Harris’ numbers indicate the potential for 2 million litre spill
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Updated: October 21, 2009 9:03 AM
Dear sir,
Mr. Roger Harris has been more than accommodating in answering my questions regarding Enbridge’s oil pipeline and supertanker port proposal that will terminate in Kitimat, but I’d like to revisit a few answers for clarification.
Concerning spills or leaks from the pipeline, Mr Harris stated, “These design and operation safety features will ensure that the maximum volume that could be released near sensitive environmental habitat does not exceed 2,000 cubic metres”. (2,000 cu.m. equals 2 million litres).
The Pine River oil spill, a mere 1 million litres, prevented Chetwynd from using their river for drinking water for four years, and was Canada’s most expensive oil spill to try and clean at $30 million.
I was puzzled why Enbridge advised Mr Harris to so freely admit the possibility of a 2 million litre oil spill into the Kitimat River where we also get our drinking water. Was this the best news scenario they could offer?
To get a clearer picture, I asked Mr Harris what the minimum leak of oil it took to trigger an alarm at the pipeline control centre, and he stated, “A slower leak will trigger the alarm at approximately 348 cubic meters of leakage within two hours”. (348 cubic meters equals 348,000 litres).
As I understand it, oil is inducted into a pipeline at an irregular rate, goes slowly up and rushes down hills, and is turned on and off at the tank terminal. This makes it impossible to maintain constant pressure and why it takes two hours to trigger the alarm.
So, if a leak of 325,000 litres every two hours (well under the 348,000 litres needed to sound the alarm) began at dusk on a sixteen-hour long winter night, 2.6 million litres of oil could spill into the Kitimat River without the control centre even knowing there was a problem!
If there was thick ice and deep snow on the river, how long after dawn would it take for anybody to notice and call Enbridge to shut the pipeline down?
Could the volume spilled rise to 3 million litres? More?
No wonder Enbridge dropped the 2 million litre amount so easily.
Wouldn’t it be in Enbridge’s interest to invest at least $30 million dollars in developing more precise pipeline leak detection technology?
Money well spent if it prevents Pine River’s $30,000,000 multiplied three times over and adjusted for inflation, don’t you think?
(Maybe that’ll open some eyes at Enbridge since the horror of 2 to 3 million litres of oil spilled into our river doesn’t even make them blink).
As an aside, and more a question to Kitimat’s mayor and council members, exactly where would Kitimat get its drinking water for four years or more? Who would pay for it? Shouldn’t mayor and council support the idea of an independent public inquiry in an attempt to better protect our water supply and marine environment?
Further, would anybody sell their house for the first offer given by the first prospective buyer? Might there not be better (read safer) offers than the first?
More on the marine plan later,
Murray Minchin.
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