As Congress is debating the Keystone XL pipeline and the President's potential veto, did you know, Canadian tar sand oil is already flowing through U.S. pipelines.
In Texas, two new Canadian controlled pipelines began operations in mid-December moving tar sands from Alberta. One is called the Flanagan South pipeline, which cost $2.8 billion. It covers nearly 800 miles, from Pontiac, Il., to Cushing, OK. The other pipeline, called the Seaway Twin, runs an additional 500 miles, from Cushing to Freeport, TX., where the refineries are. It cost $1.2 billion.
Since they do not cross the Canadian border, they do not require the same complicated approval process that XL needs. So with no approvals needed, they never aroused the same attention from environmentalists.
Yet these new pipelines are going to carry some 200,000 barrels per day of the heavy crude mined from the tar sands. This represents a third of what the Keystone XL would deliver, but it doubles the the amount of tar sands oil exported to the U.S.
Why is this possible? It is connected to existing pipelines already built.
Another existing pipeline expansion is Line 61, running the length of Wisconsin carrying tar sand crude. It is owned by Enbridge, a Canadian company, responsible for the 2010 largest inland oil spill in Marshall, Michigan.
Enbridge is seeking to increase Line 61's capacity threefold, making it a third larger than the proposed Keystone XL. The Zoning Commission in Dane County, Wisconsin will review the proposal on Jan. 27, to determine if it will attach conditions for a new pump station, which will risk a lawsuit from Enridge.
Line 61, built in 2007, currently moves 400,000 barrels of tar sands and lighter conventional crude oil a day, from Superior, Wisconsin to refineries in Metropolitan Chicago or, through a network of connecting pipelines, to the Gulf Coast. Enridge wants to increase the flow to 1.2 million barrels per day.
Why is this possible? It is connected to existing pipelines already built.
Evan as the Keystone XL debates reaches its current crescendo, all that is left, is the symbolism.
UPDATE
The State Department has asked eight federal agencies to wrap up their assessments of the Keystone XL pipeline by Feb. 2. The agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior, and Commerce departments.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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