Alberta Oil Pipeline Spill: 28,000 barrels....

CubaMark · May 3rd, 2011, 10:07 PM

Alta. oil pipeline leaked 28,000 barrels

	Quote:
	A pipeline break northeast of Peace River, Alta., has leaked 28,000 barrels of crude oil, during what is now considered to be one of the largest in the province's history.

	Quote:
	The leaked crude is about 300 metres away from any flowing water or runoff and the nearest home is more than seven kilometres away. No one was injured in the incident. At least four beavers and 10 waterfowl were euthanized after they were found covered in oil over the weekend, according to Trevor Gemmell from Alberta Environment. "There was a small pond that was affected," said Gemmell.

Let's hope the definition of "small pond" is accurate.

(CBC)

BigDL · May 3rd, 2011, 10:33 PM

Good thing I'm not the suspicious type but the news of this oil spill was suppressed since Friday. The oil spill was only noticed to be big enough to mention the day after the election.

	Quote:			Originally Posted by CBCNews
	A pipeline break northeast of Peace River, Alta., has leaked 28,000 barrels of crude oil, during what is now considered to be one of the largest spills in the province's history. The leak from the Plains Midstream Canada pipeline, discovered Friday,* was originally thought to have involved several hundred barrels of oil. It now appears to be the biggest crude oil pipeline leak in Alberta since 1975, when a Bow River Ltd. pipeline leaked 40,000 barrels, according to Davis Sheremata, a spokesman for the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board.

*this bolding was added for emphasis.

Mckitrick · May 3rd, 2011, 11:01 PM

Don't they have people monitoring these pipelines? I mean, *I* wouldn't want to do it but even an automated video surveillance system or SOMETHING. How long did it take to leak out 28K barrels?

KC4 · May 3rd, 2011, 11:17 PM

Eeesh, what a mess. They'll be quite a while cleaning that one up.

Yeah Mckitrick, they should have known about it right away...a pipeline break of that size would have immediately caused a material, unexplained pressure drop which would (should?) be noticed immediately by field operators.

KC4 · May 3rd, 2011, 11:32 PM

I should clarify...IF the pipeline was suddenly leaking a significant volume, a material pressure drop would have occurred, in turn causing an alarm at the pumping station.

However, a small leak that slowly and gradually seeps and perhaps builds is much more difficult to detect. They can go undetected underground for days, even weeks before material balances start to show the problem.

fjnmusic · May 4th, 2011, 12:26 AM

First PR test for the Mr. Harper Cons versus the homegrown Alberta Pro-Cons.

groovetube · May 4th, 2011, 07:45 AM

test shmest. He has a majority. Regardless of how he handles this, everyone will have forgotten about it a year from now much less 4.

fjnmusic · May 4th, 2011, 09:17 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by groovetube
	test shmest. He has a majority. Regardless of how he handles this, everyone will have forgotten about it a year from now much less 4.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. 60% of voters voted for a different party. Like he said, he represents everyone. We shall see, as Dr. G says.

SINC · May 4th, 2011, 09:53 AM

28,000 barrels, the international standard for measuring oil quantities, wasn't sensational enough for the Edmonton Journal. Nope, they just had to convert it to litres to make it look as bad as possible:

4.5 million litres of crude oil spill from northern Alberta pipeline

groovetube · May 4th, 2011, 09:55 AM

well since not everyone has a sense of how big a 'barrel' is, it puts it into perspective.