http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/42642-as-predicted-because-pipelines-are-bound-to-spill-existing-keystone-gushes-200k-gallons-of-oil
[images and links in on-line article]
As Predicted -- Because "Pipelines Are Bound to Spill" -- Existing
Keystone Gushes 200,000 Gallons of Oil
Sunday, November 19, 2017 By Jon Queally, Common Dreams | Report
Some of the worst fears and dire predictions of opponents of the
Keystone XL pipeline came true on Thursday when pipeline owner
TransCanada announced that more than 200,000 gallons of oil had spilled
from the existing portion of the Keystone system in Marshall County,
South Dakota.
While the company reported the spill in a public statement, Buzzfeed
notes there was an approximately four-and-a-half hour gap between when
the company said the breach was discovered at 6:00 am and when local
officials say they were notified at 10:30 am. As a South Dakota
Department of Environment and Natural Resources told the news outlet,
"We're not quite sure why there was a time gap in there."
Outside of the company's statement, there has been no outside or
independent verification of the size of the spill or details about the
scale of the possible damage.
Those who had warned against the pipeline's approval for precisely these
reasons and continue to work tirelessly to prevent the construction of
the Keystone XL (KXL) project, were among the first to respond to
Thursday's spill.
"With their horrible safety record, today's spill is just the latest
tragedy caused by the irresponsible oil company TransCanada," said Ben
Schreiber, senior political strategist at Friends of the Earth. "We
cannot let the world's fossil fuel empires continue to drive government
policy toward climate catastrophe. The only safe solution for oil and
fossil fuels is to keep them in the ground."
Rachel Rye Butler, an anti-tarsands campaigner with Greenpeace, noted
that Thursday's spill comes just days before the Nebraska Public Service
Commission is set to decide on state approval for Keystone XL, which was
ultimately rejected under President Obama but given a greenlight earlier
this year by the Trump administration. "The writing on the wall to
reject this pipeline could not be more clear," Butler said in a
statement. "These pipelines are bound to spill, and they put
communities, precious drinking water, and our climate at risk."
She added, "The existing Keystone pipeline just saw an enormous spill of
oil yet there is an attempt by the same company to build a brand new
pipeline, Keystone XL, that would pump over 800,000 barrels of tar sands
oil per day if built."
350.org's executive director May Boeve said, "This is exactly the kind
of disaster we can expect more of if Keystone XL is approved. No matter
what TransCanada says, there's no such thing as a safe fossil fuel
pipeline. Indigenous peoples, farmers, and ranchers along Keystone XL's
proposed route have been holding the line against this project for
years. Whatever Nebraska commissioners decide on Monday, we'll be ready
for the work ahead to stop this and all new fossil fuel projects that
threaten our communities and climate."
Scott Parkin, organizing director for the Rainforest Action Network,
also expressed frustration. "Enough is enough," he said. "Pipelines leak
-- it's not a question of 'if,' but 'when.' The pending permit for
TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline should be flatly rejected by
Nebraska's Public Service Commission. We need to stop all expansion of
extreme fossil fuels such as tar sands oil -- and we need the finance
community to stop funding these preventable climate disasters --
disasters for the climate, the environment and Indigenous rights."
According to Buzzfeed:
David Flute, chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe, [said]
the leak was on a section of pipeline adjacent to his reservation. He
said the area has "the cleanest lakes in South Dakota," as well as a
large subterranean aquifer, and that he was "concerned" about the
possibility of contamination.
"I'm thinking there is going to be an impact, some type of
environmental impact," Flute said. "As the oil seeps, if they can't
contain the spill, which I'm hoping they do, if they're unable to
contain it from seeping into the water systems, it can be hurtful and
harmful to everybody."
Walsh said the spill had not impacted any bodies of water on the
surface, meaning oil "won't be traveling along a river or a creek." He
also said the oil was unlikely to reach the aquifer in the area, which
sit between 800 and 900 feet underground.
Butler from Greenpeace, however, said the spill is just the latest
evidence showing how fossil fuels represent an antiquated and dangerous
mode of energy production.
"It is time to say no to outdated fossil fuel infrastructure and invest
in clean energy instead," she said. "At the end of the day, you can't
drink oil.