised route of the project to take into account new information relevant to a permit it issued for the pipeline last year.

The review also said implementing the revised route would have “no significant direct, indirect or cumulative effects on the quality of the natural or human environments.”

U.S. President Donald Trump is eager to see the building of the pipeline, which was axed by former President Barack Obama in 2015 on environmental concerns relating to emissions that cause climate change.

The project has galvanized environmentalists, tribal groups and ranchers in opposition to the $8 billion 1,180 mile (1,900 km) pipeline that would carry heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. From there the crude would be sent to refineries and potentially for export.

Canadian oil producers, who face discounts for their crude due to transport bottlenecks, U.S. refineries and pipeline builders, support the project.

TransCanada Corp plans to start construction in 2019, spokesman Matthew John said.

The company’s Chief Executive Russ Girling said last month that it could make a final investment decision on the project late this year or in early 2019, pending some regulatory approvals and court challenges.

Robert Kwan, an RBC analyst, said the draft review was a “positive step” for Keystone XL.

Environmentalists said the review was an example of the Trump administration trying to push through a project that would risk harming water resources and increase dependence on crude.

“We’ve held off construction of this pipeline for 10 years, and regardless of this administration’s attempts to force this dirty tar sands pipeline on the American people, that fight will continue until Keystone XL is stopped once and for all,” said Kelly Martin, the Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign director for Sierra Club. </s> A federal appeals court has upheld a Montana judge’s ruling barring construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.

TransCanada had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on hold while its appeal is pending, and allow the Calgary-based company to begin building the pipeline.

In a Friday ruling, a two-judge panel said Morris carefully considered all factors in his decision to prevent the company from working on the proposed 1,184-mile pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska.

 TransCanada attorneys had said an injunction issued by Morris in November could cause it to miss the 2019 construction season.

Morris allowed TransCanada to perform some activities outside the pipeline’s right-of-way, including the construction of pipe storage yards.
The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline expects construction to start in 2019.