This an editorial I put in our local newspaper. The pipeline is unstoppable and it is
coming within 10 miles of home.
Oil Pipe line near
Longville
*Do you know? An Enbridge oil pipe line is coming close to
10 miles from Longville?
“After a short stretch through Crow Wing County’s Gail Lake
and Timothy townships, the pipeline re-enters Cass and runs through Blind
Lake, Trelipe, Crooked Lake and Beulah townships before crossing into Aitkin County on its way to Superior.” Enbridge
Energy’s ‘Sandpiper Pipeline’ route would run through central Cass County
*Do you know?
“Enbridge is responsible for the largest on-land spill . .
. the July 2010 rupture of an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan that
released 20,000 barrels of crude oil, much of it into the Kalamazoo River, triggering a record fine and a
$1 billion cleanup.“ Article by: DAVID SHAFFER ‘Star Tribune’ September 3, 2013 - 3:19 PM
“The new line would carry 225,000 barrels a day through
North Dakota but would then merge with other sources of oil and carry 375,000
barrels a day from Clearbrook to Superior, Little said. That’s 15.75 million
gallons of oil each day.”
http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/15664/publisher_ID/46/
*Do you know? Crude is a nasty material, very destructive
when it spills into the environment, and very toxic when it contacts humans or
animals. It’s not even useful for energy, or anything else, until it’s
chemically processed, or refined, into suitable products like naphtha,
gasoline, heating oil, kerosene, asphaltics, mineral spirits, natural gas
liquids, and a host of others.
*Do you know?
“What is the safest way to move it? . . . The short
answer is . . . For the normalized amount of oil
spilled, it’s truck worse than pipeline worse than rail worse than boat (Congressional Research Service).”
Pick Your Poison For Crude — Pipeline, Rail, Truck Or Boat
Do you know?
There was a: “Public meetings for the proposed Sandpiper oil pipeline by
Enbridge . . .
held from 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Pine River-Backus School.”
http://pineandlakes.com/echo-news/2014-02-25/sandpiper-pipeline-public-meeting-march-12
The article goes on to say, “Those who are interested in
attending may submit oral or written comments. Representatives of Enbridge and
the state will be present to answer questions about the pipeline. Topics to be
discussed may include alternative route options and environmental impacts.”
*These are some of the questions I asked the Public Utility
Commission and to put it bluntly, received no serious response just deflection.
1. Are there significant funds set aside by the pipeline
company that will deal with disasters such as massive spills regardless of the
financial health of the pipeline company at the time of the disaster?
2. When there is no more oil running in the pipeline in the
next decade or so, who is going to maintain the pipeline? Is there a fund for that?
3. If the
company fails, who is responsible for spills, cleaning, and maintenance?
4. No matter the safety record, accidents, both technical
and human error, happen. What
could the damage be of a massive spill or explosion?
Do you know?
Fracking and pipelines are supported by :
- Higher
oil prices because the techniques of fracking and other extreme measures
and location take more and more energy to get less and less oil.
- Fracking
wells deplete very quickly so that drilling must keep pace with depletion.
- Our
willingness to use and waste massive amounts of water.
- Our
willingness to disregard our children and grandchildren’s future by the
real possibility that we are making their environment unlivable.
- How
addicted we are to maintaining our high horse-powered lifestyle -
snowmobiles, wave runners, leaf blowers and all the sundry gasoline tools
and toys.
Thought you might be curious about what choices we are
making. Well, sort of making.
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