US oil spills hit support for Canada mega-pipeline

[CHIMO]

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - For Calgary-based TransCanada, a recent Michigan oil spill from a pipeline operated by its rival Enbridge Inc couldn't have come at a worse time.
The spill threatens to tilt public opinion against TransCanada's $12 billion pipeline system that could ultimately stretch from Alberta to Texas.
More than 800,000 gallons (3.6 million litres) of crude oil from a 41-year-old stretch of Enbridge Inc's 6B pipeline spewed into a Michigan waterway on July 26, in one of the biggest pipeline spills in U.S. history.
That has rankled U.S. safety regulators, who earlier this year ordered Calgary-based Enbridge to monitor 6B closely for suspected corrosion.
Since the incident -- in the aftermath of BP's massive Gulf spill -- U.S. lawmakers, regulators and environmental groups are increasing their scrutiny of pipelines, including those that import crude from Canada's northern oil sands fields, the top source of U.S. oil imports.
The recent spills have jarred Americans, raising concerns over pipeline safety and increasing U.S. reliance on Canada's heavy, carbon-intensive oil sands. That could delay or scuttle TransCanada's plan to expand a crude export network.
By 2013, TransCanada's Keystone system could deliver 1.1 million barrels-per-day (bpd) along a route from Alberta to coastal Texas. But that requires U.S. approval for Keystone XL, a $7 billion, 1,661 mile (2,673 km) Montana-to-Texas addition to Keystone's existing network, which can run 435,000 bpd to Illinois. (For TransCanada's Keystone maps, click on its website:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/9216435
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/union-urges-ottawa-to-block-keystone-pipeline-approval/article790245/?cmpid=tgc

[griffi94]

1. the ruby line

that's to go thru utah just got shut down due to an injuction on behalf of an environmental group i'm not sure which group.