“The scorpion killed the frog crossing a river, because it is his nature.”
Exxon says high-pressure pipelines rupture, and crude oil floods land, homes, rivers, and streams. According to Exxon, that is the nature of bulk pipelines. Why would Diamond pay?
On Monday, August 14, 2017, an alarming decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, overturned the ExxonMobil federal findings of safety violations and the $2.6 million fine for the 2013 Mayflower, Arkansas, disaster.
In 2015, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said Exxon failed to maintain the Pegasus Pipeline, and failed to test a defective pipe. On March 29, 2013, the unreliable pipe had a 22-ft. long, weld seam rupture.
Exxon said it had conducted adequate testing of the pipeline, and claimed Exxon’s actions were not responsible for the disaster. Last Monday the Circuit Court decided Exxon was free as a bird.
“Is Diamond Safe?” in this week’s Independent, was triggered by a buried 20-in. jet fuel pipeline, damaged last week by a Plains All American contractor near the Lamar, Johnson County area. A picture taken at the site shows a one-foot chunk of the Magellan pipeline is missing. Fortunately, the fuel line was not ruptured. Had the 20-inch Magellan pipe ignited with high-pressure jet fuel, Diamond would have had a serious incident.
Karen Rugaard, Plains All American (PAA), Media Relations said, “We did not strike the Magellan line.” That is all PAA was willing to say. The sequence of events is not perfectly clear, the incident happened on private property, and the name of the diamond contractor was unknown. This is what I believe: Neither PHMSA, the Arkansas 811 “Call before you Dig” Center, nor Magellan were informed by PAA of this incident. Diamond covered up the incident by filling the hole.
Pipeline hazards during construction, operation, and removal of the 440-mile line, are serious, predictable, and unavoidable. PAA has no reason to worry about damages, as Exxon says, pipelines fail.
Diamond Says
The Diamond website, an informal way to communicate, updated frequently to counter public concerns, has incomplete and deceiving information. The highly toxic and corrosive shale crude oil from the Bakken and other shale plays is described as sweet crude. Sweet crude, is not a term of endearment, and you don’t want it on your ice cream. Sweet crude is a low sulphur conventional crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate, or Texas Light Sweet. Shale crude oil is unique to each shale play, the chemical composition and percent of water is variable with each well, and is more toxic and corrosive than WTI; not sweet at all.
The low-quality longitudinally welded Welspun pipes are described as “new steel thick wall” pipes exceeding specifications. How thick? No one knows and PAA won’t tell. Are all the pipes new? Diamond contractors are building the line in segments. Pictures show old rusty pipes in some areas. Welspun got a contract for some of the pipes, but there are pipe stocks in Cushing, Okla., like the 2013 rusty Keystone XL pipes currently in the Welspun yards. Using new pipes is the exception. Pipes are buried in the ground and PAA hires private security to keep people away from the right-of-way.
Seamless pipes, used for high-pressure pipelines, are available but Diamond is a low-budget operation and they don’t have to pay! Thick wall welded pipes do not exceed PHMSA performance specifications. Like putting lipstick on a pig, welded pipes made with low-cost Indian steel rolls, create a 440-ft long seam weld. Electric welding changes the microscopic steel structure of the longitudinal weld.
Diamond is low budget
Why would PAA build a high-quality, safer pipeline at higher cost, just to protect Arkansans? PAA is a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) with high debt and cash distribution obligations. PAA did not pay for the 2011 Canada Rainbow damages, has not paid for the Santa Clara, Calif., 2015 disaster, and will not pay for Diamond damages. Can you guess the amount of the construction bond Diamond has with the State of Arkansas? Not one dollar, zero, nada!
Exxon is wrong. Pipelines are designed to fail, not only due to the high-pressure, corrosion, and defective welds. Pipelines fail because midstream operators like PAA need toll revenues. PAA will get around $3 per barrel delivered. When the flow stops, the revenues stop. To pay MLP investors, PAA must keep the pipe running around the clock. That is Diamond’s nature.
Dr. Luis Contreras