As pipelines come on line, truck traffic (and driving jobs) decrease?

[Cinj]

There's a pipeline under the lake already. White Earth to Charlson areas roughly. Would be a bit east of the proposed one. It was very interesting watching that go in. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea but there it is. That one went in when the lake level was way down and the corps has changed a lot of regulations since then so I don't know if it will fly.

[JanND]

After reading the article, there are many things that the oil related areas should be concerned about, not the least of which imo would be allowing the company that caused the spill, to be the one to determine the amount of oil spilled, thus the amount of possible environmental damages....DUH!

[Cinj]

Little tidbit I heard at an infrastructure and development meeting last week - the pipeline that went online recently between Stanley and Belfield has eliminated approximately 55,000 truck hours per day on hwys 22 and 85 so far. Considering how many miles it takes to get across the river in some cases, the toll on the roads and the traffic congestion out here...
Tradeoffs abound.

[Cinj]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Not sure what the distances are because you can't tell where an underground pipe runs and to what tank. I've seen wells pumping and it's almost a mile to any tanks in the area.

It can be several miles between the wells and the tank battery/treater. Part of my old summer job (early 80's) was walking pipelines, checking for leaks in the Charlson and Blue Buttes area. They criss-cross the region at a slightly overwhelming rate. Sometimes just driving fence posts out here is a little risky. The only time you'll see long term tanks thrown up for an individual well is if it's a barn-burner or a multi well location.

[ursa22]

Originally Posted by Cinj

Little tidbit I heard at an infrastructure and development meeting last week - the pipeline that went online recently between Stanley and Belfield has eliminated approximately 55,000 truck hours per day on hwys 22 and 85 so far. Considering how many miles it takes to get across the river in some cases, the toll on the roads and the traffic congestion out here...
Tradeoffs abound.

55,000 hours divided by 10 hours driving time = 5,500 truck driving jobs eliminated.
Pipeline construction creates jobs... but, at the expense of other jobs. Ultimately, it's economically cheaper to move crude through a pipeline, the gamble is at what cost to the environment- not that truck traffic is environmentally sound.