Fossil fuels, not pipelines, are at heart of planned protest

T HROUGHOUT its history, Oklahomans have welcomed the oil and gas industry, which has served as the state’s economic backbone for generations. A strong energy industry makes for a stronger Oklahoma.

Not everyone sees it that way today, however. Witness the planned protests of an oil pipeline that’s scheduled to be built from Cushing to Tennessee.

Organizers of the protest say the $900 million Diamond Pipeline could disturb unidentified graves of American Indian ancestors who came to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. They hinted that an encampment could be set up here similar to one activists established in North Dakota to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The claims being made here are similar to those heard in North Dakota —that tribal interests weren’t considered in planning the pipeline route, and that pipelines are unsafe. The latter is a favorite of anti-fossil fuel activists, and it’s not true. Pipelines have been shown to be safer than other alternatives, such as railroads. As for the former complaint, the spokesman for Plains All American Pipeline, which is partnering with Valero on the Diamond Pipeline, laid out what steps were taken as the pipeline path was being determined.

In an email to The Oklahoman, spokesman Brad Leone said that in 2014, before starting the formal project permitting process, “we voluntarily elected to reach out to 23 different tribal communities” identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During the permitting process, the Corps “engaged in the government-to-government … consultation process and provided tribal governments an opportunity to review and comment on cultural work being performed prior to the permit issuance.”

That in turn led to more communication with several tribes. “Where concerns were raised about the route,” Leone said, “every effort was made to reroute the pipeline, use less invasive installation technologies, or provide access to the right of way during construction activities for trained cultural monitors, some of whom are recommended by or directly provided by certain tribes.”

Simply put, tribes haven’t been blind-sided by this project.

The Diamond Pipeline also will meet or exceed minimum safety, design and construction standards, Leone said, through such things as X-ray examinations of all welds, and pipe walls that are thicker than required by the federal government.

And it’s not as though Oklahoma lacks experience with pipelines. In 2015, the state had 6,376 miles of crude oil pipeline, according to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (the Diamond Pipeline will move sweet crude). Oklahoma has 4,955 miles of pipeline for condensates such as propane and butane, 2,166 miles of pipeline for gasoline and other refined products, and 11,847 miles of natural gas transmission lines.

The state and pipeline companies know what they’re doing, and perform their jobs professionally and well.

“Pipelines play a vital role in our lives,” Leone said in his email. Activists opposed to the Diamond Pipeline wish that weren’t the case, and so they’ll work to delay the project. Most Oklahomans, meanwhile will view the new pipeline for what it is — good news for the energy sector, and thus for the state.