Public gives input on Enbridge pipeline into Cushing
By SUSAN HYLTON World Business Writer on Sep 17, 2013, at 12:07 PM
Energy
President Barack Obama's nominee to be the nation's top energy regulator came under sharp questioning Tuesday from lawmakers concerned that he may be opposed to coal and natural gas.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Doug Lawler acknowledged Tuesday what many employees have feared.
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DRUMRIGHT — While the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline has become a key point in the debate on climate change and fossil fuels, a 36-inch pipeline delivering essentially the same type of heavy Canadian crude will be making its way through Oklahoma without a presidential stamp.
The 600-mile Flanagan South pipeline built by Enbridge Energy Co. does not cross an international border. The 36-inch domestic line will stretch from terminals near Chicago to the Cushing oil hub bringing sweet crude from connections in the Bakken formation in Montana and North Dakota and oil sands from western Canada.
Though Flanagan South hasn’t garnered as many headlines and hoopla as the XL, it hasn’t gone entirely unnoticed by environmental groups or the other numerous land owners in Osage, Pawnee and Payne counties who may already be dealing with ongoing maintenance issues associated with having multiple pipelines buried on their rural properties.
On Monday night, Enbridge invited the public to an open house at Central Tech Pipeline & Safety Center in Drumright where they laid out their plans from right-of-way purchase and assembly to completion.
While Enbridge points to the positive affects of the pipeline, such as increased energy independence, meeting the market demand for petroleum products, and employing hundreds of local workers, others have concerns about intrusiveness of the pipelines on their rural properties and the potential for environmental disaster should the pipeline ever rupture.
Enbridge is still in the process of cleaning up an oil sands spill in Marshall, Mich., on the Kalamazoo River after a side seam ruptured three years ago.
Flanagan South will bore under the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers and numerous other waterways.
“It’s so toxic. It’s the dirtiest oil there is from the earth,” said Gwen Ingram of Drumright, and a member of the Sierra Club and Clean Energy Future, of the oil sands. “Human error happens and technology fails. It’s been proven over and over.
“I think we should get completely off fossil fuels instead of heading deeper into it.”
Another open house follows tonight in Pawhuska from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Pawhuska Business Center, 1225 Virginia St.
Energy
President Barack Obama's nominee to be the nation's top energy regulator came under sharp questioning Tuesday from lawmakers concerned that he may be opposed to coal and natural gas.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Doug Lawler acknowledged Tuesday what many employees have feared.
CONTACT THE REPORTER
918-581-8381
Email
