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Originally Posted by chadk66
most are very old and should be replaced. and they don't have leak detection. new pipelines are vastly superior in materials and leak detection. There was a leak of significance in Billings MT a few years ago. It leaked into the yellowstone river. This is where our drinking water comes from. Billings is about 250 miles away. Even in a river system it didn't make it 150 miles as far as being able to detect it. And it was under the ice. Within a month there was no trace that it ever happened. spills into water appear to be the best place for it. easier to clean up and it is cleansed much faster. The gulf is a classic example. I don't know if you could find any indication right now that the spill occurred down there.
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The Yellowstone River leak was one of ExxonMobil's, and since the 80s, at the time of the Exxon Valdese spill, then, the largest in U.S. history, their safety record has been far better than that of other oil companies. Though, of course, spills continue.
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/...lowstone-spill
Another of their corporations spills that occurred in 2006, over 11 years ago, is still being argued and settled in court. It took place in northern Maryland. The leak detection systems, alarms, etc on Exxon equipment have been in place for decades, and have been upgraded as technology has improved. This is all noted in Stephen Coll's book, "Private Empire". Still, the accidents continue to happen. There was a chapter dedicated to this spill, as well as others including the Valdese.
Pipelines are not always the culprit, not at all. The Maryland spill was 26,000 gallons from underground tanks at a neighborhood convenient mart/service station contaminating the ground water supply. Alarms sounded, and regional Exxon corporate management was called to the site. Thought to be repaired, it wasn't. It occurred over a period exceeding more than 35 days, coming about as the result of a nearby construction project. As the saying goes,
"call before you dig".
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...ak-flerlage-jr
The folks in the Gulf might disagree with you as to the impact of British Petroleum's (whose safety record has not ever been equal to that of ExxonMobil and Shell.) The Deep Water Horizon spill is still a serious problem for humans and for wildlife alike.
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/20/400374...covery-is-slow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enviro...izon_oil_spill
In the reading I've done, I come away with the belief that pipelines are probably the safer way to get fossil fuels transported.
