Canadian company plans pipeline that would cut across six states

~ TransCanada planned to negotiate 50- to 60-foot pipeline easements with affected property owners.

ST. LOUIS -- A $2.1 billion project to move crude oil from Canada to Illinois would involve burying pipeline in parts of Missouri and Kansas.

The 1,840-mile Keystone pipeline, which would run from Alberta to the ConocoPhillips Co. refinery in Wood River, Ill., would cut across three Canadian provinces and six states, including Missouri and Kansas. TransCanada Corp. of Calgary said it plans to have the proposed pipeline running in 2009.

Brian Peterson, TransCanada's manager for the Keystone project, said he and other company officials have been conducting informational meetings for people living near the proposed pipeline route. He said the meetings, which began Nov. 7 in North Dakota, continue this week in the St. Louis area.

After slicing through the eastern Dakotas and Nebraska, the new Keystone line would turn southeast across northeastern Kansas and enter Missouri north of Kansas City.

The line would enter Lincoln County near Truxton, pass north of Troy, then turn southeast to St. Charles County. After passing through the northern St. Charles County flood plain, the line would bore under the Mississippi River near Alton and head to the ConocoPhillips Wood River Refinery. The line also would go to Patoka, Ill.

Oil received there could be sent to the Wood River refinery or redistributed through other pipelines. Wood River, the nation's 10th-largest refinery, is a key supplier of fuel to the St. Louis area.

Four feet underground

TransCanada planned to negotiate 50- to 60-foot pipeline easements with affected property owners, Peterson said. The top of the 30-inch pipeline, typically, would be 4 feet below the ground's surface. The line, carrying as much as 435,000 barrels daily, would dip at least 30 feet below the bottom of the Mississippi.

Some St. Charles County residents, particularly in the Brookmount area of St. Peters, have rallied against current pipelines because they believe they are in danger from as many as four pipelines beneath their back yards.

Rep. Wayne Henke, D-Troy, said Friday that he is OK with a new pipeline in Lincoln County, but he said TransCanada officials must abide by their pledge to pay landowners a fair price for easements.

"They told me the people will be adequately compensated," Henke said. "That's what comes to my mind: What's adequate compensation?"

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com