TC Energy said Monday that it’s started construction on the long-stalled Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border despite calls from Indigenous leaders and environmentalists to delay the US $8-billion project amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson for TC Energy said work began over the weekend at the border crossing in northern Montana, a remote area with sprawling cattle ranches and wheat fields.
About 100 workers are involved initially, but that number is expected to swell into the thousands in coming months as work proceeds, according to the company.
The 1,930-kilometre pipeline was proposed in 2008 and would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude daily for transfer to refineries and export terminals on the Gulf of Mexico.