Keystone XL Pipeline Agreement with the County Terminated

By Gordon HopkinsTC Energy, the company formerly known as TransCanada Corporation, officially terminated it's road haul agreement with Jefferson County at a meeting with county commissioners the afternoon of Tuesday, March 1.Although not a surprise, it still came as a disappointment to commissioners. After voting to terminate the agreement, commissioner Mark Schoenrock told representatives of TC Energy, “Well I would say, both as a county commissioner and as a private citizen, I was, you know, disappointed to hear that news. We're all here very supportive of the XL Pipeline.”One of the first acts of newly-elected President Joe Biden was to revoke the company's pipeline permit. The President signed the Executive Order his first day in office, on January 20, 2021. The project had previously been blocked by former President Barack Obama in 2015. President Donald Trump later reversed that decision, issuing a presidential permit for the project in 2017.The decision does have a direct impact on Jefferson County, as the nearly 1,200-mile proposed pipeline would have run from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, where it would join an existing pipe. There is already an existing pipeline, also called Keystone. The purpose of the new pipeline was to boost export capacity from Canada to oil refineries in the United States.”On Wednesday, June 9, TC Energy announced it was shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline.“Is there any chance at all that you guys will be able to start back up or is it totally a dead issue now?” asked Schoenrock. “How about if a new administration comes into power?”Brock Taylor, Senior Land Representative at TC Energy, said it was highly unlikely, given the uncertainty, “I think it would be a dead horse. We spent a lot of money. We had a supportive administration but as soon as that one left, we didn't have time to get enough built in the next four years before the next administration slashed the project. This is a lot of investment for us.”Commissioner Gale Pohlmann asked, “What is your plan as far as materials left from the project?”“We're trying to sell the pipe,” said Taylor. “That's still being worked on. There's no buyer at this point.”

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