Large-scale infrastructure projects like the Rover Pipeline are the lifeblood of construction workers, providing thousands of good-paying jobs to hardworking, highly trained professionals. Wade Pilgreen, Financial Secretary Treasurer of Pipeliners Local Union 798, underscored that fact in a recent letter to the editor published by the Adrian Daily Telegram. In the letter, Pilgreen voices his support for the Rover Pipeline, illustrating the project’s importance to tradesmen and women throughout the Midwest:
As a leader of Pipeliners 798 with many members living in the area, I can speak to the thousands of local construction jobs the Rover project will create; as many as 10,000 jobs total during the construction phase, including between 1,000 and 1,500 positions here in Michigan. Our work attests to our high quality craftsmanship and past performance for safety, reliability, and quality performance. Michigan has more underground natural gas capacity — 1.1 trillion cubic feet — than any other state in the nation. The reason you don’t hear much about Michigan’s existing natural gas infrastructure is because it’s so interwoven into our daily lives, operating safely and efficiently day in and day out, that it causes no problems. Nearly 80 percent of the Rover Pipeline will parallel existing pipelines, power lines and roads.
Pilgreen goes on to detail the wave of economic benefits beyond job creation generated by the project, writing:
Rover will also create and sustain spin-off jobs in the community to cater to the needs of pipeline personnel, especially in the service and retail industries. That sort of economic activity translates into thousands of hours of new construction work for members of our brother Unions: from wiring work camps that house out-of-state workers to new offices for energy companies that will set up shop in the our region.
Energy Transfer, the company privately funding this $4.3 billion project, has committed to “Buy American” in a very way that would make the Trump Administration proud. More than 76 percent of the pipe will be manufactured in the United States, along with all compression assembly and packaging. The majority of the remaining major materials will be purchased, manufactured or assembled in the United States. All told, Rover is expected to contribute nearly $1 billion in direct spending to the United States economy.
States won’t be left out either and can expect to increase their treasuries with more than $153 million in property tax revenue. In Michigan, various taxes will raise a total of $32.4 million for state and local governments.
As Mr. Pilgreen concludes, “We’re excited to get to work on the Rover Pipeline, and ensure the job gets done right.” The Coalition for the Expansion of Pipeline Infrastructure is equally excited for the many employment opportunities created by the Rover Pipeline, as well as the assurance that the project will be constructed safely and efficiently by skilled workers.