http://truth-out.org/news/item/21417-transcanadas-keystone-xl-south-pipeline-to-begin-operations-january-22
[In the interests of fair and balanced coverage, here's an pipe-oil
story. Images and links in on-line article.]
TransCanada's Keystone XL South Pipeline Begins Operations
Friday, 24 January 2014 09:28 By Julie Dermansky, DeSmogBlog
On January 22, the southern portion of TransCanada's Keystone XL
pipeline is set to become operational, although environmentalists and
Texas homeowners are continuing to fight against it.
TransCanada is surely celebrating now that it has a pipeline system in
place connecting the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast
refineries and export terminals — via the combination of the original
Keystone pipeline running from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma and the
pipeline it connects to, Keystone XL's southern half (now rebranded the
Gulf Coast Pipeline Project) which President Obama fast-tracked via
executive order nearly two years ago.
But nobody except the pipeline's owners knows exactly what will be
transported through the Gulf Coast pipeline. TransCanada declined to
reveal this important information, citing the confidentiality of their
commercial contracts. Jeannie Shiffer, a spokesperson for the U.S.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA), part
of the Department of Transportation, confirmed that, "PHMSA doesn't
require pipeline operators to report crude oil types."
This leaves landowners and first responders in a precarious situation in
the inevitable case of a spill. As tar sands pipeline spills in
Kalamazoo, Michigan and Mayflower, Arkansas have made clear, tar sands
dilbit is more toxic than conventional oil and requires a different
spill response effort.
Sierra Club president Michael Brune reacted critically to the start up
of the pipeline in a statement: "Today’s announcement is a painful
example of President Obama’s 'All of the Above' energy plan at work:
polluted air and water, carbon pollution, and the ever present threat of
poisoned drinking water for millions of Texas and Oklahoma families. At
a time when America is making huge strides on wind and solar power, this
dangerous and unnecessary tar sands pipeline is a step backward when we
should be moving forward on clean energy."
Ramsey Sprague, spokesperson for the activist group, Tar Sands Blockade,
told DeSmogBlog:
"As the KXL South startup begins, it's important to not lose sight
of the goal of why Tar Sands Blockade took direct action against
pipeline construction. In the dust-up, we drew more engagement with the
climate and environmental justice movements than were aware previously.
We received encouragement from all over the world, from all over Texas,
and from across the Gulf South. When the pipeline leaks, we'll be there
holding the feet of TransCanada and PHMSA to the fire with thousands and
thousands of others to assist. The fight isn't over, and industry
leadership will rue the day it decided to go all in on tar sands in such
a cavalier and inhumane fashion."
Environmental activists in the Tar Sands Blockade at a direct action
protest in Winnsboro, Texas. (Photo: ©2013 Julie Dermansky)
The push to stop the southern pipeline route intensified in the spring
of 2013 after activists discovered TransCanada repairing anomalies in
the pipeline in Winnsboro, Texas and began investigating themselves.
Since their evidence was presented, along with a report by Public
Citizen, PHMSA regulators have acknowledged problems with TransCanada's
welding practices. But the agency took TransCanada at their word that
all the repairs were conducted properly, and chose not to require
additional testing.
In early January 2014, landowners and activists attended a meeting with
Roderick Seeley, director of the Southwest Region of PHMSA and members
of his staff.
Julia Trigg Crawford, whose lawsuit against TransCanada for confiscating
her land is still pending, told DeSmogBlog what she learned at the meeting:
"The Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration says they
don't have enough inspectors to watch everything...only 32 inspectors
for five states. Based on what they told us, I have NO confidence there
was even minimal oversight and inspection. I NEVER saw a PHMSA hard
hat, jacket, decal, business card....If they were on my property
inspecting, they were invisible. I even asked the TransCanada contact on
the ground if anyone from PHMSA was ever here, and he didn't even know
who PHMSA was. At the meeting, I heard the words 'faith' and 'trust' way
too much from an organization that is supposed to be ensuring our safety."
Eleanor Fairchild, labeled an “eco-terrorist” by TransCanada after she
and Daryl Hannah blocked machinery on Fairchild's property, was also at
the meeting. (Criminal charges are still pending for her act of civil
disobedience on her own land.) On the eve of the start-up of KXL South
operations, Fairchild told DeSmogBlog,
"It is scary to know the southern line is now operational. Will
TransCanada be held accountable for not following construction codes
that are required by law? Who is the criminal in this case?"
Michael Bishop, another Texas landowner fighting the pipeline in the
courts, told DeSmogBlog:
"My concerns about the start-up of this illegal project are the
same as they were when I first learned that TransCanada was claiming the
power of eminent domain and the fraud they employed to obtain land. I
was concerned then and am more concerned now about the material they
will be pushing through that line and the potential for leaks. The fact
that their own operating history is so horrible, and that they have had
a great number of recorded leaks since their start-up, those concerns
are now elevated to worry and disaster preparation."
But the pipeline is safe, according to TransCanada's external
communications and media relations representative Davis Sheremata, who
stated in an email to DeSmogBlog:
"The standards we adopted for the Gulf Coast Project have set a new
bar for safety and the design of modern oil pipelines. We voluntarily
agreed to 57 additional conditions with the U.S. Department of
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to
provide even greater confidence regarding the operation and monitoring
of Gulf Coast. No other pipeline that has been built to date has all of
these safety and operating conditions."
When I asked PHMSA if the agency thinks Keystone XL is the safest
pipeline ever made, the agency failed to answer that question, but
responded with the following statement:
"PHMSA oversees pipeline design, construction, maintenance and
operation. PHMSA's safety inspectors have spent over 150 days inspecting
the construction of the Gulf Coast pipeline project overseeing welding,
coating, installation, backfilling, testing and all other construction
activities to ensure that the newly constructed pipeline will operate
safely. Now that the construction phase is complete, PHMSA will continue
to monitor TransCanada's compliance with federal pipeline safety
requirements and keep the public updated on our safety activities."
Evan Vokes has his own opinion of the pipeline's integrity. A former
TransCanada employee turned whistleblower, Vokes exposed TransCanada for
violating construction codes to regulators in Canada and the US. He
laughed when told regulators had faith that TransCanada properly
repaired the anomalies.
"Having faith," Vokes says, "is not an engineering strategy."
[Seems to me, if I was a first responder, and the emergency involved a
leak from an 'oil' pipeline where the operator won't tell anyone what
was actually in the pipe other than it is hazardous, my response would
be evacuation of the area and setting up a cordon until somebody else
showed up to take responsibility, and then I would be hightailing it out
of there myself, travelling upwind. I would also be in favour of moving
PHMSA offices, especially their headquarters, to the leeward side of
the KXLS pipeline. This is to save them travel time later when they
need to respond to the leaks.]
--
Darryl McMahon
Project Manager,
Common Assessment and Referral for Enhanced Support Services (CARESS)
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