The Pegasus pipeline that ruptured in Mayflower Arkansas was not designed for transport of dilbit, or anything else at high pressure. It was originally a pipeline designed for conventional oil to be shipped from Texas to Illinois (and from there, to Canada). Exxon/Mobil reversed the pipeline 7 years ago in order to ship dilbet from Illinois to refineries in Texas. They did little or nothing to inspect or upgrade the pipeline to make sure it was safe at the higher pressures and volume planned for dilbet flow. A particularly stunning insult to all of us is that the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, used to pay for clean-ups, receives not a single dime from Exxon/Mobil for transport of dilbet, thanks to a tax loophole that deems dilbit "not oil". For more, see below the dilbet doughnut
The Pegasus pipeline that ruptured in Mayflower Arkansas was not designed for transport of dilbit, or anything at high pressure.
The pipeline
was 65 years old, and was initially built to carry thinner oil at lower pressure in the opposite direction than today.
But seven years ago, when Exxon, the pipeline's operator, turned it into a higher-volume line for diluted bitumen from Canada flowing under greater pressure to refineries on the Gulf Coast, federal rules did not require a permit application or safety reviews, according to federal officials.
Furthermore, Exxon's spill plan for this pipeline is extremely outdated and
FAILS TO MENTION that it runs through the Lake Maumelle watershed that provides drinking water to the heavily populated Central Arkansas region.
Martin Maner, retired manager of the watershed for Central Arkansas Water, provided a little background:
...the pipeline is a bit more than 60 years old, before the lake was built. It is laid on the "contour of the land," and is typically only a couple feet deep. It is exposed at several places as it crosses the watershed, especially as it crosses tributaries.
We started correspondence with ExxonMobil several years ago to try to get more protection in place. There should be an extensive file at CAW.
When I dug into the issue (after concerns raised by Barry Haas), I was astounded to learn that the then ExxonMobil spill plan didn't even mention that Lake Maumelle was a public water supply! We wrote a detailed letter to the federal regulatory agency (can't remember the name ... been a year or two) and didn't hear a peep on reply. ExxonMobil was cc'd and they did respond. Work was started towards a comprehensive spill plan but I don't think it has been finalized?? There was supposed to be a come to Jesus presentation by officials of ExxonMobil to CAW Board in first qtr of 2012 but seems that fell in the cracks after the new watershed management folks came on board after I retired. It's a helluva major concern because of the proximity to the lake and the volume of crude it carries. Maybe this rupture will get it back on point...
And then there is this
incredible bit of news
Companies that transport oil are required to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, giving the government a pot of money for immediate spill responses. The Enbridge pipeline in Michigan and the Exxon pipeline in Arkansas, however, are exempt because these pipelines are not considered to be carrying “conventional oil”, despite the fact bitumen spills are more expensive and more dangerous.
In a January 2011 memorandum, the IRS determined that to generate revenues for the oil spill trust fund, Congress only intended to tax conventional crude, and not tar sands or other unconventional oils. This exemption remains to this day, even though the United States moves billions of gallons of tar sands crude through its pipeline system every year. The trust fund is liable for tar sands oil spill cleanups without collecting any revenue from tar sands transport. If the fund goes broke,the American taxpayer foots the cleanup bill.
Please
urge your representatives to undo this ridiculous loophole
The Arkansas blog is probably the best source of news and updates about the Mayflower dilbet spill.
A recent story at Arkansas blog is somewhat encouraging, in that it reports that Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has subpoena'd Exxon for all records pertaining to the Pegasus pipeline spill. A release from the Attorney General states:
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has demanded that Exxon Mobil produce investigative reports, inspection reports and other information connected to the oil company’s Pegasus pipeline rupture and oil spill in Mayflower.
McDaniel gave Exxon an April 10 deadline to comply with the subpoena he issued earlier this week.
“The people of Arkansas deserve a full explanation from Exxon about how this incident occurred and the extent of damages to private property and to our State’s natural resources,” McDaniel said. “My office is determined to get that explanation through our investigation because, at the moment, we still have many more questions than we do answers.”
McDaniel and investigators from his office on Wednesday visited the neighborhood in Mayflower most directly impacted by the spill. While in Mayflower, he expressed his concern about the limited information his office and Arkansans have received so far related to the incident.
Arkansas law gives the Attorney General authority to issue subpoenas when the “interests of State of Arkansas are involved or may become involved,” (Ark. Code Ann. 25-16-705).
The Attorney General’s subpoena demands from Exxon inspection reports and investigative reports, photos, videos, and any other data related to the Pegasus pipeline in Arkansas and the spill; sampling or testing reports, photos, videos and any other data relating to the integrity of the Pegasus pipeline in Arkansas before March 29; maintenance and repair reports, photos, videos and any other data related to the Pegasus pipeline in Arkansas; and all reports, record, photos, videos and other data related to the repair or replacement of the portion of the pipeline in Mayflower that caused, created or contributed to the oil spill.