TransCanada continues to use
the talking point that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will be the "safest
pipeline ever," but the truth is that the tar sands pipeline will not even be
using advanced spill protection technology.
TransCanada’s credibility and safety record are already questionable: in just its first year of operation, TransCanada’s existing Keystone pipeline leaked fourteen times in the U.S., a hundred times more leaks than TransCanada predicted. Federal pipeline safety officials have shut down the pipeline because of mechanical issues, Canadian regulators are auditing the company for systemic safety violations, and a former employee reported that systematic shortcuts were taken in the construction of Keystone I which compromised its safety.
Now, the company is taking shortcuts in the leak detection technology on its latest project—risking irrigation and drinking water in America’s heartland.
From Inside Climate News:
The leak detection technology that will be used on the Keystone XL, for instance, is standard for the nation's crude oil pipelines and rarely detects leaks smaller than 1 percent of the pipeline's flow. The Keystone will have a capacity of 29 million gallons per day—so a spill would have to reach 294,000 gallons per day to trigger its leak detection technology.
The Keystone XL also won't get two other safeguards found on the 19-mile stretch of the pipeline over Austin's aquifer: a concrete cap that protects the Longhorn from construction-related punctures, and daily aerial or foot patrols to check for tiny spills that might seep to the surface.
Experts interviewed by InsideClimate News estimate it would cost less than $10 million—roughly 0.2 percent of the Keystone's $5.3 billion budget—to add external sensor cables, a concrete cap and extra patrols to the 20 miles of the pipeline in Nebraska where a spill would be most disastrous. The water table in that area lies less than 20 feet below the surface and provides ranchers with a steady supply of fresh water.
Although the Keystone XL would run 1,200 miles across the nation's heartland, the area of greatest concern has always been Nebraska, where it crosses 222 miles of the Ogallala aquifer. Last year, TransCanada agreed to move the line out of Nebraska's Sandhills region, a fragile landscape that became a symbol for the project's opponents. But the new route still goes through 20 miles of Nebraska where the water table is less than 20 feet below ground—high enough for groundwater to bubble to the surface during the spring. An additional 70 miles crosses areas where the water table is 20 to 50 feet underground.
The [2010] Enbridge accident showed what happens when dilbit spills into a river. But little is known about how dilbit might behave in an aquifer, said Wayne Woldt, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor who studies groundwater management.
Once an aquifer is contaminated, it's virtually impossible to restore it to its pristine condition, Woldt said. The extent of damage would depend on the size of the spill and on how the dilbit moves within the aquifer.
TransCanada’s credibility and safety record are already questionable: in just its first year of operation, TransCanada’s existing Keystone pipeline leaked fourteen times in the U.S., a hundred times more leaks than TransCanada predicted. Federal pipeline safety officials have shut down the pipeline because of mechanical issues, Canadian regulators are auditing the company for systemic safety violations, and a former employee reported that systematic shortcuts were taken in the construction of Keystone I which compromised its safety.
Now, the company is taking shortcuts in the leak detection technology on its latest project—risking irrigation and drinking water in America’s heartland.
From Inside Climate News:
The leak detection technology that will be used on the Keystone XL, for instance, is standard for the nation's crude oil pipelines and rarely detects leaks smaller than 1 percent of the pipeline's flow. The Keystone will have a capacity of 29 million gallons per day—so a spill would have to reach 294,000 gallons per day to trigger its leak detection technology.
The Keystone XL also won't get two other safeguards found on the 19-mile stretch of the pipeline over Austin's aquifer: a concrete cap that protects the Longhorn from construction-related punctures, and daily aerial or foot patrols to check for tiny spills that might seep to the surface.
Experts interviewed by InsideClimate News estimate it would cost less than $10 million—roughly 0.2 percent of the Keystone's $5.3 billion budget—to add external sensor cables, a concrete cap and extra patrols to the 20 miles of the pipeline in Nebraska where a spill would be most disastrous. The water table in that area lies less than 20 feet below the surface and provides ranchers with a steady supply of fresh water.
Although the Keystone XL would run 1,200 miles across the nation's heartland, the area of greatest concern has always been Nebraska, where it crosses 222 miles of the Ogallala aquifer. Last year, TransCanada agreed to move the line out of Nebraska's Sandhills region, a fragile landscape that became a symbol for the project's opponents. But the new route still goes through 20 miles of Nebraska where the water table is less than 20 feet below ground—high enough for groundwater to bubble to the surface during the spring. An additional 70 miles crosses areas where the water table is 20 to 50 feet underground.
The [2010] Enbridge accident showed what happens when dilbit spills into a river. But little is known about how dilbit might behave in an aquifer, said Wayne Woldt, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor who studies groundwater management.
Once an aquifer is contaminated, it's virtually impossible to restore it to its pristine condition, Woldt said. The extent of damage would depend on the size of the spill and on how the dilbit moves within the aquifer.
###
For more information,
contact:
Josh Mogerman, jmogerman@nrdc.org, 312-651-7909
Jane Kleeb, jane@boldnebraska.org, 402-705-3622
Josh Mogerman, jmogerman@nrdc.org, 312-651-7909
Jane Kleeb, jane@boldnebraska.org, 402-705-3622
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