https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/11/dakota-access-pipeline-already-first-oil-spill-not-even-operating-yet/
[84 gallons of crude is enough to render undrinkable 84,000,000 gallons
of water
(https://www.mrwa.com/SWP/Brochures/WebAbovegroundStorageTanktrifoldBr.pdf).
So, when you get to the relevant point in the article, substitute
"It's only 84 million gallons of water. Get over it."
links in on-line article]
Dakota Access Pipeline Has Already Had Its 1st Oil Spill And It’s Not
Even Operating Yet
May 11th, 2017 by Steve Hanley
The Dakota Access pipeline has already spilled crude oil into the
environment and it is not even in operation yet. On April 6, 84 gallons
of the liquid crud was dumped into a containment pit in South Dakota —
the state that went out of its way to hire weaponized security guards to
harass and intimidate people protesting the pipeline last year.
It’s Only 84 Gallons. Get Over It.
84 gallons is small potatoes, but it drives home an essential truth
about all the systems mankind has devised to transport oil from place to
place. They all leak. Somewhere, somehow, the vile stuff gets out and
when it does, it causes untold damage to the environment. Whether it is
the Exxon Valdez supertanker running aground in Alaska or the Deep Water
Horizon self-immolating in the Gulf of Mexico, exploding oil trains in
Canada or gasoline pipelines exploding in the South, the dangers of
transporting oil are legion and growing every day.
“They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks
won’t happen, that nothing can go wrong,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer
for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. “It’s always been false. They haven’t
even turned the thing on and it’s shown to be false.” Hasselman is also
an attorney for EarthJustice. “It doesn’t give us any pleasure to say,
‘I told you so.’ But we have said from the beginning that it’s not a
matter of if, but when. Pipelines leak and they spill. It’s just what
happens.”
Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota department
of environment and natural resources, said the spill was relatively
minor and was caused by a mechanical failure at a surge pump. “It’s not
uncommon to have a small release at a pump station,” he said. Walsh said
the company responded immediately and cleaned up the oil. The leak
occurred inside a “secondary containment area” and there were no
environmental impacts, he added.
Standing Rock Sioux tribe chairman Dave Archambault II released a
statement about the spill, calling it another reason why the courts
should intervene. “Our lawsuit challenging this dangerous project is
ongoing, and it’s more important than ever for the court to step in and
halt additional accidents before they happen – not just for the Standing
Rock Sioux Tribe and our resources but for the 17 million people whose
drinking water is at risk.”
Secrecy Reigns In The Oil Industry
It is significant that neither the state of South Dakota nor Energy
Transfer Partners, the company in charge of building the controversial
Dakota Access pipeline made any public statement about the spill. The
fact that is happened at all was first uncovered by a reporter for the
Aberdeen News. Walsh says his department only releases public notices of
spills when there is an imminent threat to a waterway or public health.
A spokesperson for ETP told the Associated Press that the pipeline is
safe and the leak was contained in the proper manner. Hasselman said
these kinds of spills should be immediately disclosed. “What kind of
oversight and accountability is there if no one even finds out about
these things until weeks later?” ETP’s cavalier approach is similar to
the response it had when it was found to have dumped 2 million gallons
of bentonite clay into a wetland in Ohio. “What’s the big deal? It’s
good clean mud,” was essentially how it responded to that incident.
Corruption Extends Into The Oval Office
The Guardian reported last year that putative president Donald Trump has
invested between $500,000 and $1 million in Energy Transfer Partners. He
has invested a similar amount in Phillips 66, which will have a 25%
stake in the pipeline once it is completed. To make the extent of
corruption that surrounds Trump even clearer, the Trump campaign
received a $100,000 donations from the CEO of ETP. So we have a
situation in which a sitting president makes a decision to approve a
pipeline in which he has a significant financial interest after being
elected in part by campaign contributions from the company building the
pipeline.
That is the very definition of corruption, yet many in America could
care less just as long as the country builds a wall along the Mexican
border, excludes virtually all Muslims from the United States, and
insists that everyone urinates in the properly designated receptacle.
This story also raises an important point about a free and independent
press. The Donald is blustering about changing laws to make it easier to
sue reporters for libel, which roughly means publishing anything he
doesn’t like. Once that happens, we can be sure the public will never
hear about oil spills, methane emissions, carbon dioxide pollution, or
climate change ever again, a state of affairs that would suit more
Republicans in Congress just fine.