WASHINGTON (AP) — The Canadian company trying to build
the disputed Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S. submitted a new
application for the project Friday after changing the route to avoid
environmentally sensitive land in Nebraska.
TransCanada said it
applied again to the State Department for permission to build the
pipeline to carry oil from so-called tar sands in western Canada to a
company hub in Steele City, Neb. From there, the project would link up
with other pipelines operated by the company to carry oil to refineries
on the Texas Gulf Coast.
President Barack Obama blocked the
pipeline earlier this year, citing uncertainty over the Nebraska route -
a decision that drew fire from Republicans and industry groups.
TransCanada
had proposed a new route last month that would veer east around the
groundwater-rich Sandhills region before looping back to the original
route.
State Department approval is needed because the $7 billion
pipeline would cross a U.S. border. The department confirmed Friday the
application for the new route had been received.
The pipeline
filing came on the same day as a disappointing report on U.S. job
growth. The Labor Department said employers pulled back on hiring in
April for the second straight month, evidence of an economy still
growing only sluggishly, though the overall jobless rate slipped to 8.1
percent as more people gave up looking for work.
Obama is under
pressure to support the pipeline from Republicans and business and labor
leaders who argue it would create jobs; the State Department estimates
it could result in up to 6,000 new jobs.
"The multi-billion dollar
Keystone XL pipeline project will reduce the United States' dependence
on foreign oil and support job growth by putting thousands of Americans
to work," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive
officer. "Keystone XL will transport U.S. crude oil from the very large
Bakken supply basin in Montana and North Dakota, along with Canadian
oil, to U.S. refineries."
The pipeline's opponents, including
Democrats and environmental groups, say it would transport "dirty oil"
from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, that would require huge amounts of
energy to extract. They also worry about a possible spill. The pipeline
would travel through Montana, South Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma, in
addition to Nebraska.
In blocking the pipeline in January, Obama
said there was not enough time for a fair review before a looming
deadline forced on him by congressional Republicans. The action did not
kill the project but put off a tough choice on the once-obscure
pipeline, which has become a flashpoint in the bitter partisan political
fight over jobs and the environment and a focus of the presidential
campaign between Obama his likely Republican opponent, Mitt Romney.
Romney has called on Obama to approve the pipeline.
Nebraska Gov.
Dave Heineman signed a bill last month that allows the state to proceed
with its review of the proposed pipeline through his state, regardless
of what happens at the federal level.
A senior State Department
official said U.S. officials would conduct a thorough review of the new
application, with a final decision not expected until early next year —
well after the presidential election.
Officials will use previous
studies to the extent possible, the official said, but will need to
complete a new environmental assessment, especially since the route has
changed since TransCanada first applied for the pipeline in 2008.
The
State Department review is likely to include hiring an outside
consultant, a point of contention in the original review conducted by
the agency. Democratic lawmakers complained that the firm that conducted
the review, Cardno Entrix, had a conflict of interest because of
previous work with TransCanada.
The department's acting inspector
general found no conflict of interest or improper political influence
but said the State Department could have done a better job of evaluating
some concerns about the project and should improve its oversight of
contractors.
Jane Kleeb, executive director of Bold Nebraska, a
group that opposes the pipeline, said the new route still goes through
an aquifer that serves eight states and should not be approved.
"The
fundamental facts remain: Americans are being asked to put clean water
at risk for an extreme form of energy that will add nothing to our
energy security," Kleeb said.
But Girling, the TransCanada CEO,
said the company's proposal builds on more than three years of
environmental review already conducted for Keystone XL, "the most
comprehensive process ever for a cross-border pipeline."
The
earlier work should allow the new proposal to be processed
"expeditiously," Girling said, with a federal decision made after a
final route through Nebraska is approved by state officials.
TransCanada expects to begin construction of the pipeline next year.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WVNS. All Rights Reserved.
