Dakota Access Pipeline Has Its First Leak

[Arctish]

...and it's not even fully operational.

The Dakota Access pipeline has suffered its first leak, outraging indigenous groups who have long warned that the project poses a threat to the environment.

The $3.8bn oil pipeline, which sparked international protests last year and is not yet fully operational, spilled 84 gallons of crude oil at a South Dakota pump station, according to government regulators

Although state officials said the 6 April leak was contained and quickly cleaned, critics of the project said the spill, which occurred as the pipeline is in the final stages of preparing to transport oil, raises fresh concerns about the potential hazards to waterways and Native American sites.

“They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks won’t happen, that nothing can go wrong,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been fighting the project for years. “It’s always been false. They haven’t even turned the thing on and it’s shown to be false.”

<link>

It was only a matter of time until DAPL started leaking, spilling, and spewing out oil but sheesh, that was fast.

Any bets on how long before it contaminates someone's water supply?

 

[laughing dog]

Yeah, but it is only a problem if it is my water supply.

 

[Derec]

That was indeed fast. I suspect sabotage by eco-terrorists. They really have a hate boner for this pipeline.

 

[laughing dog]

That was indeed fast. I suspect sabotage by eco-terrorists. They really have a hate boner for this pipeline.

What prevented you from accessing the link and reading

Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota department of environment and natural resources, said the spill was relatively minor and was caused by a mechanical failure at a surge pump.

“It’s not uncommon to have a small release at a pump station,” he said, adding that the company responded immediately and cleaned up the liquid petroleum. The spill occurred inside a “secondary containment area” and there were no environmental impacts, he added.

?

 

[beero1000]

That was indeed fast. I suspect sabotage by eco-terrorists. They really have a hate boner for this pipeline.

Weak.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

That was indeed fast. I suspect sabotage by eco-terrorists. They really have a hate boner for this pipeline.

Weak.

Very weak.

 

[dismal]

I missed the reports of damage and near-damage for this 2 bbl spill.

Are there migrants heading this way?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I missed the reports of damage and near-damage for this 2 bbl spill.

Are there migrants heading this way?

Maybe when the 5,000,000 jobs that this pipeline was going to produce end.

 

[dismal]

I missed the reports of damage and near-damage for this 2 bbl spill.

Are there migrants heading this way?

Maybe when the 5,000,000 jobs that this pipeline was going to produce end.

You're pretty close to the 2bbl deluge. I'm going to assume that's the oil damage to your brain talking.

 

[Derec]

Weak.

Why? It's not like eco-terrorists haven't been sabotaging pipelines, including this one, before.
Dakota Access Pipeline sabotaged in two states

 

[laughing dog]

Weak.

Why?

Because the linked article indicates that it was a mechanical failure. Something that anyone with 1st grade reading comprehension would understand if he or she had bothered to read the link.

 

[Derec]

Something that anyone with 1st grade reading comprehension would understand if he or she had bothered to read the link.

I had not read the article when I first posted.

 

[beero1000]

Something that anyone with 1st grade reading comprehension would understand if he or she had bothered to read the link.

I had not read the article when I first posted.

Yeah, we could tell. Seems fairly standard TBH.

 

[dismal]

The main thing is that the very same people who (must repeatedly) tell us society can withstand jihadists killing a few people in the streets have now found something that society cannot withstand.

And it's a 2 barrel oil leak at a facility with containment measures.

 

[fromderinside]

Uh maybe its that fewer than 70% of tanker cars are double hulled while 99% of security measures have at least five levels of law enforcement and even there there are more innocents killed by those five levels of law enforcement than terrorists are permitted to seep through the cracks and kill people.

 

[whichphilosophy]

...and it's not even fully operational.

The Dakota Access pipeline has suffered its first leak, outraging indigenous groups who have long warned that the project poses a threat to the environment.

The $3.8bn oil pipeline, which sparked international protests last year and is not yet fully operational, spilled 84 gallons of crude oil at a South Dakota pump station, according to government regulators

Although state officials said the 6 April leak was contained and quickly cleaned, critics of the project said the spill, which occurred as the pipeline is in the final stages of preparing to transport oil, raises fresh concerns about the potential hazards to waterways and Native American sites.

“They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks won’t happen, that nothing can go wrong,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been fighting the project for years. “It’s always been false. They haven’t even turned the thing on and it’s shown to be false.”

<link>

It was only a matter of time until DAPL started leaking, spilling, and spewing out oil but sheesh, that was fast.

Any bets on how long before it contaminates someone's water supply?

Poor management:

This could be one or a combination of the following:

Not conducting proper lab tests on samples of the material used.
Substandard Material causing bursting under pressure. Either a low grade pipe spec for the correct material, or inferior materiala
Poor Welding of the Pipeline materials thus causing leakage.
FAILURE to conduct inspection, either at the PIPE MILL and or during the installation of the Pipes which could identify any of the above.
Though very rare, falsifying material test results.

 

[dismal]

...and it's not even fully operational.



It was only a matter of time until DAPL started leaking, spilling, and spewing out oil but sheesh, that was fast.

Any bets on how long before it contaminates someone's water supply?

Poor management:

This could be one or a combination of the following:

Not conducting proper lab tests on samples of the material used.
Substandard Material causing bursting under pressure. Either a low grade pipe spec for the correct material, or inferior materiala
Poor Welding of the Pipeline materials thus causing leakage.
FAILURE to conduct inspection, either at the PIPE MILL and or during the installation of the Pipes which could identify any of the above.
Though very rare, falsifying material test results.

The OP said it happened at a pump station champ.

 

[whichphilosophy]

Poor management:

This could be one or a combination of the following:

Not conducting proper lab tests on samples of the material used.
Substandard Material causing bursting under pressure. Either a low grade pipe spec for the correct material, or inferior materiala
Poor Welding of the Pipeline materials thus causing leakage.
FAILURE to conduct inspection, either at the PIPE MILL and or during the installation of the Pipes which could identify any of the above.
Though very rare, falsifying material test results.

The OP said it happened at a pump station champ.

This would still apply to the equipment. Poor welding and or inadequate ability to resist high pressure due to inferior materials would be very likely causes.

The USA API and ASME standards are amongst the highest engineering standards in the world. If the manufacturing and testing procedures are properly applied the likelihood of failure would be non existent.

Worse still I understand this is onshore where the standards are less stringent than what are applied offshore and subsea. Onshore should not be a problem.

It would be interesting to see what the nature of the leaks are as evaluated by an investigation team.

I understand the reported leakage amount was 84 gallons.

 

[Arctish]

Poor management:

This could be one or a combination of the following:

Not conducting proper lab tests on samples of the material used.
Substandard Material causing bursting under pressure. Either a low grade pipe spec for the correct material, or inferior materiala
Poor Welding of the Pipeline materials thus causing leakage.
FAILURE to conduct inspection, either at the PIPE MILL and or during the installation of the Pipes which could identify any of the above.
Though very rare, falsifying material test results.

The OP said it happened at a pump station champ.

This would still apply to the equipment. Poor welding and or inadequate ability to resist high pressure due to inferior materials would be very likely causes.

Everything you wrote up to this point is consistent with the history of pipeline operations.

The USA API and ASME standards are amongst the highest engineering standards in the world. If the manufacturing and testing procedures are properly applied the likelihood of failure would be non existent.

^ This part is pie-in-the-sky. It is utterly inconsistent with the reality of pipeline operations. In fact, it's utterly inconsistent with any sort of operations that involve people, machinery, pumps, and electronics. In the oil transportation industry, as with most things in life, there's no such thing as a likelihood of failure so slight it becomes non-existent.

 

[RavenSky]

Something that anyone with 1st grade reading comprehension would understand if he or she had bothered to read the link.

I had not read the article when I first posted.

That's the point