Dakota Access Pipeline Has Its First Leak

[Arctish]

Meanwhille in Ohio

Feds Halt New Drilling on Rover Pipeline

Federal regulators have blocked new drilling on an Ohio natural gas pipeline owned by the same Texas-based company that was behind the controversial Dakota Access project, after millions of gallons of a drilling lubricant spilled into wetlands.

One resident along the route of the pipeline said the project is an eyesore and her property value dropped by more than $30,000, and that the company doesn't seem to care about spills.

Sherry Miller bought six-and-a-half acres of land in Carroll County, which borders Stark County, 18 years ago and she and her husband built a barn, house and garage there over the ensuing years. Now when she looks out her window, she sees cranes and bulldozers as the pipeline is built through and around her property thanks to eminent domain.

"All these spills they arrogantly toss off as nothing, they bother me," Miller told NBC News in a phone interview. She added that her home's appraisal has dropped $34,000 because of the pipeline. "I hope FERC shuts them down completely," Miller said

 

[dismal]

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.

A pump station is a surface facility with lots of valves and moving parts. A 2 barrel leak at a pump station is likely caused by something mundane. A seal or valve fitting not quite right, etc.

 

[beero1000]

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.

A pump station is a surface facility with lots of valves and moving parts. A 2 barrel leak at a pump station is likely caused by something mundane. A seal or valve fitting not quite right, etc.

2 barrels for this leak, what happens when something more serious goes wrong? If 2 barrels is 'mundane', what level of leakage do you think is acceptable for a pipeline?

 

[dismal]

A pump station is a surface facility with lots of valves and moving parts. A 2 barrel leak at a pump station is likely caused by something mundane. A seal or valve fitting not quite right, etc.

2 barrels for this leak, what happens when something more serious goes wrong? If 2 barrels is 'mundane', what level of leakage do you think is acceptable for a pipeline?

2 barrels at a surface facility with a berm = why would anyone give a shit?

How about as a general rule one should refrain from giving a shit about a leak until it causes some actual damage to something?

And then one should give a shit in proportion to the damage and the benefits achieved by pipelines which are very large, particularly for those who do not happen to live near oil wells and refineries.

 

[beero1000]

2 barrels for this leak, what happens when something more serious goes wrong? If 2 barrels is 'mundane', what level of leakage do you think is acceptable for a pipeline?

2 barrels at a surface facility with a berm = why would anyone give a shit?

How about as a general rule one should refrain from giving a shit about a leak until it causes some actual damage to something?

And then one should give a shit in proportion to the damage and the benefits achieved by pipelines which are very large, particularly for those who do not happen to live near oil wells and refineries.

Don't avoid the question - what level of leakage do you think is acceptable? Clearly, 2 barrels is peanuts to you. What about 10 barrels? 100? 1000? 1000000?

And no, waiting until the catastrophic spill has already happened is a terrible way to decide when to 'give a shit'. It's called 'foresight' and is important when planning large, potentially environmentally devastating, industrial projects.

 

[dismal]

2 barrels at a surface facility with a berm = why would anyone give a shit?

How about as a general rule one should refrain from giving a shit about a leak until it causes some actual damage to something?

And then one should give a shit in proportion to the damage and the benefits achieved by pipelines which are very large, particularly for those who do not happen to live near oil wells and refineries.

Don't avoid the question - what level of leakage do you think is acceptable? Clearly, 2 barrels is peanuts to you. What about 10 barrels? 100? 1000? 1000000?

And no, waiting until the catastrophic spill has already happened is a terrible way to decide when to 'give a shit'. It's called 'foresight' and is important when planning large, potentially environmentally devastating, industrial projects.

Hmm, I did give a thoughtful and reasonable answer. Obviously you were looking for something else.

 

[Jarhyn]

And let's not forget the most important fact about petrochemical pipelines: all of them, everywhere, leak. It is not an issue of if it will leak, but when. And that when is always 'pretty damn quick'.

Then you have some people who are quick to blame someone else on the consequences of their irresponsible behavior and demands. The thing is, oil companies have been long known to allow leaks when the damage and loss costs them less to leave than repair. It's not news.

And the leaks are not even the most compelling reason to stop using fossil fuels, as they represent carbon that our biosphere isn't able to absorb and incorporate.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Feds Halt New Drilling on Rover Pipeline

One resident along the route of the pipeline said the project is an eyesore and her property value dropped by more than $30,000, and that the company doesn't seem to care about spills.

Sherry Miller bought six-and-a-half acres of land in Carroll County, which borders Stark County, 18 years ago and she and her husband built a barn, house and garage there over the ensuing years. Now when she looks out her window, she sees cranes and bulldozers as the pipeline is built through and around her property thanks to eminent domain.

"All these spills they arrogantly toss off as nothing, they bother me," Miller told NBC News in a phone interview. She added that her home's appraisal has dropped $34,000 because of the pipeline. "I hope FERC shuts them down completely," Miller said

To be clear, in the Ohio situation, my understanding is that the issue here is bentonite mixtures leaking from drilling, not some oil lubricant. It isn't great to happen, but it won't destroy the wetland, but it is very visible.

 

[starwater]

Feds Halt New Drilling on Rover Pipeline

To be clear, in the Ohio situation, my understanding is that the issue here is bentonite mixtures leaking from drilling, not some oil lubricant. It isn't great to happen, but it won't destroy the wetland, but it is very visible.

Oil well drilling uses bentonite, polymers, and lots of other additives that are not allowed with drilling a water well. This can dam well destroy a wetland depending upon what it is.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Has Twitler weighed in on how the FBI should drop the Russia probe and investigate this leak?

 

[dismal]

Feds Halt New Drilling on Rover Pipeline

To be clear, in the Ohio situation, my understanding is that the issue here is bentonite mixtures leaking from drilling, not some oil lubricant. It isn't great to happen, but it won't destroy the wetland, but it is very visible.

They were probably boring under a river or road. They circulate mud to clear away the drill cuttings. The mud can find an underground fault and come to the surface and cause widespread panic or something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directional_boring

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

To be clear, in the Ohio situation, my understanding is that the issue here is bentonite mixtures leaking from drilling, not some oil lubricant. It isn't great to happen, but it won't destroy the wetland, but it is very visible.

Oil well drilling uses bentonite, polymers, and lots of other additives that are not allowed with drilling a water well. This can dam well destroy a wetland depending upon what it is.

I was clearing up a potential misconception on the term "drilling lubricant".

 

[dismal]

Here is yet another pipeline failure:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...ds-NJ-Womans-Home-Sewage-Water-422040853.html

The lesson here is when you build pipelines..."shit happens".

 

[Elixir]

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.

Way to go.
Did you know that nobody gets your message when you're yelling while your head is buried in the sand (or up your ass, as the case may be)?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

2 barrels at a surface facility with a berm = why would anyone give a shit?

How about as a general rule one should refrain from giving a shit about a leak until it causes some actual damage to something?

And then one should give a shit in proportion to the damage and the benefits achieved by pipelines which are very large, particularly for those who do not happen to live near oil wells and refineries.

Don't avoid the question - what level of leakage do you think is acceptable? Clearly, 2 barrels is peanuts to you. What about 10 barrels? 100? 1000? 1000000?

And no, waiting until the catastrophic spill has already happened is a terrible way to decide when to 'give a shit'. It's called 'foresight' and is important when planning large, potentially environmentally devastating, industrial projects.

Expected spills that don't tax the containment systems are not an issue.