Comparing Oil Pipelines

How does something like an oil spill even happen? There is a long list of reasons of why this could happen. A common reason is a careless mistake that could've been avoided. There has been cases where oil tanker ships have actually ran into other ships which caused the tanker to leak oil into the surrounding waters. For example, in 2014 750 barrels of crude oil was leaked into the Lower Mississippi River because a tanker ran into a towboat. Another very common way oil spills happen are through and machine malfunction or explosion. This is what happened in the BP Deepwater oil spill. A explosion damaged one of the rigs and they completely lost all ability to control the rig. The fire burned for over 36 hours until the rig sank.

The extraction of the bitumen rich tar sands usually entails heating the oil while in the ground so that it may be pumped up to the surface which can be dangerous and cause harm to the surrounding area. The refining of the oil can be even more dangerous to the environment because the tar sands requires a special process of refining that would create copious amounts of greenhouse gases. Many opposing the pipeline also believe that the pipeline would not be as safe as supporters say it would be. Looking at the Keystone 1 Pipeline, the “previous pipeline was said to be safe but leaked much more than anyone anticipated. ‘In its first year, the pipeline leaked 14 times, with the largest spill exceeding 21,000 gallons’” (Swift). TransCanada claimed that the first pipeline would be safe and that it would not leak for many years, yet the pipe still leaked and caused major damage to the surrounding area. This left those affected, as well as other concerned Americans, to wonder why they should trust the company with building another pipeline and why the company’s promises should be trusted again. Environmentalists and those against the Keystone XL Pipeline “also object

Pollution is already a huge ongoing battle in the United States and if constructed the pipeline would send about 800,000 barrels of hazardous oil a day along with tons of greenhouse gases. The US Department of Environmental Protection estimates the greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian oil will be more than 80% greater than oil refined in the US. That is roughly equivalent to the same amount of emissions released by 5.7 million passenger vehicles. Unfortunately, when emissions are passed into the air, the air cannot be cleaned, and since oxygen is a vital component in keeping humans alive, adding an oil pipeline that would put that much emissions into the air is far too dangerous for the public’s health what it’s

Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting.

“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources, and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy, and peace (Nobel Peace Prize Medalist Maathai 2004).” A Canadian oil company that goes by TransCanada hopes to build an oil pipeline that would extend an enormous 1,200 miles onto an already gargantuan 2,600 mile long pipeline. Keystone XL represents just under a third of the entire Keystone project, and every other piece of pipe has been built and laid out. In fact, TransCanada 's pipeline system is already shipping hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from the Canadian oil sands across the U.S. border -- and into Illinois (Diamond). The current proposal would take the pipeline on a journey all the way through to Texas. Extracting crude oil from oil sands would be enormously problematic for the environment as it causes the pumping of about 17% more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than standard crude oil extraction. Tar sand oil has levels of carbon dioxide emissions that are three to four times higher than those of conventional oil, due to more energy-intensive removal and refining processes (Friends of the Earth). The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would stimulate employment, the effects would be temporary and the whole scheme would produce a negative long term outcome. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has caused

Many cities in the u.s have been affected by the Oil boom, countless have made millions on this product. Oil isn 't always easy to find, as a matter of fact, it can be very difficult. Often times oil seeps to the top of the surface, making it easy to find, but most of the time people have to drill to find it. In the earlier days rigs could only work on land, however now we can use oil platforms to get oil from under sea beds. Many towns like Bainville and Watford city are being affected very heavily because of the oil, changes include: growth of population, riots, and heavy construction. Not all the people in these towns support and agree with the pipeline, which oftentimes leads to protests and riots. Many protests have ended in arrests because of the violence they promote. Many people across North Dakota have been taking drastic measures such as blocking highways and roads, killing livestock, and violent fights.These people are upset because this pipeline runs across some sacred burial sites of the ancient Native American tribe leaders. The Bakken Shale formation is one of the largest oil and gas industries, it covers over 200,000 square miles in just North Dakota, Montana, and Canada.(Carter,2013) The pipeline is 12inches wide and travels over 500 miles across the US. So far, between North Dakota and eastern Montana they have produced 1 billion barrels of oil. In just North Dakota, jobs are very easy to find in the oil industry.

The Keystone XL Pipeline will provide a secure and reliable source of oil for the United States. The southern portion of the pipeline alone can “ transport 830,000 bpd of crude from Cushing, Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries” (Kalen). The Keystone XL pipeline is necessary to keep up with consumer demand as the supply from Mexico and Venezuela decreases continually. The oil imports from Mexico and Venezuela are unreliable and are continually declining; therefore, the Keystone XL Pipeline will provide a reliable source of oil for

Out of all of these ways, oil spills can cause a noticeably excessive amount of damage to the ocean. Although only 12% of the oil entering the sea is caused by spills, they can deteriorate ocean life and environment more than any other pollution. One gallon of used oil spilled into the ocean, which contains toxic chemicals and heavy metals severely dangerous to the micro-organism at the base of the food chain, can cause an eight-acre layer

On April 20, 2010 the Macondo Blowout, the largest accidental oil spill in the GoM and the second largest in the world, released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil (Atlas and Hazen 2011). This significant ecological perturbation of the sea and coastal region has led to negative impacts in local fishing, aquaculture and tourism (National Health Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (US) Gulf Ecology Division 1999; Yanez-Arancibia and Day 2004; Arreguin-Sanchez et al. 2004; Ritchie and Keller 2008). Since the occurrence of the oil spill, most studies used molecular approaches including NextGen sequencing technology to assess the diversity and metabolism of complex microbial communities in oil-contaminated environments, particularly samples collected from off-shore locations surrounding the Macondo Blowout (Evans et al. 2004; Bordenave et al. 2007; Cappello et al. 2007; Liang et al. 2007; dos Santos et al. 2011;

Accidental discharges, also known as oil spills, occur when oil leaks into a body of water, such as the ocean, lake, or river. Oil can spill from ships, offshore drilling rigs, or pipelines in the

Why have a pipeline? The U.S is the third largest state producer in the world, we need to close the gap between what we produce as a country. Everyone knows the location of their local gas station, your home may be warmed by heating oil or natural gas and many homes use natural gas for cooking. But, did you know that these products, gasoline, home heating oil, and natural gas travel long distances from refineries and natural gas plants to communities all over the world through underground pipelines? (Energy transfer)

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also referred to as the BP oil spill, began on April 20th, 2010, with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil well drilling platform. This spill is regarded as the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. More than 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of 87 days. The accident was caused by a well integrity failure (“Deepwater Horizon Accident”) and a loss of hydrostatic control of the well. The oil that was released, nicknamed ‘Louisiana light, sweet crude’, was mixed with natural gas. Fortunately, natural gas is a mixture primarily of methane, with varying amounts of higher alkanes, which is easier for microbes to degrade. The spilled hydrocarbons are made up of over 150 different molecules.

In Santa Barbara, California, in 1969, even though the spilled oil was not even very large, thousands of dolphins, seals, and birds were killed (Ivanovich, and Hays, 2008). Moreover, in the Gulf of Mexico, 82,000 birds, roughly 6,165 sea turtles, approximately 25,900 marine mammals, and indefinite amount of oysters, fishes, corals, and crabs have been harmed or killed by the spilled oil. Additionally, the spilled has killed many aquatic plants. ( A Center for Biological Diversity Report, 2008). As a result, vegetation, which are the most essential part of the ecological pyramid, and other animals will be affected negatively by the dangerous impact of the spilled oil, which probably is going to cause some problems in the ecological pyramid. In fact, any defect in the ecological pyramid may become a dreadful problem that occurs an ecological

Oil spills can happen anywhere and anytime. You don’t really hear about them when they happen, because some people don’t think they’re a big deal. They can be prevented if oil companies didn’t use old pipes that’s been there for years. The state of Peru has brought in this oil company called Petroperu. When they were brought in they told the Indigenous people “with oil, you and Peru will grow.” Since then the Oil company has spilled tons of crude oil in the Amazon river contaminating communities water and food supply.

For every spill of oil or gas, it damages that ecosystem sometimes beyond repair or it takes it many many years to recover from it. That being said the North Dakota Pipeline is going to be one of the safest most technologically advanced pipelines in the world. Another controversy is that the Native Americans are claiming that the pipeline runs through some of their sacred lands and can possibly contaminate their water supply. The North Dakota Pipeline can be a very successful oil transporter but there also seems to be some drawbacks like it possibly running through sacred land, contaminating water, and the possibility of leaking or exploding and causing a major disaster for the people and animals that live