Oil Pipeline Through Illinois Expected To Be Done By Summer

A 600-mile pipeline extending from Illinois to Oklahoma could be ready by this summer.

That's according to a report by WNIJ Radio.

The pipeline belonging to Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Alberta will carry tar sands from Flanagan, Ill. near Pontiac to Enbridge's terminal in Cushing, Okla. It also travels through Missouri and Kansas.

Construction began in August of 2013. Enbridge spokeswomen Katie Lange said the pipeline should be in service by the summer.

"In the Illinois area though, we already have much of it completed as far as clearing the grading, the trenching, and lowering in the pipe," she said.  "The main areas that are left are restoration where we are putting the topsoil back over and filling in seeding, etc," Lange said.

Lange said many of the regions along the pipeline experienced extremely low temperatures this winter, which is making it more difficult to put the topsoil back on.
 
From Oklahoma, the oil could be moved through existing lines to Gulf Coast refineries. The Flanagan South pipeline runs parallel to another Enbridge route that's already in place.
 
Lange said this winter's bitter temperatures slowed down work putting topsoil back ver the pipeline in some areas.  Still, the project is set to be done in mid-2014.

The Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation filed a lawsuit over the pipeline project. The Sierra Club asked a judge to halt construction in the meantime, but that request was denied.