TransCanada asked to disclose if using Indian steel
Press Trust of India / Washington Feb 11, 2012, 14:25 IST
US lawmakers have asked a Canadian company to immediately disclose that it is not using steel made in India for trans-America pipeline -- Keystone XL.
At a Congressional hearing last December, TransCanada Corporation had told lawmakers that the steel to be used in trans-America pipeline -- Keystone XL -- would be produced in North America, not India.
"New information however reveals that the steel may have been produced in India," Congressmen Henry Waxman, Bobby Rush, John Dingell and Mike Doyle said yesterday in a letter to Russell Girling, president and CEO of TransCanada Corporation, requesting that the company immediately disclose where the steel to be used in Keystone XL is manufactured.
They request that TransCanada disclose where the steel for the pipeline is from before the House of Representatives considers legislation to approve Keystone XL next week as part of the Transportation Bill.
In December, Alex Pourbaix of TransCanada testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee that "[W]e are using the latest technologies and the strongest steel pipe from American mills to build the pipeline".
On February 2, TransCanada informed Committee staff that "approximately 74 per cent of the pipe required for the Project in the US was sourced from North American based mills -- Evraz Regina Canada and Welspun Little Rock, US".
It stated, "We have not sourced any steel from India".
New information obtained by Doyle indicates that these statements may not be accurate. On February 6, Welspun Tubular LLC in Little Rock informed Doyle's office that some of the steel pipe to be used in the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline was produced in India.
"Let's understand something. The steel is not being manufactured in Little Rock, Arkansas. There is no steel being manufactured there. They are taking steel that has already been manufactured in a foreign country, heating it up and bending it and welding the seams. That is what is going on in Little Rock, Arkansas. There are approximately 200 to 300 jobs at that plant," Doyle said.
"As this is a privately funded project, TransCanada is entitled to decide where to purchase its materials. However, providing misleading information to Congress in order to obtain a legislative earmark for the approval of its pipeline would be clearly improper," the letter said.
The House is expected to vote on legislation regarding the Keystone XL pipeline next week.
"We believe this issue should be clarified before that vote. We therefore request that TransCanada immediately disclose where the materials to be used in Keystone XL are produced and the quantity of those materials," the Congressmen said.
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