Why pipelines are a bad idea

Published on Jul 31, 2013: A new analysis of oil and […]

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Climate State

Date Posted:

January 23, 2014

Published on Jul 31, 2013: A new analysis of oil and gas pipeline safety in the United States reveals a troubling history of spills, contamination, injuries and deaths. Read more at NoKeystone.org.

This time-lapse video shows pipeline incidents from 1986 to 2013, relying on publicly available data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Only incidents classified as “significant” by the agency are shown in the video. “Significant” incidents include those in which someone was hospitalized or killed, damages amounted to more than $50,000, more than 5 barrels of highly volatile substances or 50 barrels of other liquid were released, or where the liquid exploded or burned.

According to the data, since 1986 there have been nearly 8,000 incidents (nearly 300 per year on average), resulting in more than 500 deaths (red dots on the video), more than 2,300 injuries (yellow dots on the video), and nearly $7 billion in damage.
Since 1986 pipeline accidents have spilled an average of 76,000 barrels per year or more than 3 million gallons. This is equivalent to 200 barrels every day.

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44 Comments

  1. MiserableOldFart August 1, 2013 at 11:14 pm - Reply

    Terrible. We need a moratorium on oil and gas pipelines, except repairs,
    and we need much more frequent inspections, and stronger laws to protect
    people and the environment.

  2. MiserableOldFart August 1, 2013 at 11:16 pm - Reply

    Maybe the number of disastrous pipeline incidents in their states show why
    texass and oklahoma send maniacs to the Senate.

  3. SimonVinJapan August 2, 2013 at 5:08 am - Reply

    What’s another 100 compared to the 8,000 shown here? :-(

  4. Carole Di Tosti August 2, 2013 at 7:36 am - Reply

    Renewable sustainable energy? Well, it’s been developed and can be
    used…the oil companies….prefer this way.

  5. Lawrence Turner August 2, 2013 at 8:32 pm - Reply

    thank you ! Morning Star Athbhreith Athbheochan Kwisatz Haderach Druid

  6. Penny Heuscher August 2, 2013 at 10:13 pm - Reply

    This is all about money and propaganda regarding jobs. Educated people must
    continue to help others understand the importance of protecting our natural
    environment because ultimately this is what we are dependent upon.

  7. Rixar13 August 3, 2013 at 9:07 pm - Reply

    We only have one planet, take care of our home for our children…

  8. daoist56 August 3, 2013 at 10:53 pm - Reply

    Well, this is a good argument. Very good show of reasoning and logic to
    counter these facts. Yes, indeed.

  9. Alan Marr August 6, 2013 at 4:28 pm - Reply

    Dangerous pipelines are not just limited to the US there is one in the UK

  10. gerredwp August 11, 2013 at 6:44 pm - Reply

    Most of the oil and gas we ship through pipelines does not go for our gas
    consumption. It only goes to investors pockets. GET REAL!!

  11. Steve EV August 13, 2013 at 5:39 am - Reply

    Electricity works for me. The collectors on my garage roof provide enough
    free power for the house and the electric car.

  12. RStoverVideos October 3, 2013 at 1:39 am - Reply
  13. MrEnergyCzar October 12, 2013 at 5:34 am - Reply

    I power my entire home’s energy needs and my Volt using the sun….

  14. vengencefrom1979 November 4, 2013 at 4:10 pm - Reply

    this is what the keystone pipeline proponents don’t want you to know.

  15. Kevin Jones November 14, 2013 at 7:32 pm - Reply

    Check out this video.

  16. Daniel Alpert December 31, 2013 at 7:20 pm - Reply

    Every one of these spills were cleaned up and the pipelines were repaired.
    Millions of barrels are carried in pipelines every day safely. Yesterday a
    train carrying oil derailed in Eastern North Dakota then another train hit
    it and ignited the oil in 10 cars. The oil spilled in an oil spill can be
    cleaned up and most of it can still be refined and made into usable
    petroleum products. The oil burning in the 10 cars will not be usable
    after the fire is out, because it got BURNED UP!!!!!!

    Obama, approve the KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE IMMEDIATELY OR PEOPLE WILL
    DIE!!!!!!

  17. L Witt January 7, 2014 at 5:06 pm - Reply

    Mr. Alpert obviously does not understand the concept of “the cycling of
    matter”. All physical objects on earth such as oil don’t “go away” or get
    “BURNED UP!!!”. When the oil burns the carbon molecules are converted to
    carbon dioxide. Sulfur and other chemicals in the crude oil are converted
    into sulfur dioxide and other gaseous pollutants. They travel through the
    atmosphere where they cause harm to life forms both plants and animals –
    including humans. The point of this video is to encourage energy sources
    that don’t pollute. Oil that spills on the ground soaks in. If it is truly
    “cleaned up” (Mr. Alpert’s words) then all the soil would have to be
    removed and the oil separated from the soil particles. This process would
    leave the ground that was exposed to the oil stripped down to the subsoil
    or deeper. Life on this area of land would not return for hundreds or even
    thousands of years. This is how long it takes nature to make soil from
    subsoil (clay, etc.) or bedrock. The more likely scenario for a “clean up”
    would be to scrape the polluted soil and incinerate it at another location.
    Once again cycling the crude oil molecules along with the natural carbon
    content of the soil, into the atmosphere. Remember, all matter is neither
    created nor destroyed. It just keeps cycling through the environment.

  18. Gra Gor January 14, 2014 at 4:33 am - Reply

    See. Pipelines are so much safer in Canada. No incidents north of 49.
    Lucky us or so the proponents would like us to believe.

  19. elijah27b January 17, 2014 at 10:40 pm - Reply

    Looks like my state, Maine, has the best record! I’m all for oil: it’s way
    better than nuclear, and I’d rather it come from Canada than Iraq.

  20. superbad65 January 22, 2014 at 1:58 am - Reply

    it’s the 21st century there is no reason to stay with oil and gas… do
    people really think that fuel sources for transportation and heating
    stopped with the discovery of oil and the combustion engine?? a better
    safer cleaner planet is possible for future generations

  21. Andrew Nicholson January 22, 2014 at 2:24 am - Reply

    Being a Canadian and watching this, I can say that these spills are
    terrible. But if America doesn’t want this pipeline, I’m fine with that.
    The alternatives to this is to build a pipeline through the Rockies to
    British Columbia, and ship the oil to Asia for processing, or the more
    likely option of building a pipeline to New Brunswick, and have it
    processed there. This would create thousands of jobs in Atlantic Canada,
    which is where I’m from, and keep more of the money from the Oil Sands
    within Canada. So hey, if the the US doesn’t want our oil, that’s great!

  22. KAYLA G January 22, 2014 at 7:07 pm - Reply

    I honestly don’t want the pipeline. I just want people to leave nature
    alone. Didn’t they fucked up enough?

  23. Bob Benvenuti January 22, 2014 at 8:20 pm - Reply

    There are people who would burn down the whole world for a bigger piece of
    pie. There are other people that will gladly help them do it for some
    crumbs from that pie. Examples below –>

  24. DaeXeaD January 23, 2014 at 4:57 am - Reply

    I suspect this not only covers pipelines but rail cars as well. In 2013
    more oil was spilled from rail cars than the previous 37 years combined.

  25. Nicholas Adams January 23, 2014 at 1:34 pm - Reply

    What the hell happened to Michigan?

  26. Dr Dias January 24, 2014 at 1:45 am - Reply

    “Obama’s real lasting legacy is not his Obama-care (ACA), but his complete
    complicity with Big Oil and Gas in the volatile unreasonable poisoning of
    our air, our water, and the unadulterated poisoning of the Citizens of the
    USA with his uncensored endorsement of FRACKING Natural Gas (LNG) and Tar
    sands oil distribution!!”

  27. Paul Stewart January 24, 2014 at 5:15 pm - Reply

    wow

  28. Evee Kay January 24, 2014 at 7:16 pm - Reply

    so obama says no to send it through the states… and now its going to come
    through canada thanks to harper?? can’t we just find an alternative… jeez

  29. zzasdfwas January 26, 2014 at 10:19 pm - Reply

    what is a natural gas incident?

  30. stp479 January 27, 2014 at 7:05 pm - Reply

    This time-lapse makes all of America appear to be an EPA Superfund site.

  31. Horst G Ludwig January 27, 2014 at 8:00 pm - Reply

    something you didnt know about the empire which rules our world

  32. Horst G Ludwig January 27, 2014 at 8:04 pm - Reply

    you will see US citizens not getting their brain out of the trash bin and
    still believing what they have made believe

  33. ruth field January 28, 2014 at 12:59 am - Reply

    if you keep sucking the oil endlessly out of the ground and not expect
    problems eventually, earth quakes etc, by the time it starts to get really
    bad its going to be to late folks, we should have stopped this years ago

  34. Ivan Raszl January 29, 2014 at 5:04 am - Reply

    Spills, contamination, injuries and deaths caused by oil pipelines. Let’s
    switch to clean nuclear already.

  35. MasterofPuberty January 29, 2014 at 7:14 pm - Reply

    Texas must be very slippery.

  36. Sam Moss January 31, 2014 at 9:15 am - Reply

    Til they figure out a way to transport fuels good luck. Trust me I have
    worked around those things and they are protected some are even flown over
    daily by small planes and patrolled constantly. I’ve done land surveys
    where we had to cross and locate these on the plats we were making and we
    were visited every time by the people whose job it is to safe-guard ’em.

  37. A. David January 31, 2014 at 4:12 pm - Reply

    “King of the Mountain” kills everyone else, and WINS!
    USA USA!

  38. twominutetips February 4, 2014 at 3:58 pm - Reply

    XL Pipeline is the oil in the sand so to speak. If its given the OK –
    there WILL be a revolution.

  39. AvangionQ February 28, 2014 at 10:24 am - Reply

    @ 1:04 Pipeline incidents since 1986 have resulted in around 8000 spills,
    explosions and other incidents, over 500 deaths, over 2000 injuries and
    have resulted in around $7 billion in property damage … what the video
    doesn’t indicate, and really should have to connect the dots, is that the
    oil industry has contributed billions towards the campaigns of almost every
    sitting member of Congress and to all presidents since before this 1986
    counter began … we have ready alternatives to oil and gas ~ specifically
    Thorium fission molten salt reactors, solar reflector power plants and
    fields of wind turbines, and have the potential for creating a distributed
    energy grid using roof mounted solar voltaic panels and mini helix wind
    turbines … until we get the money out of politics, its not likely this
    entrenched corruption will change things for the better …
    https://movetoamend.org + https://represent.us + http://www.wolf-pac.com

  40. Larry Herbert March 3, 2014 at 5:24 pm - Reply

    ???”We’ve invested a lot of money, time and resources to ensure that we’re
    using the best available technology to operate our pipelines with the
    utmost integrity,”??? Pipelines may be better than railcars but are still
    worse than nothing!

    Read more: Sunken Great Lakes oil pipeline raises spill fears – The Denver
    Post
    http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_25263682/sunken-great-lakes-oil-pipeline-raises-spill-fears#ixzz2uuwDdb4I

  41. Aquariel Charm March 4, 2014 at 4:22 am - Reply

    *UTAH TAR SANDS RESISTANCE* http://www.tarsandsresist.org/

    Learn more: *A Canadian Company Is About To Become One Of The First To
    Extract U.S. Tar Sands Oil.*
    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/17/3298671/america-tar-sands/#

  42. Lojikbom March 4, 2014 at 4:55 am - Reply

    If Keystone isn’t built, the oil is going to be transported by rail. Rail
    is a much more dangerous means of transporting oil and much more carbon
    intensive.

    But perhaps you’d prefer your town end up like Lac-Mégantic, Quebec (47
    dead).

  43. Janine Coughlin March 24, 2014 at 3:03 pm - Reply

    I would like to post this on, Coloradans for Responsible Energy, site.
    Pro oil group.

  44. TiTØ Ðë ĹïbërØ April 18, 2014 at 10:51 pm - Reply

    +When Saturday Comes.. +I DerpSaurs I +When I saw your face I fell in Love♥ ..
    +Derpino Pereira Pinto, +Whenyousay Nothingatall…*When* +Yellowstone Park
    Service Stations +explodedsoda.. +Everything goes boom! +NuffSaid…*///-*

See also  5.6 Oklahoma earthquake and flooding in the U.S.

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