Facts continue to show how Keystone XL Pipeline will be safe and protect the environment along the entire route.

As the public comment period regarding the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) prepared by U.S. Department of State (DOS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline project (KXL) came to a close on April 22, a letter from the Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caught people’s attention.

It was important for TransCanada to take the time to give the letter a thorough review — by experts both inside and outside the company.

As TransCanada indicated when this letter came out, there are no new issues identified that relate to current laws or practice for approval of an oil pipeline that crosses an international border.

Let’s not forget: More than 12,000 pages of documents have been published on KXL — including four federal environmental reviews in the past five years. The EPA has been a cooperating agency in all of the previous reviews and has been closely involved in each one.

While most pipeline projects take about two years to go through the review process, KXL has been part of the public agenda for almost 1,700 days, more than four-and-a-half years, making KXL the most exhaustively studied, cross-border pipeline ever.

While the EPA plays a role in providing comments and oversight into an application such as this, so do almost two dozen other local, state and federal agencies. Each of these agencies has a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, so the DOS is able to get the best input possible before a decision on KXL’s Presidential Permit is made.

In its letter to the DOS, the EPA failed to take into account a number of key facts about KXL — especially when it comes to safety. Safety is TransCanada’s top priority.

KXL will have a state-of-the-art leak detection system, and we will also evaluate new and evolving leak detection technologies to potentially augment the best-in-class leak detection capabilities of its current systems.

There will be 21,000 sensors along the entire length of the pipeline route, including the Gulf Coast Pipeline, which is currently under construction in Texas and Oklahoma. Sensors, in addition to 16,000 sensors on the original Keystone route, send round-the-clock real-time data via satellite about the operating conditions inside the line.

If an alarm goes off or our highly-trained operators detect something that warrants investigation, the pipeline will be shut down within minutes. And until TransCanada is satisfied everything is safe, the line is not re-started.

In fact, the previous federal environmental review stated that with the additional safety measures TransCanada has agreed to adopt, KXL will “result in a project that would have a degree of safety over any other typically constructed domestic oil pipeline under the current code.”

And while leak detection is essential, leak prevention is even more important. That’s why, in 2011 and 2012 alone, TransCanada invested more than $1.4 billion in our company’s safety, preventive maintenance and pipeline integrity programs. This is proactive work we do every day, making sure that we take reasonable steps to prevent incidents from happening in the first place.

Making sure our pipelines operate safely for decades not only makes good business sense, it’s just common sense.

The EPA letter refers to an “average crude oil” to compare against the “Canadian crude” that KXL will deliver, but this hypothetical “average crude oil” — if there were such a thing — isn’t what Keystone XL will displace.

Different crude oil blends vary from field to field. For example: Heavy oils produced in California have higher emission profiles than heavy oil from Alberta’s oil sands. The light sweet oil that KXL will transport comes from the U.S. Bakken formation. The EPA ignored these facts and failed to recognize that the oil transported through KXL will primarily displace the heavy crudes from Mexico and Venezuela. And study after study shows one simple point: Oil is oil.

As leading climate scientist Chip Knappenberger noted in his response to claims made by professional activists, “the carbon dioxide emissions produced from Keystone XL are only a (shrinking) drop in the bucket of global carbon dioxide emissions.”

The EPA also recommends that the U.S. involve itself in ways to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Canadian oil sands. This ignores Canada’s fundamental sovereignty, as well as that of the provinces and local governments that are already leading significant environmental progress in their jurisdictions.

If a Canadian province wanted to “involve itself in ways” to reduce GHG emissions from coal in the State of Georgia (for example), neither that state nor the U.S. government would welcome such “involvement.”

For the record, Alberta’s oil sands have strict regulations. The Government of Alberta implemented GHG regulations in 2007 (the first jurisdiction in North America to do so), requiring a mandatory 12 per cent reduction in GHG emissions intensity for all large industrial sectors, including existing oil sands, or payment in lieu (current carbon price is $15/tonne). Since 2007, these regulations have resulted in GHG reductions of 23 million tonnes, the equivalent of taking 4.8 million cars off the road.

The EPA did take issue with the notion that if KXL is not approved, then producers would find a way to move that product to market. But the reality is that with the delay of new pipeline infrastructure, companies are already looking for ways of getting their product to market.

Rail Theory Forecasts reported 19,000 coiled and insulated rail cars (capable of moving about 10.5 million barrels of heavy crude oil) were ordered by Canadian producers to carry heavy crude, scheduled to be delivered in 2014.

Sixteen rail transload terminals are being built/expanded in Western Canada by six companies. In the U.S., the transportation of crude oil by rail is already 55 per cent higher than in 2012.

So the facts show that the oil KXL will transport will find its way to market because it is needed — by all of us — for products that heat our homes, power business, fuel our vehicles and provide the energy needed to move consumer goods throughout North America every day. And statistics show that pipelines remain the safest way to get it there.

The real issue in this debate about a single oil pipeline is whether or not KXL benefits Americans and is in the country’s national interest.

Does it meet America’s rules and regulations to operate? We believe that the answer to all of these questions is yes. Our customers — including many who are U.S. Gulf Coast refiners — believe the answer is yes. And a growing number of Americans are saying yes to KXL as well. And that’s why TransCanada is committed to working through the regulatory review process and will continue to answer questions as they arise.

We will also continue to work with the EPA and other agencies to reduce GHGs from pipeline operations, as part of the Global Methane Initiative, established by the U.S. in 2004.

For more information, read TransCanada’s full technical response to the April 22, 2013, EPA letter, (PDF, 1.8 MB).

TransCanada’s commitment to Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta’s Economics for Success program pays dividends for junior high school students.

Do you remember how old you were when you got your first job? Your first car? Your first credit card? Did you receive any kind of financial literacy training before taking these big life-changing steps? Like most young adults, I was financially illiterate.

Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta (JASA) is looking to change that. For more than 50 years, the nonprofit organization has been providing programs to students in Grades 4 to 12 to help them develop a practical understanding of business and finance and cultivate an entrepreneurial attitude.

On April 22, TransCanada sent 46 volunteers to Mount Royal University (MRU) to mentor 400 junior high students from the Calgary Catholic School District and Rundle College Society. Our volunteers spent the day on campus facilitating JASA’s Economics for Success (EFS) program.

The day-long program featured numerous activities — including Guess the Price, Moving Day, Paper or Plastic? — that helped students understand the financial demands of living on their own, and identified resources needed to support their career journey.

Teamwork: TransCanada’s Bruce Newberry (left), Customer Account Manager, and Mike Quesnel, Director, Northern Courier Pipeline Project, are long-time administrators of the company’s volunteer day with JASA.

“TransCanada works with organizations that support education and foster leadership,” says Brandon Anderson, Senior Vice-President, Western Power & Gas Storage at TransCanada. “By helping students understand why it’s important to stay in school, until they have the knowledge and skills to enter the work force, JASA is doing just that,” concludes Brandon, who sits on JASA’s Board of Directors.

Participation in Junior Achievement programs produced more financially literate graduates who saved more, borrowed less and went bankrupt less often than the average Canadian, according to a comprehensive study completed by the Boston Consulting Group in 2010.

The study shows that Junior Achievement graduates were also three times less likely to spend more than they earned, 25 per cent less likely to be unemployed, 50 per cent more likely to open their own business and three times more likely to hold a middle to senior management job.

TransCanada has been participating in JASA’s EFS program for more than a decade. Since 1999, we have contributed in excess of $450,000 to the organization.

Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta is one of 17 charters operating under the umbrella of Junior Achievement of Canada. Junior Achievement of Canada is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, an international not-for-profit organization. For more information on JASA visit: southern-alberta.jacan.org.

Opponents’ Keystone XL greenhouse gas emissions claims refuted by leading climate scientist.

Recently, Oil Change International, along with assistance from several Keystone XL opposition groups, wrote a document on climate change, with unsubstantiated claims that linked the Keystone XL Pipeline to major climate impacts if the pipeline is approved by the U.S. State Department and President Barack Obama.

Climate scientist: Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger is Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute and author of the Wall Street Journal op-ed Keystone XL Objections Wither Away.

Each year, TransCanada works to promote Safe Digging Month in April by working with its industry partners to provide important information on living and working near pipelines and other underground utilities . . . and this year is no exception.

As an active member and platinum sponsor of the Alberta Common Ground Alliance (ABCGA), we joined ATCO Gas, Enbridge, ENMAX, the City of Calgary, Telus and Fortis to host a safe digging demonstration at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary on April 10.

It was a crisp spring morning at the excavation site – an earthen parking lot in the northwest corner of the SAIT campus – where we donned protective glasses and hardhats to learn how utility lines are identified and clearly marked so that digging can be done safely.

“Every eight minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone digs before calling to locate the lines,” said Brad Watson, a TransCanada safety specialist who is the current chair of the ABCGA. “It’s not one month out of the year, it is 365 days of the year that we want to prevent this from happening.”

To illustrate the need for safe digging, Calgary Fire Department public information officer Carol Henke provided a story she experienced first hand. A father and son wanted to erect a bird house the son brought home from school and thought the perfect place was at the end of their flower bed.

“He dug with his hand auger and went down about three feet. The good news is he found his gas line. The bad news is he found his gas line,” Henke explained. “Because he did not remember to click or call before he dug, he ended up needing a new flower bed, a new front lawn and that’s what we’re trying to prevent.”

Safe digging is a shared responsibility amongst buried utility owners and anyone wielding a shovel – even homeowners, said Mike Sullivan president of Alberta One-Call. Alberta One-Call is a free service that arranges the location and marking of buried facilities before any digging project takes place.

“Everybody has a stake in being a damage prevention champion and that’s what we’re here to promote today. April is Safe Digging Month, we want you to do the right thing. Contact Alberta One-Call, call or click before you dig. It’s the most important choice you can make,” Sullivan said.

The event ended with a backhoe excavating an area only after all buried utilities had been marked and flagged by trained utility locators and the excavation area had been outlined in white paint.

TransCanada will continue to promote public awareness about Safe Digging Month in the coming days and we look forward to kicking off the construction and gardening season right: by clicking or calling before we dig.

Read our You make the call, to dig safely blog post.

On April 4, a large group of supporters from Iowa’s building trade unions and the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee showed up at the Iowa Capital, in Des Moines, to show support for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Rally organizers say North American crude oil and natural gas production and the delivery of crude oil from Canada and North Dakota, promises jobs and economic growth in Iowa.

Speakers included Sean McGarvey, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, and Rick Terven, executive vice-president of the United Association of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and HVAC Service Techs.

For more photos from the event, visit TransCanada’s Flickr page.

Watch a video from the rally in Des Moines.

Pipeline safety is a hot topic across North America these days. So when a group of Canadian Senators asked if they could learn more about TransCanada’s industry-leading safety record transporting oil and gas across the continent, the company invited them to come see it in action.

Seven members of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources visited TransCanada on March 5 as part of the committee’s study on the safety of hydrocarbon transportation in Canada. The visit followed formal testimony given by TransCanada officials in Ottawa in February. The group met with senior operations and engineering staff who explained TransCanada’s safety management systems, followed by a visit to the high-tech Operations Control Centre (OCC) to see first-hand how our pipelines are monitored and controlled around the clock by qualified staff using the latest in satellite communications technology. They saw how our Keystone oil pipeline is staffed by three controllers, one of whom is fully devoted to monitoring the pipeline for possible problems, and learned how the Keystone controllers monitor data sent every five seconds from 16,000 data points along the pipeline and are able to isolate any section of the pipeline by remotely closing any of the dozens of valves on the system within minutes.

“Having the Senators visit the OCC was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to safe and reliable operations, and showcase the culture of safety that exists at all levels in TransCanada,” said Greg Lohnes, TransCanada’s executive vice-president of operations and major projects.

“Pipelines are the safest and most efficient method of moving oil and gas. The industry has an excellent record of moving 99.99% of its products safely without incident, but we are constantly striving to do even better,” Lohnes said. “TransCanada is constantly working with government regulators and industry associations to find ways of improving safety for the public and the environment and we take every opportunity to learn from the rare but unfortunate instances of pipeline failure because they impact the entire industry, not just one company.”

Committee Chair Senator Richard Neufeld said he was impressed by the visit to TransCanada, which kicked off the field trip portion of the committee’s study. The Senators also visited Enbridge, Kinder Morgan – Canada, Plains Midstream Canada, Spectra Energy Transmission West, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and had meetings with the National Energy Board, the Pembina Institute, the Alberta Surface Rights Group and the Canadian Energy Research Institute.

“Many pipeline projects are being developed in Canada,” Neufeld said. “We want to ensure that our pipeline system reaches its full potential and continues to support Canada’s economy while protecting our health and our environment.”

“These meetings will help us to provide guidance on the future of the industry and inform Canadians about this important sector,” said Senator Grant Mitchell, deputy chair of the committee who also visited TransCanada. “Canadians want to know all that is being done to maintain and enhance the safety of that system. This is our objective as a committee.”

The committee is examining the full range of issues including design, standards, construction, operation, spill response and emergency preparedness. It is also investigating regulatory regimes that work through compliance and verification programs to ensure safety and environmental performance.

The committee intends to complete its final report by June 30.

Gulf Coast Pipeline Project brings benefits to Oklahoma entrepreneurs and town coffers.

Residents of this small Oklahoma town may give directions based on “the light” (Prague’s sole traffic signal), but make no mistake: They love their town and its way of life.

“I’m from Los Angeles, and when I moved here to take care of my mother when she broke her arm, I thought — what am I getting into?” said Tera Leigh, a photographer in Prague (pronounced “Pregg”). “Now, I can’t imagine leaving.”

There were some who worried that Prague’s small-town charm might be at risk when they learned that it would be the site of a construction yard to support TransCanada’s Gulf Coast Pipeline Project. To the relief of Leigh and others, that didn’t happen. On the contrary, most residents believe their town is better off for having hosted the Project.

Locals, such as entrepreneurs Clifford Bryant and his son Chadd, sensed opportunity for the city and its business sector.

Among his many enterprises, Clifford acquired Bryant Park, a formerly marginal RV and trailer park that he completely transformed in anticipation of the business he knew the pipeline would bring. His son, Chadd, had purchased a diner (at the age of 24) long before the pipeliners came to town, but he, too, was determined to make the construction crews and foremen welcome from Day One.

“I have been on the city council for seven years, so I heard about the possibility of the construction yard coming to Prague. We were in competition with Holdenville,” Clifford said. Working with the council, city manager and others, Prague was able to present its case and be selected as site of the yard.

And Prague hasn’t looked back since.

In Clifford’s particular instance, he saw nothing but opportunity in the RV and trailer park that sits a mile or two from the construction yard.

“I bought it two months before you guys came,” he said. “I had to put some money into it — I laid 400 feet of water line and added some electric connections. I had 57 RV slots available, and I filled every one of them.”

Positive impact at the cash register

Putting on his city council hat, Clifford notes that a full RV park contributes as much as $8,000 a month in electricity fees alone to the municipal utility. “If we hadn’t fixed up that park, that revenue would have gone somewhere else.”

Chadd Bryant, at 26 a seasoned restaurateur, is not relying solely on pipeliners for business. He took a chance and converted a drab and dank diner (formerly a filling station) into a bright and cheery rock-themed eatery with a long list of specials appealing to local palates. Chaddar’s Restaurant was already a success when pipeliners began arriving in 2013.

“Some people would see all this new business and immediately raise their prices. I wasn’t going to do that,” Chadd said. So he kept the faith with his regular clientele and then attracted the pipeliners who were drawn to the diner’s food and atmosphere. “I guess my business is up 15 to 20 percent.”

Chadd exudes confidence, which comes in handy for an entrepreneur. “Basically, when you believe in what you’re doing, and when you believe you’re going to be the best at it, it gives you the confidence you need to do the right things,” he said.

But what about when the pipeliners move on and the yard is shuttered?

“As a member of the council, I keep a close eye on sales tax revenues. Before they came to town, we were doing about $80,000 a month. Last month was $161,000,” Clifford said. “Double is pretty impressive.”

He also noted that Prague didn’t lose its head when the incremental revenue started rolling in.

“Once those guys leave, a lot of that revenue is still going to be here. That extra sales tax revenue has been going in the bank. Long after they’re gone, that money will be available for street improvements, for emergency response — it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

For her part, Karen Bryant (Clifford’s wife), isn’t ready to say goodbye. “We could use another round. When are you going to expand?”

And by the way, if you’re in the Prague area the first Saturday in May, stop by for the Kolache Festival. “You really ought to come by. We’ll treat you right,” said Clifford. “TransCanada’s been a big part of our life this year.”