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Houston-based USD Group is pushing ahead with plans to double the capacity of its Hardisty rail terminal, adding heavy crude oil, butane and propane to the mix of products it can load onto 120-railcar unit trains and move to markets.

The current facility can load two 120-car unit trains per day. Expanded, it could load four 120-car trains per day.

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The expansion would supplement existing pipelines and “reduce transportation constraints of oil products in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner,” USD Group subsidiary USD Terminals Canada says in a project summary filed with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

The summary says the decision to proceed with the project will be contingent on the development of commercial agreements with shippers.

Company officials couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, but the summary shows USD Terminals Canada wants to build nine new rail tracks and loading infrastructure immediately north of its existing facility, 10 kilometres southeast of Hardisty.

The terminal sits alongside CP Rail’s north main line. Hardisty, 200 km southeast of Edmonton, is a major hub for the transportation of crude oil.

The environmental assessment agency decided last month that an assessment for the expansion is required because of the possibility of adverse environmental effects. Input received from aboriginal groups and the wider public during a 20-day comment period was another factor.