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a p r i l / m a y 2 0 1 5
Transporting
Petroleum
Products
TaKing a lOOK aT ThE SaFETY OF pipElinES
by Bruce Lantz
Pipelines ferrying oil and natural gas have existed since the
mid-1800s. They're a fact of life, with 2.5 million kilometres
of pipe running in the United States and 115,000 kilometres
in Canada, and more in the works, such as TransCanada's
[TRP-TSX, NYSE] Keystone XL and Energy East pipelines,
Kinder Morgan's [KMI-NYSE] Trans Mountain pipeline, and
the enbridge [ENB-TSX] Northern Gateway line.
But concerns exist about the danger of pipeline ruptures
and spills, and the threat they pose to the environment and
people. While spills are relatively infrequent, when they
occur they can be massive, such as the 2010 spill of 840,000
gallons of crude oil into Michigan's Kalamazoo River. That
cost more than $800 million to clean up, making it the most
expensive pipeline spill in US history.
OIL & GAS
