Pages

Friday, December 19, 2014

Enbridge Oil Spill on same Pipeline through Wisconsin!!!

The Enbridge Pipeline will be cranking more tar sand crude through Wisconsin than even the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, which has been held up for environmental reasons.

Well guess what Wisconsin. Now comes word of a massive spill in Canada from that same pipeline:
Canadian energy delivery company Enbridge Inc. has temporarily shut down and isolated one of its crude oil pipelines that connects to the United States after a 1,350-barrel, or 56,700-gallon oil spill, the company reported Wednesday evening ... the 796,000 barrel-a-day Line 4 pipeline, which connects to a terminal in Wisconsin, carries heavy, medium, and light sour crude ... the spill happened because of a problem with a valve within the terminal, and not because of a problem with the actual pipeline. 

It has made headlines here due to its role in the largest and most expensive inland oil spill in U.S. history, an event which saw more than 800,000-gallons of thick Canadian tar sands crude oil flow out of a ruptured Enbridge pipeline and into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. That spill was also the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history, with Enbridge estimating cleanup costs alone to be about $1.2 billion. 
A problem valve? As you can see by the map, Wisconsin will soon see a whole bunch of new pump stations, with similar valves? The story is unclear about that. But still, will our DNR look into this?
Enbridge won't have the same kind of regulatory scrutiny, because Scott Walker has already approved the massive build up of the pipeline:
The state Department of Natural Resources on Thursday approved an air permit that gives an oil pipeline company the go-ahead to triple capacity between Superior and the Illinois state line. DNR officials also said state law doesn't allow officials to use a company's past operating record when reviewing environmental permits.
Enbridge has had problems with spills before in Wisconsin:
In January 2007, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured, pouring more than 29,000 gallons of crude oil onto a farm field in the town of Curtis in Clark County. A month later, another Enbridge pipeline rupture dumped 176,000 gallons of heavy crude oil in a Rusk County farm field. In January 2009, Enbridge Energy Partners paid the State of Wisconsin $1.1 million to settle claims under Wisconsin’s waterway and wetland protection and storm water control laws. In July 2012 a farm field in Grand Marsh, Wisconsin was covered by at least 1,200 barrels of oil after an Enbridge pipeline ruptured there. Enbridge had to purchase a nearby home that a local resident described as being “covered in oil.”

No comments:

Post a Comment