Its a bad environment for a spill to occur due to the nature of the water system, the temps and depths involved would make a cleanup effort that much more difficult than a lot of those before. Additionally dropping a bunch of oil into the largest above ground freshwater system the US has, doesnt strike me as a wonderful idea.
It's the big pipeline that is near my house that's a problem. The smaller pipelines in my street that delivers cheap gas, water, and takes away my waste water are fine. ( unless they break and they need to dig up everything again. ..... ). that's not good.
My dad spent twenty years running pipelines for Interstate, they constantly monitor those lines and have both manual and automatic shutoffs. Trains and trucks don't have those, and they are MUCH more vulnerable. If there would have been a massive pipeline failure, it should have happened during Katrina, but it didn't. Why? Because when the sensors got blown/knocked off the line, it automatically shut down. Granted it took a couple of weeks to get all the sensors replaced, but that was done and pumping resumed. A bigger issue is actually the city piping, some of that stuff has been in the ground for fifty years or more and is NEVER monitored for leaks until it's a major leak!
Oh come on now, Old NFO! You know they monitor that city piping every day. I mean, whenever a backhoe goes flyng fifty feet into the air, you surely know there's a natural gas leak... }:-]
If only the activists would let the new high-volume double-walled pipelines be built, then the number of spills would plummet. Where capacity is lacking, we are running all pipelines at the maximum pressure and volume that their design and inspected-condition will permit. Sadly, the state of corrosion is not always predictable or detectable, and spills happen. It's pretty inexcusable when they aren't sensed right away, but even when they are there is a volume of petroleum in the pipeline between shutoff points.
If the pressure were to be taken off the old lines, many of them would still see practical use, but at much lower volume and pressure they would be no-where near their safe limits.
When I see pipeline protestors describe themselves as "water protectors", it makes me spit! They are working to ensure that there are more spills, and more Lac-Magantic type disasters.
Honestly since its a case of when will each one fail rather than if, that map should really concern you.
ReplyDeleteThe pipeline that bothers me is featured though, its one that runs under the Mackinac bridge.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/08/why_the_state_wont_shut_down_t.html
Its a bad environment for a spill to occur due to the nature of the water system, the temps and depths involved would make a cleanup effort that much more difficult than a lot of those before. Additionally dropping a bunch of oil into the largest above ground freshwater system the US has, doesnt strike me as a wonderful idea.
It's the big pipeline that is near my house that's a problem. The smaller pipelines in my street that delivers cheap gas, water, and takes away my waste water are fine. ( unless they break and they need to dig up everything again. ..... ). that's not good.
ReplyDelete........ see ......simple!
My dad spent twenty years running pipelines for Interstate, they constantly monitor those lines and have both manual and automatic shutoffs. Trains and trucks don't have those, and they are MUCH more vulnerable. If there would have been a massive pipeline failure, it should have happened during Katrina, but it didn't. Why? Because when the sensors got blown/knocked off the line, it automatically shut down. Granted it took a couple of weeks to get all the sensors replaced, but that was done and pumping resumed. A bigger issue is actually the city piping, some of that stuff has been in the ground for fifty years or more and is NEVER monitored for leaks until it's a major leak!
ReplyDeleteOh come on now, Old NFO! You know they monitor that city piping every day. I mean, whenever a backhoe goes flyng fifty feet into the air, you surely know there's a natural gas leak...
ReplyDelete}:-]
If only the activists would let the new high-volume double-walled pipelines be built, then the number of spills would plummet. Where capacity is lacking, we are running all pipelines at the maximum pressure and volume that their design and inspected-condition will permit. Sadly, the state of corrosion is not always predictable or detectable, and spills happen. It's pretty inexcusable when they aren't sensed right away, but even when they are there is a volume of petroleum in the pipeline between shutoff points.
ReplyDeleteIf the pressure were to be taken off the old lines, many of them would still see practical use, but at much lower volume and pressure they would be no-where near their safe limits.
When I see pipeline protestors describe themselves as "water protectors", it makes me spit! They are working to ensure that there are more spills, and more Lac-Magantic type disasters.
Matism- You DO have an explosive point there! :-)
ReplyDelete