Proposals And Plans
In February 2005, the TransCanada Corporation requested approval for the project from the Canadian government. On September 21, 2007, the National Board of Energy accepted the plan, and by May 2008, the American government had authorized the construction of several facilities that would provide maintenance for the pipeline and would be positioned within 10 miles of the border between the two nations.
Keystone XL
The company that manages the system proposed the Keystone XL extension in September 2008. During March 2010, both the Canadian National Energy Board and the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission approved the project.
The Environmental Protection Agency required the TransCanada Corporation to provide detailed reports regarding the risk of oil spills, procedures for cleaning oil that could leak from a pipe and the overall effects of the system on gases that impact the ozone layer. After receiving the analyses, the EPA issued a statement indicating that the system would not generate greenhouse gases.
Postponing The Pipeline’s Construction
In spite of the EPA’s positive report, the Department of State announced that it would seek additional information before approving the project. The agency also created a report that indicated that the pipes could negatively affect cultural resources, such as parks and forests, and the system may reduce the population of certain animals that are naturally found in Nebraska and South Dakota.
The Administration’s Decisions
In November 2011, congress gave the president 60 days to approve or to reject the plan, but the president responded by explaining that two months was not enough time to thoroughly study all of the benefits and the detriments of the pipelines. During this time, TransCanada Corporation submitted 14 possible routes for the pipes to the American government.
In November 2012, the government approved the third section of the system. These pipelines will be positioned in Oklahoma and Kansas, and they will provide oil to Houston and the city’s surrounding areas.
Events In 2013 And 2014
An agency that manages forests and parks in the United States proposed a plan that would reduce the pipe’s overall length to 875 miles. The fourth part of the project would add pipes with a total length of 375 miles to the Canadian system, and the lines would enter regions of Montana and Wyoming.
Unlike the older sections of the system, these newly designed pipelines would transport oil that has been originally found in the United States. The plan would also allow TransCanada Corporation to double the amount of synthetic oil that the system can handle by adding several new pipes that will be adjacent to the lines that are already in Nebraska and North Dakota.
