Labor Supports DAPL Optimization
The Peoria Journal Star recently published a letter from Robert Schroeder of LiUNA Local 231 based in Pekin, IL, expressing support for optimization of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which transports crude oil from the Bakken region in North Dakota to the Patoka Oil Terminal in southern Illinois. Schroeder explains the project, which would be completed in part by the skilled craftsmen and women of LiUNA:
This project adds no new miles to the pipeline, but allows the line to double throughput to almost 1.1 million barrels a day. This isn’t detrimental to the environment; it instead allows for valuable and safe upgrades to a system already in place.
Further, Schroder emphasizes the economic importance of DAPL optimization for Illinois:
In Illinois almost 30% of traditional energy workers work in the oil and gas industry. Their training and safety standards put them at the forefront of this industry. Those workers, over 32,000, and their families contribute to the state economy. They pay taxes, they send their children to our public schools, and they are valued members of our communities.
Schroeder concludes that given the unprecedented challenges facing the American economy: “We need safe reliable energy brought to us by skilled and safe workers.”
