Like Keystone XL, Much of Dakota Access Pipeline Steel Made by Russian Company Tied to Putin

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At his February 16 press conference, President Donald Trumpย discussed his executive orders calling for U.S. federal agencies to grantย TransCanada and Energy Transfer Partnersย the permits needed to build the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelineย projects.

Trump also citedย a different executive order signed that same day, highlightingย theย โ€œBuy Americanย measuresโ€ which he said were โ€œin place to require American steel for American pipelines.โ€ But like Keystone XL, as DeSmog previously reported, much of the steel for the Dakota Access project appears to have been manufactured in Canada by Evraz North America, aย subsidiary of the Russian steel giant Evraz.

Evrazย is owned in partย by Roman Abramovich, a Russian multi-billionaire credited for bringing Russianย President Vladimir Putin into office in the late 1990s. DeSmog’s finding comes on the heels of Trump’s former National Security Adviserย Michael Flynnย resigningย for potentially having discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Russian diplomats before Trump took office, apparently without the knowledge ofย Trump or now-Vice President Mike Pence.

โ€œWho Makes theย Pipes?โ€

In his statement on using American steel for U.S. pipelines made at the press conference, Trump said โ€œnobody ever asked before I came along.โ€ He repeated the steel production talking point at his first campaign rally for the 2020 presidential cycle, made less than a month into his presidency, on February 18 in Melbourne,ย Florida.

โ€œAnd very importantly, as I was about to sign it, I said who makes the pipe? Who makes the pipe?โ€ฆSimple question,โ€ he said. โ€œThe lawyers put this very complex document in front. I said, who makes the pipe? They said, sir, it can be made anywhere. I said not anymore. I put a little clause in the bottom. The pipe has to be made in the United States of America if we’re going to haveย pineline.โ€

Lisa Dillinger, who does media relations for Dakota Access,ย LLC, told DeSmog that 57 percent of the pipeline was manufactured in the U.S. by both Stupp Corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Welspunย in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The remaining pipe, Dillinger said, was manufactured in Canada, though she did not comment on which Canadian company manufactured theย steel.ย 

Welspun does not appear to have a plant in Lake Charles, though itย does have one in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company is headquartered in Mumbai, India, while Stupp is headquarteredย in Batonย Rouge.

โ€œAdditionally, the majority of the remaining major materials were purchased, manufactured or assembled in the United States contributing nearly $1 billion in direct spending to the U.S. economy,โ€ย Dillingerย said.

โ€œMade inย Canadaโ€

In March 2015, the Dakota Free Press published photos of a line pipe storage site located inย Brown County, South Dakota. One of those photos shows pipelines labeled โ€œMade inย Canada.โ€

Another photo published that same month by John Davis of the Aberdeen American News also shows the pipes were labeled โ€œMade in Canada.โ€ As Evraz North America points out on its website, it serves as the โ€œonly supplier of fully ‘Made in Canada’ [large diamater]ย pipe.โ€

โ€œEVRAZ pioneered large diameter line pipe in North America and today we are its largest producer,โ€ the company says on another section of its website. โ€œIn fact, we are the only producer in North America that can manufacture [large diamater] pipe that is 100% ‘Made inย Canada.’โ€

Four months later in July 2015, Dakota Free Press published an image of an auction announcement from Aberdeen American News showing that 30 miles of line pipe in Brown County was up for auction. The occupant listed: Evraz North America. It also listed Dakota Access LLC as an interestย holder.

Dakota Access Russian Steel

Image Credit:ย Aberdeen Americanย News

โ€œThe pipeline came by train to Brown County in preparation for construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, planned to carry Bakken oil across South Dakota to Illinois for refining,โ€ wrote Cory Heidelberger of the Dakota Free Press. โ€œThose 2,000 links would equal over 130 train car loads; my eyeball-recollection of the trains rumbling through Aberdeen last March suggests that 2,000 links are only a fraction of theย stockpile.โ€

Indeed, that would only be a small fraction. According to a project announcement located by Desmog, Evraz and ETC Intrastate Procurement โ€” the latter a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners โ€”ย gave a contract to Dun Transportation & Stringing Inc. to offload and stockpile โ€œ61 miles of 30-in. pipe in Lincoln County, South Dakotaโ€ in February 2015. Dakota Access is a 30-inch diameter pipeline and runs through Lincoln County.

Dun, for what it’s worth, also lists unloading, hauling, and racking 185 miles of Evraz and Welspun steel in North and South Dakota for Dakota Accessย as one of its projects on itsย website.ย 

Representatives for Dun did not respond to a request for comment submitted for this story. Evraz did not comment on how much steel it made for Dakota Access, referring DeSmog to its January 24 press release touting Trump’s executiveย orders.

โ€œTo the best of our information, EVRAZ North America is ‘the only supplier of fully ‘Made in Canada’ [large diamater] pipe,’ย as is stated on our website,โ€ย Christian Messmacher, Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy for Evraz North America, toldย DeSmog.ย 

โ€œPhonyย Claimsโ€

Similar to Keystone XL, the steel production for the Dakota Access pipeline was a done deal long ago, well before the pipeline got all the permits itย needed.

โ€œEnergy Transfer Partners was so eager to build the pipeline that it began staging mountainous piles of steel pipe across the four-state route before it had gotten all necessary easements and regulatory approval from federal regulators, as well as those in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois,โ€ a local Fox affiliate explained.

In the case of Dakota Access, nearly all of the pipeline already sits underground, other than the most contentiousย segment, which could soon go under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River located near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s land in North Dakota. That segment consists of 0.02 percent of the line, according to Energy Transferย Partners.

Though many in leaders of the U.S. labor movement, including professional pipeliners,ย have praised Trumpโ€™s jobs initiatives,ย some within labor arenโ€™t as elated and are more critical of Trumpโ€™s claims about creating U.S. steelย jobs.

โ€œAmerican workers need jobs,โ€ Jeremy Brecher, co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability, told DeSmog. โ€œIt is unconscionable that fossil fuel companies and Donald Trump exploit that need by making phony claims to be creating jobs โ€” all to persuade us to support projects that will poison our air and water and make our planet unlivable for our kids. It’s time to get serious about creating jobs that protect our environment rather than destroyingย it.โ€

Photo Credit: Dakota Free Press |ย Coryย Heidelberger

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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