Sunken Hazard - NWF Dives underwater Mackinac Pipelines

Published on Oct 9, 2013

Video footage of Enbridge's 60-year-old tar sands pipelines, strung across the Straits of Mackinac, have never been released to the public. This past July, NWF contracted divers to obtain footage of those pipelines as a way to better understand the integrity and placement. This footage revealed that the pipelines are suspended over the lake bed, some of the original supports have broken away indicating the presence of corrosion and some sections of the pipelines are covered in large piles of unknown debris. The age and location of these pipelines is concerning enough -- it is clear that Enbridge needs to reveal a schedule for replacement. Unfortunately, instead of developing this schedule, Enbridge has increased the pressure and flow on these pipelines in order to ship more tar sands oil back into Canada. That increase in pressure has flown under the radar because Enbridge bypassed critical environmental permitting on the pipeline.

Please consider reaching out to your Senators and let them know that you're concerned about Enbridge's actions and disregard for the safety of the Great Lakes. Please push for a replacement of this pipeline and Environmental Impact Statement through a revised Presidential Permit.

This visual is evidence that our decision makers need to step in and demand a release of information from Enbridge and PHMSA.

Heightening our concern around this pipeline and the company that owns it: despite having cleared our dive work with the U.S. Coast Guard, several Congressional members, and Homeland Security, our staff and the dive crew had uncomfortable interactions with Enbridge representatives. As soon as our team set out on the water, we were quickly accompanied by an Enbridge crew that monitored our every move. This monitoring did not stop at the surface: Enbridge also placed a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) into the water to watch our team.

These actions and our video have raised our level of concern for the general operational behavior of this company and their overall safety culture—including the way they treat the concerned public living near their pipelines. If these aging pipelines rupture, the resulting oil slick would cause irreversible damage to fish and wildlife, drinking water, Lake Michigan beaches, Mackinac Island and our economy.

To make matters worse, the recent shutdown of our federal government has left communities and wildlife with an increased risk of oil spills and failed response because pipeline safety and responding agencies have been scaled back or closed all together. The recent oil spill in North Dakota, of approximately 800,000 gallons, is living proof.

- See more at: http://blog.nwf.org/2013/10/whats-the-condition-of-the-pipeline-beneath-the-straits-of-mackinac-video/#sthash.Untzj1Is.dpuf

Old Pipelines: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Old pipelines are ticking time bombs

Pipelines Are Not Our Friends

A pipeline is installed at the Otten well in Bradford County, PA. The high part will be above ground.

Just a few weeks ago (May 2009) an explosion occurred in a home in Irving, Texas. State regulators blamed the blast on a natural gas leak. Atmos Energy is being held responsible for the incident which demolished the house and severely injured its owner who suffered third degree burns. Not surprisingly, Atmos says it is not at fault. The Texas Railroad Commission, the agency which regulates the natural gas industry, says the culprit was a compression coupling joining two natural gas pipes under the street. Apparently elasticity of the rubber gaskets holding the pipes together deteriorates over time, perhaps 45 years or more. The rubber contracts after being in service for a number of years. Investigations into other similar explosions also have revealed improperly manufactured fittings. An Atmos operations manager testified the couplings, called NORMAC couplings, are known to leak. This problem has been known to pipeline technicians for decades. There are an estimated 800,000 aging compression couplings still in the ground. Small leaks are not necessarily reportable by federal safety standards. Yet some call these couplings "ticking time bombs." The Railroad Commission still has not taken steps to have faulty couplings removed, although the agency does have a standing order to have them removed if they are discovered. Atmos officials have declined an interview with a local TV station, News 8.

Has the American public gotten so used to natural gas use and the pipelines buried underground that the dangers are not taken into account? The deterioration and corrosion of pipelines take place underground where no one can detect problems until it is too late in some cases. Now we face massive new pipeline networks going in to get the so-called shale gas to market. These pipelines are often buried very close to homes, schools, and playgrounds. Land owners get a small fee for rights-of-way. Is it worth the money?

Read more here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
SAY NO TO PIPELINES NEAR YOUR HOUSE!

Pipelines Are Okay, Right?

In a recent drive through parts of French Azilum Township, Bradford County, PA, I encountered this dreadful scene: Installation of gathering pipelines in the backyards of residents. Can you see the swing set? I saw the little girl who swings on that swing set. She was selling cookies to the workers who were tearing up the land right behind her house. The pipeline has since been buried five feet down and covered over, leaving a landscape of miles and miles of telltale "roads" of dirt over which I suppose grass will grow before long, giving the illusion that all is back to "normal." But is it ever going to be the same? Last Sunday in the Wise County (TX) Messenger, an article was published, telling the story of nurseryman Melvin Mitchell, who noticed something odd last Tuesday morning: mud was spurting out of the ground on his property.

As he plowed his land, he saw the fountain of mud out of the corner of his eye. As he approached, he found a pool of mud located just over a Devon gathering line.

He called Devon Energy Corporation, owner of the pipeline. Representatives came out to look the situation over. Chip Minty, media relations manager with Devon, described the problem:

The pipe that runs across Mr. Mitchell's land developed a very small hole- a hole large enough to put a toothpick through. Under pressure, enough gas leaked through from that size hole to make itself obvious.

Minty said the hole was caused by corrosion by bacteria. The area of the leak required much attention and effort to correct the problem: replacing the pipe, removing two barrels of liquid, replacing the contaminated soil, analyzing all the soil and liquids, among other things. Would that this could be a "happily ever after" kind of story. However, there is still much to be concerned about. Mr. Mitchell's son and business partner, Darin, told reporter Mandy Bourgeois that the trees on his property have been suffering and dying since 2001. He said they are dying, not from bacteria or disease, but rather from asphyxiation.

It's like growing trees on concrete.

There is some kind of gas in the soil which eliminates the presence of oxygen. The tree roots grow out rather than down as they should. Darin can't sell them with confidence because the trees may not survive. Devon tested the soil in 2007 and did find problems, but the company claimed no culpability and said its operations did not cause the damage. Darin hired an independent company to test is soil in July 2008. The test revealed the presence of gas in the soil. Darin said he never dumped anything on his land or had anything leak gas in the area. He and his father have spent their adult lives in the nursery business. Never have trees died like this before they started planting on this land.

Read the article by Mandy Bourgeois here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
GROW TREES, NOT GAS WELLS!