TransCanada to remove a port on the Energy East pipeline route
TransCanada announced today that the company has decided to remove a port on its Energy East pipeline project from Quebec. The company said the decision was made after listening to local communities, key stakeholders and customers, according to a press release from TransCanada.
The decision to drop the crude oil export port from the pipeline comes after the government’s recommendation to recognize beluga whales as an endangered species, reports CBC.
In TransCanada’s release, company president and CEO Russ Girling said the decision came as part of TransCanada’s commitment “to environmental stewardship and the safe, responsible development of [Energy East].”
According to TransCanada’s press release, the company plans to submit the changes to Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) during the fourth quarter of this year. The project is expected to have an in-service date of 2020, transporting more than 1.1 million barrels of oil per day.
TransCanada’s latest plan calls for the removal of the port facilities at Cacouna
“Pipelines remain the safest and least GHG-intensive way of transporting crude oil to market,” added Girling. “By approving and building the Energy East Pipeline we will create the capacity to displace the equivalent of 1,570 rail cars of crude oil per day to Eastern Canada.”
Based on a Conference Board of Canada study published in late 2014, Energy East is expected to support an average of 14,000 direct and indirect full-time jobs annually across Canada during development and construction, and generate more than $7 billion in additional tax revenues for governments over the next 20 years, along with approximately $36 billion in GDP for Canada.
State Department denies request to postpone review of Keystone XL
The U.S. State Department yesterday said that it would not suspend its review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL project, which has been held in regulatory limbo since 2008. The company asked for a pause in the decision making process earlier this week as it waited to hear from the Nebraska Public Services Commission.
“I note that when the status of the Nebraska pipeline route was challenged last year, the State Department found it appropriate to suspend its review until that dispute was resolved,” said Girling. “We feel under the current circumstances a similar suspension would be appropriate.”
“We have communicated to them our intention to continue the review,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “We’re not required to pause it based on an applicant’s request, there’s no legal basis to do that.”
