Universal Property Development Corporation (fka UPDV)

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Interesting article
http://news.yahoo.com/oil-pipeline-argument-focuses-jobs-environment-211338366.html

..Oil pipeline argument focuses on jobs, environment
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11 photos - Thu, Sep 29, 2011...See latest photos »....MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) — Backers of an oil pipeline that would cut across Oklahoma to deliver crude oil from Canada to refineries in Houston want the jobs that would come with the project, but environmental groups say the damage to natural areas isn't worth the benefits the shortcut would bring.

Supporters of the 1,700-mile pipeline that would carry oil that's being extracted from Canadian oil sands also said at a Friday hearing by the U.S. State Department that it's better to buy crude from a close ally than from unstable sources from overseas. Federal officials also held hearings this past week in Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Kansas and Montana.

Opponents of the $7 billion project, including Oklahoma Sierra Club Chairman Charles Wesner, say the pipeline is bound to leak and cause environmental problems. The Oklahoman reported that Wesner said oil development in Canada is destroying millions of acres of boreal forest and contributing to global warming.

"Pipelines are notorious for leaking," he said. "It's not a matter of if; it's a matter of where and when. It's going to cause a great deal of destruction, somewhere at some time," Wesner said.

American Petroleum Institute economist John Felmy said Wesner overstated his argument and that the pipeline would provide a path for moving $17 trillion worth of oil that's under the ground in Canada.

Calgary-based TransCanada would operate the Keystone XL pipeline. An existing line starts in Alberta, Canada, and runs through the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba before heading south through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and ending at Cushing, Okla., in the state's north-central region.

The Keystone XL would take a more direct route to Cushing, going through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, and meeting up with the existing route at the Nebraska-Kansas border. The new line would extend from Cushing south into Texas, where it would stretch to Houston, with a branch also going to Port Arthur.

Environmental groups fear the pipeline would leak and endanger subsurface water supplies across the territory and disrupt wildlife habitats. They also say the project is being rushed to approval without adequate safeguards and emergency response plans, something backers deny.

The Norman Transcript reported that two members of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 344, Kenny Whitson and James McDonald of Oklahoma City, said the environmental concerns aren't so great. Plus, they want the jobs that construction of the underground pipeline would create.

"I think it's people overreacting," McDonald said.

"There'll be a lot of jobs for welders, operators digging ditches and getting it back the way they found it again," Whitson said. "It isn't anything new. It's just the length and the enormity of the job that sets this one apart."

Supporters also say pipeline technology has improved and that the chances of leaks are remote.

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