Posted on 03/14/2012 12:59:48 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A report released on Tuesday by Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute concludes that the economic damage caused by potential spills from the Keystone XL pipeline could far outweigh the benefits of jobs created by the project.
The institute, which advocates the creation of union jobs in renewable energy and analyzes sustainability issues, said that more than a million people work in agricultural or tourism jobs in the six states along Keystone XL’s route and that the economic costs could be considerable if a major spill occurred.
The risks of an economically damaging accident are higher than those for conventional crude, the report said, because pipelines carrying oil sands crude are more prone to spills, an argument long made by opponents of the Keystone XL project.
The report cited a spill from an Enbridge Energy pipeline in July 2010 that dumped about 843,000 gallons of oil sands crude near Marshall, Mich., and has been especially difficult and expensive to clean.
“Given where the pipeline is scheduled to go, it’s not inconceivable that a spill like the Enbridge pipeline spill could occur,” said Sean Sweeney, the institute’s director and a co-author of the study. “And if it contaminated a major waterway in a remote area, it could take a long time to deal with.”
TransCanada, whose application to build Keystone XL was rejected by President Obama in January, dismissed the report and cited an initial review by the State Department that found the pipeline would have little adverse environmental impact if operated properly.
Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TransCanada, said the company stood by its projections that Keystone XL would create thousands of jobs. “Common sense will tell you that you can’t build the largest infrastructure on the books in the U.S. right now without a significant number of people,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at green.blogs.nytimes.com ...
How precisely right you are.
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