APOL celebrates Trump’s KXL permit approval

KXL retained overwhelming public approval throughout its review process and election day exit polls last November showed broad public support for new energy infrastructure. President Trump’s action will allow the American construction workers, manufacturers, communities along the route and the general public to benefit from the pipeline.

“The Trump administration is keeping its promise to bring new jobs and benefits from energy infrastructure to the American people by building pipelines,” said Andrew Black, President and CEO of AOPL.

The decision by the administration overcomes a long-standing hurdle to final approval of the project. Construction of the KXL pipeline would provide over 42 000 US jobs and US$2.1 billion in US worker payroll, according to the US State Department. While Keystone XL would support 6800 construction jobs with US$420 million in payroll, it would also lead to 4600 manufacturing jobs with US$309 million in payroll, 4400 jobs in trade with US$172 million in payroll, 2,200 jobs in finance and insurance with US$131 million in payroll, 5100 jobs in other professional services with US$343 million in payroll, 2700 jobs in health services with US$141 million in payroll, and 5700 jobs in food and accommodations with US$278 million in payroll. Other proposed pipeline projects can be expected similarly to create thousands of jobs with millions of dollars in worker payroll.

The benefits of KXL will continue long after construction is completed. Communities along the route of a pipeline will gain property tax revenue that can fund school budgets, police and fire departments and local government needs. Rural communities near pipelines will small budgets will benefit the most from this new influx of revenues. Consumers across the country will benefit from the downward pressure on gasoline and diesel prices new crude oil supplies bring.

The State Department’s environmental review also found building KXL would do more to protect the environment and avoid greenhouse gas emissions than any alternative, including rejecting the pipeline. According to US government statistics, 99.999% of petroleum products shipped by pipeline reach their destination safely. Since 1999, the number of incidents along pipeline rights of way is down 50%. Transporting crude oil by pipeline instead of other modes of transportation also results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

KXL would be one of the safest pipelines ever built. It will use corrosion-resistant pipe and construction welds reviewed by third-parties and audited by the federal government. Powerful modern technology will be built into the pipe to monitor flow with automatic shut off capability. The operator will monitor the pipeline system 24 hr/d, 365 days a year through a centralised high tech centre. Satellite technology will send data every five seconds from thousands of data points to the pipeline monitoring centre and if a drop in pressure is ever detected, KXL’s operator can isolate any section of the pipeline by remotely closing any of the hundreds of valves on the system within minutes. They will also regularly conduct aerial and land reviews supplement digital monitoring.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/27032017/apol-celebrates-trumps-kxl-permit-approval/