TransCanada Corp. announced yesterday they will proceed with plans to create a pipeline capable of shipping 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and tar sands bitumen from western Canada to refineries and ports in Quebec and New Brunswick. Called โEnergy Eastโ, this west-to-east pipeline would dwarf the oil delivery capacity of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the US (830,000ย bpd).
The premiers of Alberta and New Brunswick declared Energy East a โnation buildingโ pipeline. The pipeline will pass through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Newย Brunswick.
โThis is an historic opportunity to connect the oil resources of western Canada to the consumers of eastern Canada, creating jobs, tax revenue and energy security for all Canadians for decades to come,โ said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
It remains unclear how much of Energy East’s oil will be exported outside of Canada and how much tar sands bitumen will be shipped through theย pipeline.
Eastern Canadian refineries are not outfitted to refine large quantities of bitumen. TransCanada has stated the Energy East project will involve shipping oil to โexisting North American marketsโ but there is speculation Europe or Asia could be possible destinations for the pipeline’sย oil.ย
Energy East will be 4,400 kilometres of pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Saint John, New Brunswick. 3,000 kilometres of this pipeline already exists as a 55-year old TransCanada natural gas line that will be converted to carry oil. Another 1,400 kilometres (the equivalent of building a Northern Gateway) of new pipeline will be constructed from the Quebec-Ontario border to Saintย John.
The Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs in New Brunswickย announced today they โwill avail themselves of any means necessary, legal or otherwiseโ if Energy East threatens their treaty rights or the environment. Yesterday the Council of Canadians unveiled a nation-wide campaign to stop the Energy Eastย pipeline.ย
โWhile using an existing pipeline may reduce TransCanadaโs costs, it increases spill risks for the many rivers, lakes and communities along the route,โ said Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy Campaigner with the Council of Canadians,ย in a press release.ย
โThe disastrous pipeline spills in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Mayflower, Arkansas highlight the dangers of shipping tar sands crude and using an older pipeline not originally built for carrying oil,โ concludedย Harden-Donahue.ย
More details on โEnergy East: The Tar Sands Nation Building Pipelineโย to come on DeSmogย Canada.
Image Credit:ย TransCanada
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