2.1 Overview of the Proposed Project - Keystone XL pipeline - US ...

Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact StatementKeystone XL ProjectKeystone anticipates a peak workforce of approximately 5,000 to 6,000 construction personnel.These personnel would consist of Keystone employees, contractor employees, constructioninspection staff, and environmental inspection staff. All workers would be trained and certifiedfor their specific field of work (e.g., welders would be qualified as required by 49 CFR 195.222and PHMSA Special Condition 18).Keystone, through its construction contractors and subcontractors, would attempt to hiretemporary construction staff from the local population. Assuming that qualified personnel areavailable, approximately 10 to 15 percent (50 to 100 people per spread) could be hired from thelocal workforce for each spread, although this may not be possible in rural areas. This may notbe possible in more rural areas and or areas with low unemployment.Cross-country pipeline construction would typically proceed at a pace of approximately20 constructed miles per calendar month per spread. Construction would occur in the followingapproximate sequence:• Two to three weeks (14 to 21 calendar days) of work on the ROW prior to the start ofproduction welding. Activities would include clearing, grading, stringing, and ditching.• Production welding at an average rate of 1.25 miles of pipe welded per working day over a 6­day work week (over 7 calendar days), resulting in completion of an average of about7.5 miles of pipeline per week.• Seven weeks (49 calendar days) of additional work after completion of production welding.Activities would include nondestructive testing, field joint coating, pipe installation, tie-ins,backfill, ROW clean-up, hydrostatic testing, reseeding, and other ROW reclamation work.Those time periods and rates of progress were used as the basis for determining the duration ofconstruction activities on the ROW presented in Table 2.1-18 for various spread lengths.Construction in areas with greater congestion or higher population, in industrial areas, or in areasrequiring other special construction procedures could result in a slower rate of progress. Inaddition, approximately 1 month would be required for contractor mobilization before the workis started and 1 month would be required for contractor demobilization after the work is finished.2.1.10.2 Environmental InspectionKeystone would use environmental inspectors on each construction spread. The environmentalinspectors would review the proposed Project activities daily for compliance with state, federal,and local regulatory requirements and would have the authority to stop specific tasks as approvedby the chief inspector. The inspectors would also be able to order corrective action in the eventthat construction activities violate the provisions of the CMRP, landowner requirements, or anyapplicable permit requirements.2.1.11 Operations and MaintenanceThe proposed Project would be operated, maintained, monitored, and inspected in accordancewith 49 CFR 194 and 195 and other applicable federal and state regulations. Keystone has alsoagreed to incorporate 57 PHMSA Project-specific special conditions that address proposedProject operation, inspection, and monitoring (see Appendix B, PHMSA 57 Special Conditions).The operational requirements of 49 CFR 195 and the PHMSA Project-specific SpecialConditions related to operation of the proposed Project (Appendix B, PHMSA 57 SpecialProject Description 2.1-64 March 2013