#dilbit

[pavel-nosok]

Why the Keystone Pipeline Oil Spill in Kansas Is So Hard to Clean Up

Why the Keystone Pipeline Oil Spill in Kansas Is So Hard to Clean Up

The Keystone Pipeline spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of tar sands oil into a creek in northern Kansas earlier this month. TC Energy, which operates the pipeline, says it has recovered a small amount of that oil, but experts say the full cleanup will take a long time. Read more…

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[tarsands]

Enbridge has filed 'leave to open' on Line 9 which means that by mid-October or early November, 2014, Line 9 could be pumping tar sands dilbit and fracked Bakken oil throughout southern Ontario and Quebec. In June, 2014, the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation launched a legal challenge to the National Energy Board's approval of Line 9, stating that constitutional obligations for consultation and accommodation of Aboriginal rights had not been met.

[ragingchicken]

Appeals Court Rules Keystone XL South Approval Was Legal, Lifting Cloud Over TransCanada

Appeals Court Rules Keystone XL South Approval Was Legal, Lifting Cloud Over TransCanada

Editor’s Note: This is Steve Horn’s latest  piece that originally appeared over at DeSmogBlog. Check out more of Steve’s work from DeSmogBlog and give everyone at DeSmogBlog some love – visit their site for some of the best research debunking misinformation about climate science on the web. In a 3-0 vote, the U.S. Appeals Court for the Tenth Circuit has ruled that the southern leg of…

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[blindtricks]

There are many indications that dilbit is significantly more corrosive to pipeline systems than conventional crude. For example, the Alberta pipeline system has had approximately sixteen times as many spills due to internal corrosion as the U.S. system. Yet, the safety and spill response standards used by the United States to regulate pipeline transport of bitumen are designed for conventional oil.

“Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks,” Natural Resources Defense Council

[shihtzuman]

Leak from proposed pipeline would devastate bird, wildlife population

Spill modeling carried out by Genwest Inc. showed that up to 90 per cent of oil from a spill can reach shorelines within 48 hours. “Oil stranded in the intertidal zone of a beach establishes ‘effective killing zones’ for sea and shorebirds,” the study reported. The City of Vancouver, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Living Oceans Society commissioned the study, which was prepared by Dr. Jeffrey Short, an international expert on the effects of oil spills.

Energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan proposes to build a $5.4 billion second pipeline and expansion near the existing 1,150 kilometre Trans Mountain UCL pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby. The company wants to increase the pipeline capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day. The firm also envisions an increase of oil tanker activity in the Burrard Inlet from five to 34 a month, adding up to approximately 400 tankers annually. The majority of crude oil transported on the expanded pipeline system and exported via tanked is expected to be diluted bitumen (dilbit). Dilbit consists of heavy bitumen (crude oil) and a lighter natural gas condensate.

#KinderMorgan #TransMountain #Pipeline #Dilbit #OilSpills #Vancouver #Burnaby #NEB #HaperGovernment

http://bit.ly/1PYEEdz

[earthfirstjournal]

Exxon Labeles 900,000 Pages Secret During Oil Spill Lawsuit

Exxon Labeles 900,000 Pages Secret During Oil Spill Lawsuit

Unprecedented secrecy in a class action suit that is seeking to determine if oil giant was negligent in upkeep of burst pipeline.

by Elizabeth Douglass / InsideClimate News

Workers clean up oil after Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline ruptured and leaked 210,000 gallons of heavy Canadian crude across a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, Ark. Credit: Tar Sands Blockade

Oil giant ExxonMobil is seeking…

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[ragingchicken]

Labor Day News Dump: FERC Hands Enbridge Permit for Tar Sands by Rail Facility

Labor Day News Dump: FERC Hands Enbridge Permit for Tar Sands by Rail Facility

Editor’s Note: This is Steve Horn’s latest  piece that originally appeared over at DeSmogBlog. Check out more of Steve’s work from DeSmogBlog and give everyone at DeSmogBlog some love – visit their site for some of the best research debunking misinformation about climate science on the web.

On the Friday before Labor Day — in the form of an age-old “Friday News Dump” — the Federal Energy…

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[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt:

Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer declined to speculate on the amount of the fine. But according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, Enbridge expects it will be at least $22 million.

"Discussions are ongoing with the relevant government agencies, and it is premature to discuss negotiations at this time," Springer said.

A spokesman for the EPA said the agency would not comment on the fine.

Under provisions of the Clean Water Act, Enbridge could be fined as much as $4,300 for each barrel of oil it spilled into the river. At one point, EPA estimates indicated that 1,148,229 gallons—or about 27,000 barrels—of oil had been spilled. The agency’s website now says approximately 843,000 gallons were spilled, putting the maximum fine at about $86 million.

The spill presented a unique cleanup challenge, because 6B was carrying bitumen, a thick crude oil mined from Canada's tar sands region that is thinned with a cocktail of liquid chemicals to form diluted bitumen, or dilbit. As the chemicals evaporated, the bitumen sank to the river bottom in sticky, marble-sized globs. That meant that conventional cleanup measures designed to clean up oil floating on the surface of the water no longer worked. Enbridge has already spent $1.2 billion on the cleanup.