The Keystone XL Pipeline and Public Response

2961 Words6 Pages

On the 9th of February 2004 TransCanada Corporation, an energy company based in Alberta, Canada proposed a plan for the installation and use of a pipeline that would stretch from Alberta, Canada to oil refineries in the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The pipeline, titled the Keystone Pipeline, would be installed in four separate phases and once completed would transport up to 1.1 million barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. Phases two through four of the pipeline encompass the parts of the pipeline that would be installed in the United States and would be located in the states of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois. TransCanada is currently awaiting approval from the US government in order to begin the installation of the US portion of the pipeline.

TransCanada Corporation was founded in 1951 in Alberta, Canada and is currently one of the largest gas storage providers in North America. It has a storage capacity of 400 billion cubic feet and ownership or control over 51,860 miles of oil and gas transportation pipelines. The TransCanada Corporation’s primary focus of business is in natural gas and power generation, and currently employs approximately 4,800 individuals. TransCanada is affiliated with fourteen separate pipelines with the Keystone Pipeline being the most publicly known and controversial. TransCanada has ownership, partnership, or partial control over eighteen power plants in Canada and the United States of America as well.

The installation of the Keystone Pipeline began with Phase One, the installation of 2,147 miles of pipeline stretching from Alberta to refineries in Illinois. The installation and administration of Phase One included the conversion of 537 miles of Ca...

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Pattanayek, Mala and DeShields, Bridgette. “Characterizing Risks to Livestock From Petroleum Hydrocarbons” Blasland, Bouck and Lee, Inc. University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, 2003. Web. 10 December 2015.

Read, Richard. “Protester arrested as megaload departs Umatilla a day late for Canada's tar sands”. The Oregonian OnlineI. The Oregonian. 3 December 2013. Web. 10 December 2015.

Stansbury, John. “Analysis of Frequency, Magnitude and Consequence of Worst-Case Spills From the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline”. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Water Center. Web. 10 December 2015.

TransCanada Corporation. TransCanada Corporation, 2013. Web. 10 December 2015.

“Urge the Senate to Stop the Risky Keystone XL Pipeline”. Letter. League of Conservation of Voters. Change.org. Web. 10 December 2013

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