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The Case of the Disappearing Oil: How Much Oil Was Released in 2010 Pipeline Spill?
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on May 6th, 2013
InsideClimate: A key piece of data related to the biggest tar sands oil spill in U.S. history has disappeared from the Environmental Protection Agency's website, adding to confusion about the size of the spill and possibly reducing the fine that the company responsible for the accident would be required to pay.
The July 2010 accident on an Enbridge Inc. pipeline dumped thousands of barrels of Canadian dilbit into the Kalamazoo River and surrounding wetlands. But almost three years and two federal investigations...
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Arkansas AG on Why He’s Taking Exxon Spill Probe Into His Own Hands
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on April 24th, 2013
InsideClimate: Since launching an investigation into the Mayflower, Ark. oil spill on April 2, state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has pushed hard to resolve unanswered questions about the pipeline accident. McDaniel, a Democrat in his second term as attorney general, caused a stir on April 3 when he insisted on touring the site of the spill with his staff instead of in a bus tour organized by ExxonMobil, the company responsible for the 210,000-gallon pipeline rupture. He drew attention again when he was among...
Exxon’s 22-Foot Rupture Illustrates Tremendous Operating Pressure of Oil Pipelines
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on April 12th, 2013
InsideClimate: The rupture in the ExxonMobil pipeline that sent a river of oil through a suburban neighborhood in Mayflower, Ark. is now known to be 22 feet long and 2 inches wide [3]. That's almost four times larger than the six-foot pipeline tear that sent more than one million gallons of Canadian dilbit into Michigan's Kalamazoo River in 2010, the worst accident of its kind in U.S. history.
The size and speed of the release through a long opening, thin as a mail slot, shines a spotlight on just how quickly...
Exxon Oil Spill Leaves Arkansas Neighborhood In Shock
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on April 4th, 2013
InsideClimate: Nearly a week after an oil pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., residents of this community of 2,200 are still overwhelmed by the disaster that has upended their lives. "All of us are in shock," said David Fox, the pastor of First Baptist Church. "Manmade disasters are so rare in our state ... you don't think this kind of thing can happen to you." The oil spill, which occurred on Good Friday, cast a pall over the church service Fox held that day, he said. On Easter Sunday, an Exxon contractor...
At Oil Spill Clean-Up in Arkansas, Exxon Running the Show, Not Federal Agencies
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on April 2nd, 2013
InsideClimate: A warehouse next to highway I-40 here at the edge of Mayflower, Ark., houses the command center for the ongoing cleanup of thousands of barrels of spilled Canadian heavy oil [3], but it is inaccessible to media. Tightly controlled by ExxonMobil, which was responsible for the spill, access to even the parking lot is not permitted. A security guard now stops anyone without a red lanyard and ID badge from passing into the gated compound. Thousands of barrels of oil from Alberta's tar sands region—similar...
Federal Agencies Asked to Delay Keystone Over Pipeline Safety Issues
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on April 1st, 2013
InsideClimate: A petition filed with federal agencies last week by a coalition led by the National Wildlife Federation is demanding a moratorium on pending tar sands pipelines—including the Keystone XL—until regulators establish new rules to ensure their safety.
As if to illustrate the dangers outlined in the petition, Exxon's Pegasus pipeline that carries Canadian diluted bitumen, or dilbit, on Friday spilled in central Arkansas [3], releasing an estimated 84,000 gallons of the crude within about 45 minutes...
Exxon Says Ruptured Pipeline in Arkansas Carried Canadian Dilbit
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on March 30th, 2013
InsideClimate: A pipeline that ruptured and leaked at least 80,000 gallons of oil into central Arkansas on Friday was transporting a heavy form of crude from the Canadian tar sands region, ExxonMobil told InsideClimate News. Local police said the line gushed oil for 45 minutes before being stopped, according to media reports [3]. Crude oil ran through a subdivision of Mayflower, Ark., about 20 miles north of Little Rock. Twenty-two homes were evacuated, but no one was hospitalized, Exxon spokesman Charlie Engelmann...
Cleanup of 2010 Mich. Dilbit Spill Aims to Stop Spread of Submerged Oil
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on March 27th, 2013
InsideClimate: If all goes well, the next oil removal operation on Michigan's Kalamazoo River will mark the beginning of the end for the cleanup of the largest oil pipeline spill in U.S. history The spill, which occurred in July 2010, already has cost pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. more than $820 million in cleanup expenses. That figure could top $1 billion [3] by the time the latest operation is carried out. The goal of the new effort is to dredge three areas of the river where the U.S. Environmental Protection...
Scientists to policymakers: Clean energy could fuel New York by 2050
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on March 21st, 2013
InsideClimate: By 2050, New York State could run entirely on energy produced from wind, water and sunlight. That radical finding, which goes further than any other clean energy plan envisioned for New York, comes from a peer-reviewed study [3] published last week in the journal Energy Policy. The 13 scientists who wrote the report analyzed the technical and economic feasibility of meeting the state's energy needs solely through renewable energy. They concluded that moving to renewables would stabilize energy prices,...
Mich. OKs Replacement of Second Section of Enbridge Pipeline That Ruptured in 2010
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on February 7th, 2013
InsideClimate: Michigan regulators agreed last week to allow Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. [3] to replace a 160-mile segment of an aging line that in 2010 spilled more than a million gallons of crude oil. The decision by the Michigan Public Service Commission [4] disappointed local landowners who had hoped for more scrutiny and oversight of the project. "I am concerned with the haste with which this project has proceeded," said Jeff Insko [5], an English professor at Michigan's Oakland University who...