Keystone pipeline leaked 16,000 gallons .....

[chknltl]

Last edited Thu Apr 7, 2016, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: From RT

Keystone pipeline leaked 16,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota field


Published time: 7 Apr, 2016 21:01

Edited time: 7 Apr, 2016 22:19


TransCanada estimated on Thursday that about 16,800 gallons of oil leak in a field in South Dakota from the Keystone I pipeline. The spill, discovered by a farmer over the weekend, led the company to close down the pipeline. The company reported the estimate to the National Response Center and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration which is equivalent to 400 barrels of oil, according to the Associated Press.


The company began excavating the site on Sunday in a field close the town of Freeman, South Dakota, by turning over topsoil. It said they exposed more than 100 feet of pipe, and the estimate comes from oil being observed in the soil, and the potential area affected. There are about 100 workers at the site working around the clock to pinpoint the source of the leak in the pipeline. TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper reported the revised estimate Thursday morning.

“The volume estimate reported this morning to the National Response Centre (NRC) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) was based on the safe excavation of soil to expose more than 100 feet of pipe,” Cooper wrote, according to the Angus Leader. “It takes into account a number of factors, including oil observed in the soil and the potential area impacted.”

Elizabeth Lone Eagle, an official intervener for the state of South Dakota, however is worried about the spill’s close proximity to the James and Missouri rivers and worried that the “groundwater contamination is heading to Yankton, Vermillion, Sioux City... all the way down,” according to CommonDreams. The leak is the fifth in the state for Keystone I, which was approved by the Public Utilities Commission in 2008. DENR’s spill map shows three releases of petroleum in 2010 and one in 2011, one of which took place at the same pump station in 2010, when less than five gallons were released due to a fitting leak, according to the Argus Leader.


TransCanada’s Keystone I pipeline carries light and heavy crude from Hardisty, Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma, while passing through the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The Keystone I pipeline can handle 550,000 barrels, or about 23 million gallons, daily.



Read more: https://www.rt.com/usa/338845-keystone-oil-spill-dakota/

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Edited to add: Key words here: "The spill, discovered by a farmer over the weekend..." !!!!

I watched this story on RT, the reporter said, (paraphrasing), that these pipes use pressure sensors to alert the company of leaks. At the percentage loss from this particular leak, there was insufficient pressure drop to cause the alarms to go off. This all begs the questions: what if this leak had occurred where "farmer" wasn't strolling about? What if this leak was still spilling out atop an important aquifer and nobody knew?

I dunno, to me this should be a bigger story than He Said/She Said

[Wellstone ruled]

1. So much for Chinese pipe,

this stuff is less than five years old.

[silvershadow]

25. Quick...someone order a Chinese replacement pipe for the one that burst. nt

[Wellstone ruled]

28. Won't have to,

Enbridge(Keystone) has a pipe storage yard in Tea,South Dakota. About 45 miles from the Pipeline break.

[Enthusiast]

33. You bad mouthing Chinese pipe? Free trade?

Chinese need jobs too!

[jillan]

2. If only we had media in this country.

[Enthusiast]

34. That's out!

The ones that own the media can put anything on there they want. They worked hard to buy that media.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

3. This is the section that $hillary supported

she was for it before she was against it

or

she was against it before she was for it

got the check the wind

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. So TransCanada is racing in to clean up, right?....

What IDIOTS!

[woofless]

5. Who knew pipelines could leak?

[AlbertCat]

7. A "Mississippi River" of toxic sludge....

..... is such a GREAT IDEA!

Now load that oh so valuable energy source that hasn't leaked out onto ships going everywhere but the USA!


Ugh!

[AuntPatsy]

8. Continues to just get worse ....

[daleanime]

9. kick, kick, kick.....

[kadaholo]

10. So-Called High Tech Industry: "The spill, discovered by a farmer over the weekend..."

So-Called High Tech Industry: "The spill, discovered by a farmer over the weekend..."

It amazes me how anyone can support this industry except for the politicians who have money waved at them.

One of our Democratic candidates is still evolving on this issue. Guess which!

From CNN article September 22, 2015 on Clinton's five positions on the proposed XL Pipeline:

October 2010 "So as I say, we've not yet signed off on it. But we are inclined to do so and we are for several reasons.”

June 2014 "...I hope that Canadians appreciate that the United States government -- the Obama administration -- is trying to get it right.”

January 2015 “...you won't get me to talk about Keystone because I have steadily made clear that I'm not going to express an opinion,”

July 2015 "If it is undecided when I become president, I will answer your question.”

September 2015 "I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is -- a distraction from important work we have to do on climate change,” "And unfortunately from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues. Therefore I oppose it."

This "she said" is important looking for a candidate who will address climate change.

Maybe it was the upcoming election that accounts for her evolution... LOL

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

11. Drum roll, please, Maestro!

[phazed0]

12. Wait, I saw the original press release and it said it was

just a few gallons in a very localized area under the broken pipe!

[KeepItReal]

13. ^^^^ THIS ^^^^

Eom

[PatV]

14. You mean this?

TransCanada had still not confirmed the leak as of Tuesday, calling it a "potential incident." According to Chris Nelson, chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, the leak was first reported by a passerby. TransCanada reported to the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday that 187 gallons of oil had leaked, Nelson said. The line is expected to remain closed all week.

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/05042016/keystone-pipeline-leak-doubts-pipeline-safety-transcanada

[phazed0]

17. Not sure..

Looks to be a different one, but the same idea.. yep.

[EndElectoral]

15. Who the hell was for the Keystone pipeline?!

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. It seems to me the pressure sensor should be calibrated

lower. If 400 barrels can leak without enough of a pressure change to cause an alert, it's simply not sensitive enough. How much could have leaked slowly if the farmer hadn't discovered it? And where else are there slow, undetected leaks.

[phazed0]

18. It's almost impossible to do...

Which is why it's such a bad idea (Pipelines). If you have ever worked or been around high pressure hydraulics you will find that in normal operation (depending on the system) swings of 10's or 100's of PSI during each pump cycle, can be seen. The swing gets larger and "lags" behind as the system gets larger.. that is to say, it takes a while to realize pressure drops the larger the system is.
You can counteract this in a "normal" hydraulic system by increasing the pressure (To realize the drop in pressure sooner) or by using a closed-loop type of system (Which this [pipeline] cannot be) that would report a mismatch between pressures.

It just comes down to pipelines = spills, IMO.

There needs to be some serious engineering to fix this problem. I dunno much that could, maybe a double-walled pipe? If oil leaks out of inner pipe, it could be detected in the outer pipe? Put wet/dry and pressure sensors in the outer pipe every 100 yards... I know it isn't that simple due to the methods used to lay pipe... but damn, right?

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. Not a fan of pipelines

And with the thousands of miles of pipeline already out their, it makes zero sense to build more. It makes less than zero sense to build a pipeline through the US for Canadian bitumen.

[Duckfan]

22. Absolutely

But Hillary seems to think it's working out okay.

[chknltl]

20. At 23 million barrels per day, this is less than 1%.

Accdg to this related article: " Internal sensors are unlikely to detect small leaks and external sensors are prohibitively expensive to use everywhere along a pipeline's path, Kuprewicz said. "
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/05042016/keystone-pipeline-leak-doubts-pipeline-safety-transcanada

This further begs the question, what happens at a 1% pressure drop in an area with none of these "prohitively expensive" external sensors?

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. Well, regardless of the expense

the problem is that the external sensors are OPTIONAL and they shouldn't be. So, to protect OUR environment, they should either make external sensors mandatory or make the fines for the leaks "prohibitively expensive".

[chknltl]

29. I agree, better yet:

Do away with pipelines.

[Fritz Walter]

21. Meanwhile in the Sunshine State, Koch Bros' stooges block renewable energy

Case in point: the newly-elected mayor of Jacksonville replaced board members of the municipally-owned utility -- Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) -- with campaign donors, to do the bidding of the Kochs. The upshot of this move: drastically reduce the credits for residential and commercial customers who generate electricity via solar photovoltaic panels, thereby reducing the incentive to invest in renewable energy.

European countries, Canada and most of the rest of the world offer strong incentives to replace fossil fuels with solar and other sustainable energy sources. But not here.

A pox on Charles and David Koch, Mayor Lenny Curry and others who put personal profits ahead of the benefits to our world and future generations!

[olddad56]

24. what a shock, isn't that what everyone has expected?

we continue to shit in the nest and wonder why it is becoming inhabitable.

[PatrickforO]

26. These are the same assholes suing the US Government under NAFTA provisions for refusing to

build Keystone II. Something about environmental concerns not being as important as profits...

[DonCoquixote]

27. and this

is what Hillary and Justin Trudeau wanted near the Mississippi river?

[Katashi_itto]

30. Vote Clinton! Only she can triple this! American Exceptionalism!

Think of the Jobs this will produce!

[chknltl]

31. New jobs in the medical industry

While the oil barons laugh all the way to their offshore money hidey-holes.

[Katashi_itto]

32. Fresh great Jobs that only a Clinton can deliver!

[Enthusiast]

35. Millions of jobs!

[Hotler]

36. But, but, but.......

look at all the jobs it created.
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Do really need this?