Conflicting signals on pipeline expansion
Report suggests U.S. has 'tipped the scales' in favor of OKing permit for 2nd leg of Keystone project; not so, official says.
By Neela Banerjee • Tribune Newspapers STLtoday.com | Posted: Thursday, July 14, 2011 12:00 am
WASHINGTON • At a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania in early April, President Barack Obama was asked about a bitter fight between industry and environmentalists over a proposed $7 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline to ship crude from Alberta's oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.
Because the pipeline crosses the U.S.-Canadian border, a decision on a permit is pending at the State Department. Obama avowed neutrality: "If it looks like I'm putting my fingers on the scale before the science is done, then people may question the merits of the decision later on."
But a 2009 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa suggests the scale may have already been tipped.
The cable, obtained by WikiLeaks, describes the 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 he had instructed them in improving "oil sands messaging," including "increasing visibility and accessibility of more positive news stories."
Goldwyn now works on Canadian oil sands issues at Sutherland, a Washington lobbying firm, and recently testified before Congress in favor of building the second leg of the 36-inch underground pipeline Keystone XL.
The existing stretch of the Keystone pipeline runs 2,151 miles from Alberta's Athabasca tar sands to the ConocoPhillips' Wood River refinery in Roxana, then on to Patoka, Ill. One of the longest and most expensive pipelines ever built in North America, Keystone can carry almost 600,000 barrels a day, enough to supply about 2 percent of the country's daily demand. Oil began reaching the refinery in late June 2010.
The pipeline crosses 280 miles and 10 counties in Missouri and 60 miles and four counties in Illinois. The mostly 30-inch-diameter pipe is buried 4 feet underground in most places. In Missouri, almost all the pipeline route is on privately owned land and, except in Troy and St. Charles, runs mostly through agricultural areas. The pipeline cuts diagonally through Lincoln County, then burrows across northern St. Charles County before plunging 65 feet beneath the Mississippi River and surfacing in Hartford, just a short distance from Roxana. It skirts Edwardsville on its way to oil storage facilities in Patoka.
Environmentalists and industry experts say the cable is among several examples from unguarded moments and public documents that signal the administration's willingness to push ahead with the second leg of the controversial pipeline, even as its agencies conduct environmental and economic reviews.
In October, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a San Francisco audience that her department was "inclined" to 'sign off" on the Keystone XL expansion, a statement her staff quickly backed away from.
"No decision's been made on the pipeline," said Daniel Clune, principal deputy assistant secretary for the State Department's Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental, and Scientific Affairs. "There is no tipping of the scale," Clune said recently. "In terms of the secretary's comments, she said there were energy security considerations that could make one inclined to permit the pipeline, but she also noted that there are many factors to balance."
The State Department has completed two environmental impact statements with the help of Cardno Entrix, a private consulting firm that has said its biggest clients include TransCanada Corp., the owner of Keystone.
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