“The greatest disasters we’ve witnessed rarely come from secret or hidden information. Disasters come from freely available information we are willfully blind to.” – Margaret Heffernan
Pretending Diamond is a safe, reliable, and efficient way to export highly toxic shale oil is madness. Diamond is a high threat to public health and environmental justice. Exporting crude shale oil at a loss for a few years will ruin the U.S. Here are the facts.
Crude deception
Shale oil, bulk transmission, high-pressure pipelines are not safe, reliable, or efficient. Lying is easy when talking to people reluctant to hear the truth. If you claim to be an industry expert, no one will challenge what you say, people will tell others your story and the deception will become common knowledge. The American Petroleum Institute, in a November 2015 document says, “a barrel of oil reaches its destination safely over 99.999% of the time.”
This is an arithmetic result, not a probability statement. The “magic” number 0.99999 is the ratio of the total number of barrels received to the total number of barrels shipped, over a year. Lumping together all types of crude for all U.S. pipelines makes the result meaningless. Not only that, if the API result were true, Diamond would spill 30,600 gallons per year of toxic crude!
API is a large oil and gas lobbying group with deep pockets, and “experts” from the oil industry. Andrew Black gave the following expert testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Washington, DC, June 14, 2016, “Pipelines are an exceedingly safe way to deliver the energy America needs. A barrel of crude oil petroleum products reaches its destination safely greater than 99.999 percent of the time.” Hon. Lisa Murkowski and the committee liked what they heard, and used the information to decide our future, based on a lie.
To be fair, Andrew Black, President and CEO of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines is not responsible for the U.S. Senate actions. Senators have highly paid staff with access to newspapers and other information. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), there were 930 significant pipeline spills nationwide between 2013 and 2015.
Toxic crude spills happen all the time. Choosing to ignore reality and make decisions based on what API says is willful blindness. I don’t expect a call from a U.S. Senator. They live in a make-believe world where lies are told and deals are made in kingdoms far away.
Crude information
PHMSA is responsible for all interstate pipelines. Spill reports come from pipeline operators. The volume reported is frequently underestimated, small spills are not reported, and spills under five barrels are ignored. Shortcomings are particularly acute during catastrophic floods. PHMSA is understaffed and the federal government promoting intense fracking has no incentive to fund this agency. PHMSA inspectors, seen as evil by PAA, are not welcomed on the line.
Crude toxicity
Dr. Wilma Subra, a world-renowned toxicologist, came to visit Mayflower four months after the spill. She found benzene and toluene emissions, two volatile organic compounds known to cause long term damage of the liver, kidney, brain and developing fetus. VOC emissions were in a larger area than the homes condemned – in the community, cove, and lake area. Exxon stored toxic waste from residential areas in a warehouse. Tar sand crude was found on the sediment at the bottom. Dredging the lake to remove the crude would cause additional emissions.
Crude reality
What have USACE and Arkansas agencies done to stop Diamond? Nothing.
USACE is only concerned with river crossings and keeping the pipeline away from the water. The Congressional Delegation, Governor, Attorney General, and Public Service Commission choose to believe every word Diamond says. Brad Leone said PAA “is committed to designing, constructing, operating and maintaining the Diamond Pipeline in a safe and reliable manner, with pipe manufactured to exceed industry specifications.” Brad lied. Welspun welded pipes are the worst. Thank you, Brad. The Arkansas Wildlife Federation is our best hope.
Dr. Luis Contreras
Exxon claimed the spill was not crude oil, “Exxon argued that Canadian tar sands oil should not be legally considered “hazardous waste.” U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker rejected that argument, as well as the company’s argument that the small bodies of water affected by the spill were too small to be covered under the Clean Water Act.”
Exxon got away claiming “only 134,000 gallons” were spilled. Under-reporting is commonly done to get away without paying in full.
https://thinkprogress.org/exxon-will-pay-5-million-to-end-lawsuit-over-134-000-gallon-mayflower-oil-spill-9ef69a4e6fde
This is the 2013 video Exxon does not want you to see. The media was kept away from the spill – the start of the Mayflower cover-up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIdWGGlBP8&t=68s
200,000 gallons of toxic tar sands crude flooded streets and yards of Mayflower, Arkansas. In the video, you can see Exxon’s cleanup consists mostly of brooms and paper towels.
===============================================================================
The Exxon tar sands oil spill is a small taste of what will happen if the Keystone XL Pipeline is built.