A pipeline might soon carry oil from the Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries, but its not the controversial Keystone XL. The , slated to open in 2015, could be up and running before anyone thinks to protest. It would extend 774 miles from an existing oil storage hub in Patoka, Illinois, to St. James, Louisiana, carrying up to 660,000 barrels a dayalmost as much as Keystone XL. State and federal regulations have stalled the latter, but experts say thats much less likely to happen with Eastern, which will be repurposed from an existing natural gas line. Its already in the ground, says Carl Weimer, the s executive director. They dont have to purchase easements or prepare an environmental impact statement, so they can easily change whats going through the pipes. The project is a joint venture between Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas and Canadas Enbridge, the company responsible for the 2010 oil spill in Michigans Kalamazoo River, the largest inland accident in U.S. history. Easterns path cuts through national forests home to such threatened and endangered species as the Louisiana black bear, the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the gray bat. To protect wildlife and habitat, Weimer says, states should pass laws requiring greater scrutiny of spill responses.