Pipeline Safety Technical Experts

Since 2011, TGG has focused on the economics of oil supply and transportation, notably Canadian tar sands and US shale via pipelines and rail. Ian Goodman and Brigid Rowan of TGG have co-authored expert reports and testimony on North America’s most controversial pipeline projects, including:

• TransCanada Keystone XL
• TransCanada Energy East
• Enbridge Line 9 Reversal and Capacity Expansion
• Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion.

TGG has co-authored 8 expert reports on the economic development and environmental impacts of crude oil transportation. Our reports have examined the economic costs (with a focus on worst-case spills) and benefits (with a focus on employment and tax revenues) for communities (including states, provinces, and regions).

TGG reports have also analyzed the distribution of costs and benefits between communities/governments and pipeline proponents (energy producers/pipeline companies/refineries). TGG has also produced crude market analyses (examining the economics of crude oil supply and demand in relevant markets) to evaluate the need for various pipelines.

At a national level, TGG evaluated the US employment impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline in Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL, an influential widely publicized study co-authored with Cornell University. TGG evaluated the adequacy of the US State Department’s Market Analysis for Keystone XL. At a state/provincial/regional level, TGG has produced 4 reports on the economic and environmental impacts of pipelines.

TGG’s expert reports on crude oil pipelines include:

• Changes to the Economic Costs and Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline for South Dakota, written expert testimony filed in April and June 2015 at the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on behalf of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Based on the conclusions of pipeline safety expert, Richard Kuprewicz (that (a) the proposed routing in South Dakota places the proposed pipeline at undue risk of rupture with massive release of oil; and (b) the worst-case spill scenario of 60,000 barrels (assuming a 15-minute valve shutoff time)), TGG estimates a range of Worst-Case Scenario Costs starting at US$1 billion and escalating to $2 billion or more for a very high consequence event. Given the Keystone XL’s very small employment and property tax benefits, TGG concludes that, under a range of worst-case scenarios, the costs of the Project will greatly exceed the benefits for South Dakota.
• Economic Costs and Benefits of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) for BC and Metro Vancouver in collaboration with Simon Fraser University, Centre for Public Policy Research. The report, first released in November 2014, shows that the economic development benefits of TMX are very small and have been significantly overstated by Kinder Morgan, whereas the worst-case costs of a catastrophic spill are very large and have been vastly understated.
• Economics of Transporting and Processing Tar Sands Crudes in Quebec in collaboration with Aquiterre and Greenpeace Canada. The January 2014 report demonstrates that the economic development benefits of moving and refining tar sands crudes would be insignificant for Quebec, while the costs and risks are very high.
• The Relative Economic Costs and Benefits of Enbridge’s Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion Project, expert report filed in August 2013 at Canada’s National Energy Board on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups.
• Report evaluating the adequacy of the Keystone XL (KXL) Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) Market Analysis, filed as an attachment to Comments on KXL DSEIS submitted by Sierra Club, NRDC and 14 other groups in April 2013.
• Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL, co-authored with Cornell University, September 2011.

See www.thegoodman.com/publications for links to the complete list of TGG’s reports.

TGG has never been retained by the energy pipeline industry and does not anticipate being retained by this industry in the future. TGG has no potential conflicts in working for an entity that is not aligned with the energy pipeline industry’s interests.

As indicated above in response to other questions, in our 26-year history, TGG has worked for a very diverse range of clients including citizen groups and governments at all levels, as well as regulators, environmental and public interest organizations, consumer groups and indigenous groups. We have been retained by energy industry clients in the past, but these are typically renewable energy companies or utilities and distribution companies seeking analysis of employment impacts related to investment in energy efficiency or renewables.

Since 2011, when TGG’s practice began to focus mainly on the economics of oil supply and transportation, TGG has worked exclusively for environmental, indigenous and public interest groups, and collaborated with academic institutions. We have not been retained by energy industry clients since 2008.