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Oil Spill

Ruptured Pipeline Pumps Shale Oil Along Yellowstone River

January 20, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org , ,
A pipeline rupture in Eastern Montana on Saturday, which spilled up to 50,000 gallons of Bakken shale crude oil into the Yellowstone River, has local residents worried that their water supplies may now be contaminated. According to a statement (pdf) released by Bridger Pipeline Co., which operates the Poplar Pipeline, the breach occurred approximately nine miles upstream from Glendive, Montana. The company claims that no more than 1,200 barrels, or 50,000 gallons, of crude oil were released and stated that an "unknown amount of that total has spilled into the Yellowstone River." It was not immediately clear whether their estimates have been independently verified.

Enbridge And Regulators Missed Most Oil Spills From Pipeline

December 29, 2014 Jessica McDiarmid, www.thestar.com , , ,
An aging Enbridge pipeline that runs across Ontario has had at least 35 spills — far more than reported to federal regulators — but many municipalities along its route have never been informed of the incidents, a CTV W5 investigation reveals. The National Energy Board, which regulates pipelines in Canada, has records of seven spills, while Enbridge told the investigative program there had been 13. But W5’s analysis of information from the energy board, the company and Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment showed 35 spills associated with the 830-kilometre Line 9. (The Quebec government refused to provide W5 with any information). The company is seeking federal approval to increase and reverse flow on the 38-year-old pipeline and use it to transport, in part, diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands.

Enbridge Line 4 Spills 1,350 barrels Of Oil In 2 Minutes & 26 Seconds

December 19, 2014 Brent Patterson, www.canadians.org , ,
The Enbridge Line 4 pipeline, a 796,000 barrels per day pipeline from Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin, has spilled 1,350 barrels of oil at a pumping station in Regina. Council of Canadians Regina chapter activist Jim Elliott says, "It only took 2 minutes and 26 seconds to spill 1,350 barrels of oil in the latest spill in Regina." Enbridge's Line 1 to 4 pipelines converge at Lake Superior and from there join with Line 5 which goes around the northern shore of Lake Michigan (and under the Straits of Mackinac) and Line 6 which goes around the southern shore of the lake. It is not clear at this point how long Line 4 will be shut down because of the leak which is now under investigation. Enbridge said in June that it was building a connection between Line 4 and Line 67 so that barrels could be diverted to Line 67 during a prolonged disruption. Line 67 also runs from Alberta to Wisconsin.

Exxon Seeks To Keep 900,000 Pages Of Oil Spill Documents Secret

November 1, 2014 Elizabeth Douglass, www.insideclimatenews.org , , , ,
Oil giant ExxonMobil is seeking "unprecedented secrecy" by labeling nearly 900,000 pages of documents as confidential in a class action lawsuit over an oil pipeline rupture in Arkansas, an attorney said in a new court filing. The attorney, Tom Thrash, said Exxon's blanket assertion of confidentiality prevents affected property owners and the public from learning whether Exxon had properly maintained and repaired the 1940s-era Pegasus oil pipeline at the heart of the case, and it has forced him to file his arguments under seal. The 858-mile Pegasus, which stretches from Patoka, Ill. to Nederland, Texas, was carrying Canadian diluted bitumen (dilbit) when it burst open in Mayflower, Ark. on March 29, 2013. An estimated 210,000 gallons of thick oil oozed into a neighborhood and waterway, sickening residents and forcing the evacuation of 22 homes. Exxon later bought most of the houses because the owners didn't want to return.

4,000 Barrels Of Oil Spill From Louisiana Pipeline

October 20, 2014 Craig Sims, www.ktbs.com , , , , ,
MOORINGSPORT, La. (KTBS) - Raw oil is coating around a four mile section of Tete Bayou in Caddo Parish after a major spill Monday, around 8 AM. It happened just southwest of Mooringsport. Three families have been displaced because of the environmental disaster. The burst oil pipe belongs to Sunoco Logistics, which says the exact cause of the spill is still under investigation. Sunoco faces a long cleanup. The company estimates for now that around 4,000 thousand barrels worth of oil poured from the pipe, which carries oil from Texas to Ohio. At a press conference Saturday, it was announced around 1,900 barrels have already been cleaned up so far. Louisiana State Police say the three families were not forced out but asked to leave because of the oil's fumes.

BP Found “Grossly Negligent” In Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

September 5, 2014 Susan E. Matthews, www.audubonmagazine.org , , ,
BP is guilty of gross negligence for its role in the disastrous 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge ruled this morning. The company may be forced to pay up to $18 billion in penalties, according to Bloomberg News. At least 80 percent of these fines will be funneled directly into environmental restoration, per the Restore Act, says Brian Moore, Audubon's legislative director. "It changes altogether the scope of the restoration of the Gulf," Moore says. The explosion and resulting spill killed 11 people and caused immeasurable environmental damage, including killing thousands of birds. Leaked oil is still hurting birds in the area years after the 2010 disaster. In 2012 BP accepted criminal responsibility for the disaster, and the company has already paid fines and restitution totaling $4.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Following the announcement of the additional fines from the gross negligence decision this morning, BP shares fell more than 6 percent. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier held the trial without a jury, and did not rule on how much oil was ultimately spilled in months after the rig explosion. That figure will ultimately determine the eventual fine BP pays--the Clean Water Act dictates that $4,300 is paid per barrel of oil spilled. The company is expected to appeal the decision, which could delay payment on the fines for years.
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