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In that modality i succesfully challenged Shell on a pipeline through a highly sensitive coastal reserve.
Shell claimed that there was little risk of a loss of more than 5000 barrels in case of a rupture.
I made Shell aware that their gas-oil pipeline would work like a spray bottel and that the pressurize gas would continue to push out oil until all the pressure would have released. I also succesfully claimed that because of the gas pressure, there would be a significant delay b4 sensors could feel the drop in pressure indicating a leak. Shell agreed and took the measures that I demanded. If you want more info, you can contact me.
I am writing about an issue that I believe should be important to Oil & Water Don’t Mix, as it concerns the Great Lakes: a pipeline called Line 9B. I am wondering whether your organization has any plans to address threats presented by this pipeline to the Great Lakes.
Line 9B is a pipeline that passes from Sarnia to Montreal, directly through many ecologically sensitive waterways, including the St. Lawrence River. It’s difficult to even list the problems with this pipeline in a single e-mail: it is 40 years old, filled with cracks and leaks (which cannot even be properly measured, as the technology used has a 20% margin of error in detecting pipeline “features,” as the company calls them), and has had 35 significant spills in its lifetime. The company that operates the pipeline, Enbridge, is notorious for underreporting spills, so it’s not sure what the real number of spills is.
Enbridge would like to reverse the flow from Mtl-Sarnia to Sarnia-Mtl, switch the contents from conventional crude oil to highly pressurized, toxic, and corrosive diluted bitumen, which the pipeline was not designed to carry (and that sinks instead of floats, in an inevitable spill), and increase the capacity of the pipeline to 300,000 barrels per day, up from 240,000 bpd, by increasing the pressure on the pipeline. Enbridge refuses to do a hydrostatic test on the pipeline, as they say it would hurt the pipeline.
Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert with over 40 years of experience, has estimated the chances of rupture at “over 90%” in the first 5 years- a guaranteed spill would contaminate water for millions of people, likely forcing evacuation due to the toxic chemicals. The number of people affected rises to the tens of millions in the case of contamination of the Great Lakes.
The exact same thing was attempted in Kalamazoo, Michigan- a 40-year-old Enbridge pipeline had it’s contents switched from conventional crude to diluted bitumen, and spilled 3.3 million litres into the Kalamazoo River. That was in 2010, and it has yet to be completely cleaned up, largely because the oil sinks.
The Line 9B pipeline passes through or near 18 Indigenous Reserves. Not a single First Nation has been awarded the free, prior, and informed consent that each group is entitled to for anything that happens on reserve, under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Therefore, there is a legal challenge by the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation that is set to be heard on June 16th.
Regardless of the legal challenge, the National Energy Board may approve this pipeline any day now, and Enbridge has indicated that they intend to have it running by the end of June.
I would very much like to hear of any actions the coalition has planned regarding Line 9B, and would be very open to discussion of future actions, if you have not yet planned any, with the goal of stopping this extremely dangerous pipeline.
Thank you very much,
Rachel Thevenard
Student of Geomatics
University of Waterloo
I work with Great Lakes Commons, a project to envision and protect the Great Lakes as a living, thriving commons that we all care for in perpetuity. We are inspired by your work to keep oil out of the Great Lakes and are interested in actively working with the Oil & Water Don’t Mix coalition. Please let us know how we can become an active member of the coalition? You can learn more about our approach at greatlakescommons.org. Thanks very much and looking forward to hearing from you.
i Thought you might find this New York Times story (see link below) of interest.
In light of this information, how can Bill Schuette continue to serve as co-chair of the Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Taskforce Committee? This is a real conflict of interest. He should step down from that position. The NYT article also lists him as among the top 10 attorneys general to receive donations from energy companies. With this in mind, it’s obvious that Schuette cannot make objective decisions when it comes to Michigan’s energy and pipeline related matters.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Keep up the great work!
Regards,
Steve Krause
Troy, MI
(PS; I have also written to Gov. Snyder and Schuette about this)
www.facebook.com/idlenomoremichigan