Oil Spill

[Tuc]

This kind of news seems to becoming more and more frequent............

Updated: Wed Jul. 20 2011 12:32:03

 ctvedmonton.ca
 


A spill from an oil pipeline located northwest of Edmonton is currently being investigated by Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board.
 
The Pembina Pipeline Corporation says 1,300 barrels of oil were released on Tuesday into an area of muskeg and a creek in the Swan Hills region.
 
"The release of approximately 1,300 barrels of crude oil, which has travelled along our right of way and into some muskeg and an unnamed creek. But I can confirm that the oil has not entered any main waterways or sources of drinking water," said Shawn Davis, spokesperson for Pembina Pipeline Corporation.

 
The Calgary-based company also reveals the exact size of the spill is under investigation. The company's CEO, Bob Michaleski, say they take the spill extremely seriously and will do what is necessary to minimize its impact on land and waterways.
 
Officials say the pipeline has been shutdown, and the spill had been contained. Crews have been sent to the area to start the clean-up.

[Paul]

Lack of preventative maintenance. The Government needs to regulate this, because the oil companies can't seem to do so. More hydrotesting of existing lines and smart tool technology to check for potential weak spots.

[weeman]

My question is how are they going to get the oil from the muskeg. From what I have read it is like a sponge and can run quite deep under ground.
 Those pipes are lined with a chromium carbide liner welded to pipe wall. One of the issues that they are having is the liner is not thick enough in the elbow pipes.
 Just the past few years they tripled the liner in those high wear elbow areas. The liner is usually 8 mm thick which gives about five years of life from each pipe.
 The other issue is that when there is a coupling  and/ or flanges for each section of pipe if they are not aligned correctly this will cause the crude to tumble causing accelerated wear in that area. 
  More monitoring of installation to make sure fittings line up correctly. It is quite common for installers to add gasket material to make up for poor aligned fittings.
  I would hope that these accidents will open the eyes of those who are in charge.