Keystone XL Pipeline Owners Ask for Pause in Inspections So They Can Get Ready for Inspections
The ever-controversial steel tunnel of black viscous oil meant to dig through the United States has been paused, for now.
The Alberta-based company TransCanada Corp. sent a letter to the U.S.State Department on Monday asking to suspend its application while the company undergoes a review process in Nebraska. The company wrote:
“In order to allow time for certainty regarding the Nebraska route, TransCanada requests that the State Department pause in its review of the Presidential Permit application for Keystone XL. This will allow a decision on the Permit to be made later based on certainty with respect to the route of the pipeline.”
The proposed 1,179-mile pipeline would supposedly bring 800,000 barrels of tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Not coincidentally, the State Department was in the final stages of a review of the pipeline, which has become a symbol of fossil fuel dependence for environmentalists. The State Department was expected to reject the permit earlier this week.
Earlier this year, President Barack Obama vetoed a bill to approve the construction of the pipeline, claiming that the legislation took away his authority to make a final decision on it.
The conduit has been called “the most famous pipeline in the history of the world, even without being built yet.” It’s been commissioned since 2010, and it’s not likely to be built — or to be scrapped — any time soon.
