Omens of Keystone

credit: CheneyWatch

As if in symbolic celebration of the non-binding Senate vote in favor of the new Keystone XL pipeline, two spills of Canadian heavy crude occurred in the United States last week. On Friday an Exxon-Mobil pipeline ruptured, leaking 10,000 barrels into an Arkansas town.  Twenty-two homes in Mayflower, AK were evacuated.[photo] Exxon shut the Pegasus pipeline capable of carrying 90,000 bpd from Pakota Illinois to Nederland, Texas. Keystone, if built, would carry nine times that amount per day at operational capacity. The EPA rated the spill a major one. (>250 US barrels or 10,500 USgals)

On Wednesday a train carrying tar sands crude spilled 30,000 gallons in Minnesota. The train was a 94 car Canadian-Pacific mixed freight about a mile long. A spokesman for Minnesota Pollution Control said three tank cars ruptured when the train derailed near Parkers Prairie, MN. Transportation by rail of Canadian crude is booming as production from the vast Alberta bitumen deposits outstrips available pipeline capacity. Rail shipments of petroleum in the US rose more than 46% last year. Some experts argue that pipeline transportation is safer, but others note rail car spills are rare and offer the possibility of expanding refinery production to areas not connected to markets by pipelines.

Diluted bitumen ("dilbit") has a high specific gravity making it more difficult to clean up than conventional crude oil. US EPA is still badgering Canadian company Enbridge to clean up the 2010 Kalamazoo River spill in Michigan. Heavy rains washed the spill 35 miles downriver before it was contained. EPA wants Enbridge to dredge parts of the river above Ceresco dam to keep submerged dilbit from migrating out of recovery range. Enbridge owns the Alberta Clipper pipeline dedicated to bitumen transport that crosses the border in North Dakota and runs to Wisconsin. TransCanada owns Keystone pipeline, another one transporting bitumen, which terminates in Oklahoma. The company is already building a southern extension to the Gulf Coast. Not coincidentally, there is a loophole in the US tax code that allows oil companies to forgo paying into the spill cleanup fund when importing Canadian bitumen. Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) has introduced legislation to close that escape route. Also last week Exxon was fined a paltry $1.7 million for the pipeline rupture that spoiled the pristine Yellowstone River in 2011 with 42,000 gallons of the toxic sludge. The CEO of Exxon probably keeps that amount of money in his desk drawer.