Glasgow XL Pipeline Meeting Friday

The Canadian company that expects to build the Keystone XL pipeline to carry shale oil from Alberta to refineries in Texas has scheduled public meetings in Montana towns along the route to discuss transportation and storage of the pipe.

The Glasgow meeting is Friday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Cottonwood.

TransCanada plans to haul 30 to 50 miles of pipe to a pipe yard at the unused end of the runway at St. Marie, beginning Sept. 24.

Jason Veness, in charge of stakeholder relations for the Keystone XL pipeline, said it would take 30 to 60 days to move the pipe. The Montana Facilities Siting Act requires notification of the public to acquire the certificate required for the transportation and storage.

The pipe shipments would begin in Regina and enter Montana north of Plentywood at the Port of Raymond.

Veness said the plan is for trucks to turn west onto Highway 248 at Plentywood (the Montana highway map identifies this road as Highway 5), then at Flaxville they would head south on Highway 251 to U.S. 2. They would then travel west on U.S. 2 to Glasgow, turning north on Highway 24 to make the last leg to St. Marie.

TransCanada has hired crews to do assessments of the conditions of the roads it wants to use and has posted a bond to ensure that the roads would be restored to their prior condition after they have finished hauling.