December 9, 2016

North Dakota's 85 pipeline spills

Take Part - An analysis released by the Center for Biological Diversity found that pipelines in North Dakota have spilled crude oil and other hazardous liquids at least 85 times since 1996.

Those spills—an average of four a year—caused more than $40 million in property damage, the center said, citing data from the United States Department of Transportation.

In the largest accident, in July 2013, some 840,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a pipeline in Tioga, North Dakota, and contaminated a wheat field. The spill, which was not reported for two weeks, cost $17.5 million to clean up.

The analysis was released just days after the Obama administration denied an easement to the Dakota Access Pipeline for construction under Lake Oahe, the drinking water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been on the ground with supporters protesting the pipeline for months.

Instead, the Corps will conduct a review of alternate pipeline routes and complete an environmental impact statement for the project.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This spills, of course, occurred in anticipation of Trump's November 8, 2016 election.---something the blog headline failed to include.