U.S. Chamber leaders urge Keystone XL construction

August 23, 2011

Rapid City Journal

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials joined with Rapid City area businesses in a news conference Tuesday to urge support for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project by TransCanada that would link Alberta oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.

The initiative, called the Partnership to Fuel America, emphasized the economic impact construction of the pipeline would have on the economy in western South Dakota.

“The benefits to our economy are far-reaching and will have a positive impact on our hospitality, retail services and construction sectors,” said Ben Snow, president of the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership.

Speakers said the pipeline construction will bring increased employment and as much as $10 million in tax revenue.

“It will trickle down to each and every one of us,” said John Meyer, who owns Office Products Center in Winner and is a former president of the South Dakota Retail Association. About 25 area businesses are participating in the partnership, including hotels, restaurants, industrial suppliers and retailers.

The proposed project, now under review by federal regulators, would extend a 36-inch crude oil pipeline nearly 1,200 miles from Alberta through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska before connecting to other Keystone lines.

Matthew Koch, a vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy, said the project would also reduce the nation’s reliance on overseas oil resources and create jobs in the United States.

The U.S. State Department plans to release its final analysis of the pipeline this month. A final environmental report on the project also is scheduled to be issued this month. Then other federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department, will have 90 days to comment on that final report. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has authority over Keystone XL because the 1,900-mile project crosses the U.S. border.

The $7 billion project has seen significant opposition from environmental advocates concerned that the pipeline could foul water supplies and put landowners at risk from spills.

TransCanada executives visiting Montana on Tuesday said the company will take safety measures to prevent a spill such as the Exxon Mobil pipeline rupture in July that spewed an estimated 1,000 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone River. TransCanada president Alex Pourbaix said the Keystone line would be buried at least 25 feet beneath major river crossings to lower the risk of spills.

Public meetings on the project are planned in September in Pierre and in the other capitals of the states affected by the pipeline.

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