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Diluted bitumen from the oilsands can pose a substantial risk when carried through pipelines, says the Natural Resources Defense Council in a report released this week.
“Increasingly, pipelines transporting tar sands crude oil into the United States are carrying diluted bitumen or “DilBit”—a highly corrosive, acidic, and potentially unstable blend of thick raw bitumen and volatile natural gas liquid condensate—raising risks of spills and damage to communities along their paths,” says the report.
The Natural Resources Defense Council claims that the companies that produce oilsands are using conventional pipeline technology, however the operating temperature and pressure to push the bitumen down the pipes must be higher which can lead to ruptures, corrosion and leaks.
“[Diluted bitument] is the primary product being transported through existing pipelines in the Midwest and would be transported in a proposed pipeline to the Gulf Coast. DilBit pipelines threaten ecologically important lands and waters from the Great Lakes to the Ogallala Aquifer. Moreover, the United States is on a path to lock itself into a long-term reliance on pipelines that may not be operated or regulated adequately to meet the unique safety requirements for DilBit for decades to come.”
TransCanada is hoping to build a US$12 billion pipeline system named the Keystone XL. The 2,600 km long pipeline would begin in central Alberta and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska and eventually to oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline would have the capacity to deliver 900,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen.
TransCanada claims that pipelines are the safest and most economical way to transport crude oil, and the Keystone project will meet or exceed all safety requirements governing pipeline operation and construction.
Worries about transporting oilsands over land came to the fore in the summer of 2010 when a pipeline, operated by Enbridge, ruptured and spilled 19,500 barrels of oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
Michael Allan McCrae wrote this story. You can contact him at [email protected].
2 Comments
The Mafia Man
Build the oil refinreys in canada then you greedy Canadians can pay for it and charge the US. EVEN MORE FOR YOUR OIL!
Thinkcivic
Top pipeline experts in the U.S. are not supporting the Keystone XL. At some point the oil industry has to recognize that its profits are not the most important concern for humanity. We need to say no to transporting tar sands crude for the sake of our air and our water.
It’s going to be difficult, given our illusion that we somehow deserve unlimited oil. I hope we are tough enough to opt for our health and the health of the planet.