Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline expansion across the U.S. border has been officially completed..“This was a significant milestone for the project that has been years in the making, involving hundreds of employees and contractors, and I want to thank the team on site in particular who sacrificed their time and effort remaining in place for the entire duration of the project,” said Gary Salsman, Project Vice-President of U.S. Keystone XL..In a release, TC Energy, which owns the pipeline, said the 2.2-km border crossing had its “fair share of challenges and complexities, with the Keystone XL Project Team working with numerous federal, state and provincial authorities to garner the necessary permits and approvals needed to cross an international border..“The onset of COVID-19 also presented a significant challenge to the team. Crews began to arrive at the border just as both the U.S. and Canadian federal governments were issuing social-distancing guidelines and calling for containment measures to stem the pandemic,” said the release..“The project team met the challenge by working closely with state and local authorities on developing a COVID-19 safety plan that ensured the safety of both the community and the workers..“The team hired additional health-care workers to take incoming workers’ temperatures and monitor for potential symptoms related to COVID-19. And, as restaurants closed, the project team provided locally catered meals to the work crew, utilizing local businesses in the nearby communities.”.Last week, likely U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden trashed the Alberta oil industry and vowed to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline expansion,.“I’ve been against Keystone from the beginning. It is tar sands that we don’t need — that in fact is very, very high pollutant,” Biden said in an interview on CNBC..“We’re gonna transition gradually to get to a clean economy..“But the idea of shutting down Keystone, as if that is the thing that keeps the oil industry moving, is just not rational. It does not economically, nor, in my view, environmentally, make any sense.”.Biden was repeating statements made earlier this week by a campaign official that drew the ire of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney..Kenney noted the pipeline is part of “sensitive” Canada-U.S. relations and he would “hate to see thousands of miles of pipe pulled out of the ground” if Biden revokes the permit..Kenney said he was “disappointed” in Biden’s stand and said Alberta officials hope to work with his campaign on the issue..Kenney announced in April his government was providing $1.5 billion in equity investment and a $6-billion loan guarantee to TC Energy to get the Keystone XL project completed but so far no details have been publicly released. .After the project is completed, Kenney said the government would sell its shares back to TC Energy but he did not say at what price..Kenney said while the $1.5-billion has been used to put thousands of people back to work, the $6-billion part of the deal remains untouched..The premier noted the cross border section of the pipeline had been completed and without the government’s $1.5 billion, work “wouldn’t have been able to start this year.”.He said the remainder of the money would be for the 2021 construction season which TC Energy won’t make a decision on until next January.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown . In 2015, Biden was then vice-president to Barack Obama who cancelled the permit..When he was elected, Trump overruled the Obama decision and approved the oft-delayed pipeline for construction..Environmental groups in the States have fought tooth-and-nail in an effort to stop the pipeline..A judge in Montana put a halt to further construction of the pipeline over concerns of what effects the project may have on endangered species..The federal judge ordered the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers to conduct a further review and barred it from authorizing dredging in waterways covered by the permit..The Keystone pipeline runs from Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas..The new pipeline would run from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
