鶹ýӳ

Skip to main content

Sandpiper pipeline update: February 2015

Published by , Senior Editor
World 鶹ýӳ,


Route talk

Regardless of environmental feasibility, the Sandpiper pipeline project might not happen if the originally proposed route is not followed.

Paul Eberth, Sandpiper鶹ýӳs Project Manager, testified last month at an evidentiary hearing for the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that the North Dakota Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Enbridge, may scrap their application for the roughly 616 mile pipeline if it doesn鶹ýӳt follow what the company deems as critical factors in the application - a pipeline that stretches from near Tioga, N.D., to Clearbrook, Minnesota, and on to Superior, Wisconsin.

Eberth was asked if a pipeline built along one of the eight proposed 鶹ýӳsystem alternatives鶹ýӳ - routes proposed by entities other than NDPC, most of which do not pass through Clearbrook or Superior - could benefit the local economies of towns near the route. He agreed towns along system alternative routes would benefit financially from having a pipeline near them, but said he doesn鶹ýӳt think any pipeline outside of Enbridge鶹ýӳs preferred route would actually be built.

鶹ýӳI personally don鶹ýӳt think those benefits would be realised because there isn鶹ýӳt economic support for the system alternatives,鶹ýӳ Eberth said.

鶹ýӳThe system alternatives proposed by others are fundamentally different projects,鶹ýӳ Eberth said after Tuesday鶹ýӳs session. 鶹ýӳConnections at Clearbrook and Superior are the underpinnings of our contracts with shippers and our approved Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rate structure. There is no commercial support for the system alternatives.鶹ýӳ

That particular route gives Enbridge a high degree of interconnectivity to existing terminals and pipelines. Oil could be sent from the Clearbrook terminal to Twin Cities refineries, while Bakken crude sent to Sandpiper鶹ýӳs proposed terminus could be sent south to refineries in Illinois. Routes that do not hit those two terminals give Enbridge鶹ýӳs clients, the oil companies shipping the crude oil from the Bakken, fewer options on where to refine their product, Eberth said.

Threatened bat species

A bat that may soon be added to the Endangered Species List could interrupt plans for the pipeline.

The potential pipeline would run 150 miles through the habitat of the northern long-eared bat, which has been decimated by white nose syndrome. Federal officials are about to determine whether it should be listed as threatened or endangered, after a series of meetings and public-comment periods last autumn. Their deadline is 2 April.


Edited from various sources by

dzܰ:,

Read the article online at: /project-news/19022015/sandpiper-pipeline-update-february-2015/

You might also like

 

 The World 鶹ýӳ Podcast

A podcast series for energy professionals featuring short, insightful interviews with experts who can shed light on topics that matter to you and your business. Subscribe on your favourite podcast app to start listening today.

     

 

 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):