Exxon pipeline rupture is 22 feet long, indicating immense pressure, possible criminal negligence
They couldn’t stop the spewing, and it is a criminal clusterfuck, but at least Exxon has been able to lock down the press coverage with stalinesque efficiency.
Two weeks ago today, Exxon Mobil’s Pegasus pipeline carrying diluted bitumen from Canada ruptured catastrophically, creating a 22-foot long gash that unleashed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and toxic chemical diluents into the Central Arkansas town of Mayflower. Since then, the local media has faced strong intimidation from Exxon, local residents have become sick from the toxic fumes, a severe thunderstorm threatened cleanup efforts, leading officials to release contaminated water into Lake Conway and the Attorney General of Arkansas has launched an investigation, as a number of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of residents.
This would be a great application for citizen drones to do aerial photography.
And there’s more — the dilbit oil that runs through that pipeline is exempt from contribution to the Oil Spill Liability Trust, which is being tapped to clean up this mess. This has a number of implications, first of which is that the transporters of dilbit oil aren’t helping to fund cleanups of their messes. So who pays? Exxon is claiming all over the place that they will clean up the Arkansas mess, but it looks like they would be able to stop at any time and let taxpayers pick up the tab. Second — dilbit is more corrosive than regular petroleum and so pipelines carrying it are at some greater risk. The Feds have stopped this particular pipeline and will certify repairs before letting it turn on again, but this is a risk everywhere dilbit is flowing underground. Third, it will probably take an act of Congress to make sure that the all petroleum products being shipped via pipeline contribute to the fund AND to increase the capital of that fund. Any bets on whether this will happen?
Canada? Seriously? If Arkansas wants more poison goo in their water, why don’t they just blow off another mountaintop, or pump it up from the Gulf?
And Delaware,s congressional delegation supported the XL Pipeline. This is a fuel source that nets about a 3:1 energy output versus about 19:1 for crude oil extracted elsewhere, meaning it contributes significantly more to Greenhouse gas.
Carper-Coons-Carney = CCC = Climate Change Cowards
Coons was on Channel 28 Community Crossfire last week trying to distance himself from that position saying that his ‘vote’ on Keystone XL was actually only a nod supporting a Resolution statement that if the Obama State Department approved the pipeline, the Senate would too.