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Spill leads to concerns about proposed oil pipeline
News Articles | The Grand Island Independent | Robert Pore | April 25, 2010
Read the full article on the originating site
A Minnesota oil pipeline spill last Wednesday has alarmed conservationists who are protesting construction of a much bigger and “riskier” pipeline crossing six states, including Nebraska, said Duane Hovorka, executive director of the Nebraska Wildlife Federation.
Hovorka said the Minnesota pipeline, owned by Enbridge Energy, carries tar sands crude from Canada through Minnesota to Wisconsin. He said an unknown amount of crude oil leaked out of a 1-inch crack into a wetland area where the pipe is located.
The leak, Hovorka said, was first discovered and reported by local firefighters. Enbridge Energy reportedly did not know of the leak until the fire crews called and notified them. Though oil transportation companies like Enbridge claim to have safety regulations and mechanisms in place to immediately detect problems, Hovorka said leaks like this can occur and not be noticed for days.
“Concerns about potential leaks like this are mounting in regard to a new tar sands oil pipeline that has been proposed to cut through Montana, crossing the Missouri River as it travels south to Nebraska, where it will cross the Niobrara River and carve up the Nebraska Sandhills region on its way to Texas refineries,” Hovorka said. “The Sandhills region is particularly vulnerable to pipeline spills because of the porous soil and the fact that the Ogallala Aquifer lies beneath its surface.”
The pipeline through Nebraska, announced in 2008, would transport oil from fields in Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast. It would be built and maintained by TransCanada through a partnership with the oil giant ConocoPhillips, and would pump 700,000 to 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day once it’s built in 2011.
Its proposed path would run northwest to southeast through Garfield, Wheeler, Greeley, Boone, Nance, Merrick and Hamilton counties on its way through the state.
Hovorka said the idea of having a pipeline running through the state, putting wildlife habitats, farmland and public water resources at risk of leaks similar to what has occurred in Minnesota, makes one question the value of this fuel source “especially when we can be investing in clean energy and conservation instead.”
“When also taking into consideration the environmental destruction that is required to produce tar sands oil to begin with — an energy-intensive process that emits three times more greenhouse gases than conventional oil, requires two barrels of water for every barrel of oil, and the clearing of boreal forest for wastelands of tailing ponds, it becomes clear that tar sands is the wrong energy choice for Americans,” said Jenny Pelej, field coordinator with National Wildlife Federation.
On its Web site, TransCanada said a draft Environmental Impact Statement published by the U.S. Department of State states the company’s Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion project would have limited impact on the environment.
TransCanada cited the summary of alternatives in the draft EIS highlights that, without the project, “The U.S. would not receive a reliable and cost efficient source of crude oil from the (Western Canada Sedimentary Basin) region and would remain dependent upon unstable foreign oil supplies from the Mideast, Africa, Mexico, and South America.
“Further, the WCSB crude oil would likely be shipped to countries outside of North America, which would require new infrastructure that would result in environmental impacts at least as great as those of the proposed project. In addition, the transport of crude oil by tanker and other means such as truck and rail would likely result in greater greenhouse gas emissions than those that
would occur as a result of the proposed project.”
The state is accepting comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Public hearings will be held at three locations in Nebraska where verbal comments will be accepted. In addition, written comments will be accepted through the end of May, unless a comment period extension is given.
The hearings are scheduled:
May 6, 7 to 9 p.m. Fairbury, Rock Island Railroad Depot, 910 Second St., Fairbury.
May 10, 7 to 9 p.m., York, York Auditorium, 211 E. 7th Street, York.
May 11, 7 to 9 p.m., Atkinson, Atkinson Community Center, 206 W. 5th Street, Atkinson.
Tagged with: transcanada, nebraska, montana, leakage, enbridge energy, minnesota pipeline
