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In eastern Montana, a new oil pipeline comes with perils and a potential payday
Bridger Pipeline LLC plans a 650-mile pipeline through eastern Montana and Wyoming to carry tar sands oil from Canada to Guernsey, Wyoming. For farmers and ranchers facing drought and rising costs, easement payments could provide welcome income, while the project would transport oil with higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional crude.
The route crosses nine Montana counties and nearly 300 landowners’ properties. Bridger negotiates payments individually, generally as one-off sums based on pipeline length, and may also cover survey access or preliminary legal advice; previous pipeline offers have ranged from tens of thousands to more than $150,000. President Donald Trump granted the project a permit to cross the Canadian border, and the company says construction could begin within a year.
In short
- Bridger proposes a 650-mile tar sands oil pipeline through Montana and Wyoming.
- Nearly 300 Montana landowners could receive easement payments.
- The oil is estimated to produce about 20% more emissions than conventional crude.
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The case for
For farmers and ranchers coping with drought and rising costs, easement payments could provide substantial, timely income while allowing them to keep using much of their land. Supporters may also see the pipeline as a way to move Canadian oil to market, support energy supply and economic activity, and give landowners a negotiated return for hosting infrastructure.
The case against
Landowners may face lasting disruption or risks to their soil, water and operations, while one-off payments may not reflect the full long-term costs of a route across working land. Critics may also argue that expanding transport for tar sands oil, which has higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional crude, deepens reliance on a carbon-intensive fuel and conflicts with efforts to reduce emissions.
Explained simply
Tar sands oil is a thick crude oil produced from deposits in Canada. To move it by road or rail is costly, so pipelines are used to carry it to refineries; this proposed route would run from the Canadian border through eastern Montana to Wyoming.
The line would cross land owned by hundreds of farmers and ranchers. The company needs agreements to place it on private property, and payments for that access could bring some landowners income at a time when drought and rising costs are putting pressure on farms and ranches.
The project also raises questions about the effects of transporting and producing tar sands oil, which is associated with higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional crude. Those emissions contribute to climate change, while the pipeline’s route and construction could affect the people and land it crosses.
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