North Dakota Spill From Leaking Pipeline: The Biggest Spill On Record

3 million gallons of brine from oil drilling spills in N.D.
January 21 at 11:17 PM
3 million gallons of brine spill in N.D.

Nearly 3 million gallons of saltwater generated by oil drilling have leaked from a North Dakota pipeline, an official said Wednesday, the largest such spill since the state’s oil boom began and nearly three times worse than previous record spills. Two creeks have been affected, but the full environmental effect might not be clear for months.

Operator Summit Midstream Partners detected the pipeline spill on Jan. 6, about 15 miles north of Williston, and told health officials then. Officials said they were not given a full account of the size until Tuesday.

Cleanup has begun and inspectors have been monitoring the area, but it will be difficult to measure the effects on the environment and wildlife until ice melts, said Dave Glatt, chief of the North Dakota Department of Health’s environmental health section. Some previous saltwater spills have taken years to clean up.


“This is not something we want to happen in North Dakota,” Glatt said.

At the moment, the spill does not threaten public drinking water or human health, Glatt said. He said a handful of farmers have been asked to keep their livestock away from the two creeks, the smaller of which will be drained. 

[So there is nothing to worry about, oh, but don't let your animals drink from the creeks, oh, and one of the creeks will be drained.....]

The saltwater, known as brine, is an unwanted byproduct of oil and natural gas production that is much saltier than sea water and may also contain petroleum and residue from hydraulic fracturing operations.

The new spill is almost three times larger than one that fouled a portion of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in July.

— Associated Press

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The Wrong Direction: Compressed Natural Gas Public Fueling Stations

Governor Corbett (PA) is celebrating the opening of a new "clean-burning" CNG public fueling station in Philadelphia.  "Clean-burning" is a total lie because the process of getting the fossil fuel out of the ground is a very dirty, polluting process.  Fracking is not the only, or even the most worrying, part of the whole industry.  The infrastructure needed, the pipelines, the impoundments, the trains, the quarries, the silica sands, to name a few, and the leaks on well pads, the surface contamination, the explosions, all these things are a very real threat to our environment.  To make the use of natural gas the up and coming trend for our vehicles, busses, trucks, is insanity.  So Governor Corbett is really leading his state into a terrible mess which will be expensive and ultimately ill-advised.  State tax dollars are funding this. 

Gas companies have harvested too much natural gas and love this idea of making natural gas more needed domestically.  But there is a lot of exportation of gas, too, since foreign countries pay so much more for it.  Why are we exporting natural gas?  The idea of energy independence as the reason for drilling is questionable, given the rate of exportation.

 

Governor Corbett Opens New Clean-Burning Natural Gas Fueling Station in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA -- Governor Tom Corbett today joined officials from VNG Co. to announce the opening of a new compressed natural gas (CNG) public fueling station in Philadelphia to support the widespread use of natural gas vehicles in the region.

“Pennsylvania has the second-largest energy field in the world, and cities from Pittsburgh to Williamsport to Towanda to Philadelphia are benefiting from our game-changing energy resources,” Gov. Corbett said. “The convenience of a local CNG fueling station makes it possible for local governments, organizations, companies and residents to make the switch to this cleaner and affordable alternative fuel. By harnessing natural gas, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality and putting Pennsylvania at the forefront of American energy independence.”
The VNG public fueling station was constructed in-part with a $253,752 Alternative and Clean Energy (ACE) grant and $169,150 ACE loan from Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) which is administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). VNG provided matching funds of more than $422,000. The CFA approved the funding at its public board meeting on September 17, 2013.
The ACE Program provides financial assistance in the form of grants and loan funds that will be used by eligible applicants for the usage, development and construction of alternative and clean energy projects in the state, including CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) filling stations.
The company also received Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) awards totaling nearly $270,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), to support the purchase of 35 natural gas vehicles by its partners at Comcast, Aqua America, H.B. Electric Services, and the Safelite Group, to be fueled at the station. AFIG grants are an annual solicitation, administered by DEP, providing financial incentive for a variety of transportation projects with the result of reducing air emissions in Pennsylvania.
Governor Corbett was joined today by DEP Secretary Christopher E. Abruzzo, along with Philadelphia Gas Works CEO Craig White.
In 2013, Pennsylvania became the second-largest natural gas producing state in the nation.  The abundance of low-cost natural gas has driven electric and natural gas prices down nearly 40 percent since 2008, saving the average Pennsylvania resident nearly $1,200 annually in lower energy costs. After importing 75 percent of its natural gas just five years ago, Pennsylvania has become a net exporter of gas for the first time in more than 100 years.

To learn more about the Natural Gas Vehicle grant program, visit www.dep.state.pa.us, Keyword: AFIG.

To learn more about the ACE program, visit newPA.com/ACE.

Read the announcement here.

Old Gas Pipelines Are Failing: New Dangers Loom

The private company planning to buy Philadelphia Gas Works has promised to upgrade the city’s aging and leaking pipelines. A new report by SNL Energy shows just how big that task could be, ranking the city’s utility second worst in the nation for pipeline leaks.

The firm looked at data from the federal Office of Pipeline Safety showing that in 2012, PGW reported 5,464 leaks over its 5,762 miles of gas mains and service lines. That’s a rate of roughly one leak (0.95) per mile. PGW came in second to New York’s Con Edison, which reported 7,328 leaks over 7,301 miles of pipelines. Pittsburgh-based People’s Natural Gas ranked fifth.

Read more here.


Your Guide to Pipelines in Pennsylvania

Thousands of miles of new pipelines in Pennsylvania will have to be built to transport Marcellus Shale gas. The new pipeline construction will benefit those in need of jobs, and the companies that do the building. But some residents and local politicians worry about the environmental impacts, and say the current regulatory structure needs updating.

Nobody knows how many miles of pipeline already exists in the state. That’s because Pennsylvania does not have one regulatory authority that oversees intrastate gas pipelines. In fact, out of 31 states that produce natural gas, Alaska is the only other state, besides Pennsylvania, that doesn’t.