Oil Spill

As Arkema Plant Burns, 6 Things We Know About Petrochemical Risks

September 5, 2017 Gretchen Goldman, www.blog.ucsusa.org Educate! Hurricane, Hurricane Harvey, Oil and Gas, Oil Spill

By Gretchen Goldman for USCUSA - As Harvey continues to wreak havoc in the Southeast, one issue is starting to emerge as a growing threat to public health and safety: Houston’s vast oil, gas, and chemical production landscape. We’ve already seen accidental releases of chemicals at facilities owned by ExxonMobil, Chevron, and others. Now we are seeing explosions at Arkema’s Crosby facility 20 miles northeast of Houston, due to power failures and flooding. And there remains a threat of additional explosions. There is no reason to believe the Crosby facility is the only one at risk of chemical disasters right now. The coast of southeast Texas and Louisiana has a whole lot of petrochemical production—infrastructure that was exactly in the path of Hurricane Harvey and continues to be hit by its remnants. I’ve studied (and been worried about) chemical safety, sea level rise, and storm surge riskto oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf for several years, and many of those fears are now playing out. Here are some things we know about petrochemical production in the Gulf, its storm risks, who’s impacted, and who’s responsible.

Court Lets Exxon Off Hook For Pipeline Spill In Arkansas Neighborhood

August 18, 2017 Georgina Gustin, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Arkansas, Exxon, Oil Spill, Pipelines

By Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News - A federal appeals court has let ExxonMobil largely off the hook for a 2013 pipeline spill that deluged a neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas, with more than 200,000 gallons of heavy tar sands crude oil, sickening residents and forcing them from their homes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday overturned federal findings of violations and the better part of a $2.6 million fine imposed on Exxon's pipeline unit in 2015 by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The regulator had accused the company of failing to maintain the decades-old Pegasus Pipeline and to prioritize testing of a segment of older, high-risk pipe where a 22-foot gash eventually opened along a metal seam. Exxon challenged the violation and fine, arguing there was no proof its actions contributed to the spill and saying it had conducted adequate testing of the pipeline as required by law. The appeals court agreed, saying the company met its legal obligation when it "conducted a lengthy, repeated and in-depth analysis" of the pipeline and its risks.

The Company Behind Dakota Access Pipeline Has Another Big Problem In Ohio

June 24, 2017 Catherine Traywick, www.bloomberg.com Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Ohio, Oil Spill, Pipelines

By Catherine Traywick for Bloomberg - The year began with optimism for Rover. The 2016 election landed friends of Energy Transfer in high places. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry was a company director before he became Energy secretary. President Donald Trump is a former shareholder. After just two weeks in office, Trump cleared the way for the Dakota Access pipeline, which was stalled for months amid protests from Native Americans and their supporters. In that case, Energy Transfer needed a single approval to complete construction -- a federal easement allowing it to drill beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. For Rover, the hold-up stems from mishaps that have prompted federal regulators to look closely at Energy Transfer’s conduct before allowing work to finish. Hint of Trouble The first hint of trouble came last year, when Energy Transfer disregarded a FERC recommendation and razed the 173-year-old Stoneman House in Carroll County, Ohio. The agency used the demolition as a basis for denying Rover a blanket construction permit, forcing Energy Transfer to seek federal approvals at virtually every stage of construction. With that restriction, FERC approved the project in February, and Energy Transfer undertook an aggressive construction push. In a matter of weeks, workers cleared 2,918 acres of trees along 511 miles of the pipeline’s route, finishing just in time to beat bat-roosting season, which would have halted work. The company said it’s hired 13,000 workers over the past four months.

Dakota Access Pipeline Is Already Springing Leaks

May 27, 2017 Alexandra Jacobo, www.nationofchange.org Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Oil Spill

By Alexandra Jacobo for Nation of Change - The yet to be completed, controversial Dakota Access Pipeline has leaked more than 100 gallons of oil already. The pipeline sprang two separate leaks in March. First, 84 gallons of oil were spilled due to a leaky flange on March 3. This leak was located in Watford City. According to the North Dakota Health Department the oil flow was immediately cut off and the spill was contained on the site. A second incident happened on March 5 in Mercer county and spilled 20 gallons of oil. The leak was due to a manufacturing defect on an above-ground valve. The contaminated soil was removed and nothing else was affected. More recently the pipeline spilled another 84 gallons just outside of Tulare, South Dakota. This took place on April 1 and was due to mechanical failure during the testing of a surge pump, according to Aberdeen News. Although the company behind the project, Energy Transfer Partners, and the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources consider these “small” leaks and insist they were easily contained, the spills are troubling for many environmentalists, and more importantly for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that has spent the last year and a half protesting the completion of the pipeline.

Australian Oil Well Leaked Into Ocean For Months – But Spill Kept Secret

May 19, 2017 Michael Slezak, www.theguardian.com Educate! Australia, Oceans, Oil Spill

By Michael Slezak for The Guardian - An offshore oil and gas well in Australia leaked oil continuously into the ocean for two months in 2016, releasing an estimated 10,500 litres. But the spill was never made public by the regulator and details about the well, its whereabouts and operator remain secret. In its annual offshore performance report released this week, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority included a mention of a 10,500-litre spill in April 2016. It provided limited details about, noting that it had been identified during a routine inspection. After inquiries from the Guardian, Nopsema said the leak went on for two months, at a rate of about 175 litres a day. It went unnoticed while the floating platform was undergoing maintenance and was only discovered when the platform returned. A spokesman for Nopsema said the leak had been caused by a seal degrading. The regulator investigated the spill and said the operator had been ordered to check the seals were working before disconnecting the platform. But despite requests to reveal exactly where the spill occurred, or what company was responsible, Nopsema refused to disclose the information, revealing only that it was in the North West Shelf. The Nopsema spokesman said that since companies were compelled by law to report these leaks the regulator believed there was an “implied duty of confidence”.

Dakota Pipeline Builder Under Fire For Ohio Spill: 8 Violations In 7 Weeks

May 16, 2017 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Dakota Access Pipeline, Ohio, Oil Spill, Pipelines

By Zahra Hirji for Inside Climate News - U.S. regulators halted construction at new sites on an Ohio pipeline after several million gallons of drilling mud coated important state wetlands. Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline, is under fire from federal and state regulators after triggering a massive spill, and seven other violations, during the first seven weeks of construction of a major gas pipeline in Ohio. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday sent a letter to the Rover pipeline operator ordering it to not start construction on any new locations, as well as to stop construction at the site of the major wetlands spill and to hire an independent contractor to dig into what went wrong there. "Staff has serious concerns regarding the magnitude of the incident (which was several orders of magnitude greater than other documented [horizontal directional drilling] inadvertent returns for this project), its environmental impacts, the lack of clarity regarding the underlying reasons for its occurrence, and the possibility of future problems," federal regulators wrote. The phrase "inadvertent returns" is industry speak for a certain type of spill or release of construction material.

Dakota Access Pipeline Spills At South Dakota Pump Station

May 13, 2017 Staff, www.unicornriot.ninja Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Oil Spill

By Staff of Unicorn Riot - Spink County, SD – Officials have provided public notice of a leak of oil from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) which occurred over a month ago. On April 4, 84 gallons of oil (roughly equivalent to two barrels) leaked at a pipeline pump station in a rural area near Crandon, South Dakota, according to the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources Ground Water Quality Program. The Dakota Access Pipeline is not yet operational but company officials claim it will go online June 1. The Dakota Access Pipeline faced massive opposition in North Dakota, where it’s route goes underneath the Missouri River about a mile upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. Indigenous water protectors have repeatedly cited the threat to clean drinking water posed by a potential pipeline leak as well as a lack of consent from affected tribes, among their motivations for fighting the pipeline. “These spills are going to be nonstop,” Standing Rock tribal Chairman Dave Archambault told ABC news. “With 1,200 miles of pipeline, spills are going to happen. Nobody listened to us. Nobody wants to listen, because they’re driven by money and greed.”

Dakota Pipeline Is Ready for Oil, Without Spill Response Plan For Standing Rock

May 12, 2017 Phil Mckenna, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Oil Spill, Safety, Standing Rock

By Phil Mckenna for Inside Climate News - Without a complete emergency plan or equipment, a spill at the Missouri River crossing could cause tremendous damage to the environment and the tribe's water. Oil is set to flow through the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, but there is still no oil spill response plan in place for the section of pipe that crosses the Missouri River just upstream from the Standing Rock reservation. The company won't be required to have emergency response cleanup equipment stored near the river crossing for another year, either. The lack of rigorous safety measures for the crude oil pipeline is raising concerns from lawyers and pipeline consultants for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose protests and legal fight against the Dakota Access pipeline became a flashpoint for environmental justice and indigenous rights last year. Despite the prolonged resistance, the pipeline is scheduled to begin operating on June 1 after President Donald Trump issued an order expediting its approval. Dakota Access LLC, the company building the pipeline, is required by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to submit a general emergency plan for the entire half-million-barrel-a-day project before oil shipments begin.

Fracking Well Spills Poorly Reported In Most Top-Producing States

February 23, 2017 Nicholas Kusnetz, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Fracking, Oil Spill

By Nicholas Kusnetz for Inside Climate News - The nation's regulation of oil and gas development is a mish-mash of disjointed state oversight that makes it difficult to quantify the environmental impacts of drilling. A new study highlights just how inconsistent spill reporting is, showing that the range in requirements makes it impossible to compare states or come up with a comprehensive national picture. The research, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, pulled together some of the disparate data and found there have been about 5 spills each year for every 100 wells that have been hydraulically fractured. Of the states examined, North Dakota had the highest rate of spills while Colorado companies reported just 11 spills per 1,000 wells annually. But some or all of that difference may be due to the huge differences in what the states ask oil companies to report. North Dakota requires operators to report any spill of 42 gallons or more, while Colorado and New Mexico generally don't ask for anything smaller than 210 gallons. Texas, the nation's top oil and gas producing state, wasn't even included in the study because detailed data was not easily accessible.

Enbridge’s Kalamazoo River Oil Spill Settlement Greeted By Flood Of Criticism

February 11, 2017 David Hasemyer, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Michigan, Oil Spill, Settlements

By David Hasemyer for Inside Climate News - After considering and rejecting nearly all public suggestions for penalizing Enbridge over the largest ever oil spill into an inland U.S. waterway, federal authorities are asking a judge to approve a settlement negotiated with the Canadian pipeline company. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency are seeking the court's approval to assess a $61 million fine and require more than $100 million in safety improvements by the company. If approved, the settlement would close the books on the federal government's oversight of the massive 2010 oil spill that fouled a 40-mile stretch of Michigan's Kalamazoo River. The company's $1.2 billion cleanup effort took nearly five years.

Thousands Of Invisible Oil Spills Are Destroying The Gulf

December 13, 2016 Emma Grey Ellis, www.wired.com Educate! Gulf Coast of United States, Infrastructure, Oil Spill

By Emma Grey Ellis for WIred - HURRICANE IVAN WOULD not die. After traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, it stewed for more than a week in the Caribbean, fluctuating between a Category 3 and 5 storm while battering Jamaica, Cuba, and other vulnerable islands. And as it approached the US Gulf Coast, it stirred up a massive mud slide on the sea floor. The mudslide created leaks in 25 undersea oil wells, snarled the pipelines leading from the wells to a nearby oil platform, and brought the platform down on top of all of it. And a bunch of the mess—owned by Taylor Energy—is still down there, covered by tons of silty sediment. Also, twelve years later, the mess is still leaking.

Pipeline Spill Contaminates Local Water Just 200 Miles From Standing Rock

December 9, 2016 Alexandra Jacobo, www.nationofchange.org Educate! Oil Spill, Pipelines, Standing Rock

By Alexandra Jacobo for Nation of Change - Just 200 miles from Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where water protectors have been preventing the completion of the Dakota Access pipeline, a different North Dakota pipeline has leaked, poisoning nearby water. The pipeline, a six-inch crude oil pipeline operated by the Belle Fourche Pipeline Company, was shut down after the leak was discovered on Monday, but the threat to local drinking water and the surrounding environment remain. The spill caused oil to leak into the Ash Coulee Creek in Billings County. The amount of oil that was spilled is currently unknown, but is “significant” according to Bill Suess...

North Dakota’s Oil Spill Record: 85 Pipeline Accidents In 20 Years

December 9, 2016 David Kirby, www.takepart.com Educate! North Dakota, Oil Spill, Pipelines

By David Kirby for Take Part - Environmentalists who oppose the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline have a message for the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the incoming Trump administration: When it comes to pumping oil across North Dakota, past is prologue, and that’s bad news for human health and the environment. An analysis released Wednesday by the Center for Biological Diversity found that pipelines in North Dakota have spilled crude oil and other hazardous liquids at least 85 times since 1996. Those spills—an average of four a year—caused more than $40 million in property damage, the center said, citing data from the United States Department of Transportation.

An Inevitable Disaster, A Failed Spill Response

October 26, 2016 Heather Libby, www.thetyee.ca Educate! Oil Spill

By Heather Libby for The Tyee - In the early morning last Thursday, the tugboat Nathan E. Stewart and barge DBL 55 were travelling back down the B.C. coast after delivering petroleum products in Ketchikan, Alaska. The tug passed the Ivory Island lighthouse, 11.5 kilometres north of Bella Bella, where its crew should have made a gentle turn to the southeast, passing easily between the rocky reef off Athlone Island and the mainland.

Pipeline Owned By Company Behind Dakota Access Leaks 55K Gallons Of Gasoline

October 25, 2016 Alexandra Jacobo, www.nationofchange.org Educate! Oil Spill, Pennsylvania, Pipelines

By Alexandra Jacobo for Nation of Change - A different, completed pipeline owned by Sunoco Logistics, the same company behind the construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, leaked 55,000 gallons, or 1,300 barrels, of gasoline into a major river on Friday. The pipeline leaked into the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This river is already the third most endangered river in the United States, mostly due to the development of the natural gas industry.

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