ONGIL-MC Chairman McGarvey Urges Secretary Clinton to Approve Presidential Permit for Keystone XL Pipeline

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sean McGarvey, Chairman of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee (ONGIL-MC), today urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to approve the Presidential Permit necessary to move forward construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

"The Keystone XL Pipeline has the potential to meet the stated goals of the Administration by providing energy security for our nation as well as economic security for workers," said McGarvey, who is also the President of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. "The utilization of our member's skills and safety training via the use of a project labor agreement will ensure that this pipeline will have the most extensive safety protections of any ever constructed and operated in the United States."

The completion of a three-year National Environmental Policy Act review by the State Department in August 2011 reaffirmed that the project would not pose any significant threat to the environment, and the pipeline operator, TransCanada has agreed to an additional 57 safety measures that exceed federal requirements. Because of these extensive safety measures, the Keystone XL Pipeline will be the safest oil and natural gas pipeline in the world. In order to get this job creator off the ground, the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee advises that the State Department rely on existing assessment data for the South Dakota and Montana portion of the route, which has not changed.

"The Keystone XL review process has gone through the ringer time and again, and the pipeline has continuously emerged as a safe and viable American energy project that will create jobs for Americans at a time when we need them most," said McGarvey. "We must approve construction of the pipeline and put Americans to work toward helping ensure our nation's energy independence."

Construction of the full Keystone XL Pipeline will create roughly 20,000 domestic construction and manufacturing jobs, as well as provide vital economic growth to all the states along the route through property tax revenue and pipeline infrastructure. Additionally, working to increase our domestic oil production will boost America's long-term supply and developing the infrastructure to bring domestically produced oil and more oil from Canada to American refineries will continue to strengthen our energy security while decreasing dependence on oil from less friendly sources.  Finally, the fact that this project is covered a project labor agreement means that it will be built by the best trained, most productive and safest workers in the world.

The Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee believes that construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline provides Americans with jobs, infrastructure, and a safe source of dependable energy resources. The time has come for Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama to take the necessary steps to begin building the pipeline.

SOURCE Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee