TransCanada considers rail alternative to Keystone pipeline

TORONTO – The chief executive of TransCanada said Wednesday if the Obama administration doesn’t approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline his company will look to the more dangerous alternative of building rail terminals in Alberta and Oklahoma.

President Barack Obama is expected to decide early this year on Keystone XL, which is under review at the U.S. State Department. The long-delayed pipeline would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said pipelines are “by far a safer alternative” to oil trains but said if customers want him to build rail terminals he will. He said he’s in discussions with oil and rail companies.

Concerns have been raised about the increasing use of rail to transport oil throughout North America as a number of recent derailments have worried both officials and residents close to rail lines.

Girling said they would consider building a rail terminal in Hardisty, Alberta where the pipeline would have started. He will also consider building an import terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma, site of the biggest U.S. oil storage hub. The southern leg of Keystone XL from Cushing to refineries in the Gulf Coast is set to come online next week.

Obama initially refused to issue a permit for part of the Keystone XL project amid concerns about its potential impact on a large aquifer in Nebraska. The administration is considering another application.