[Biofuel] Canada's West Coast Tanker Ban Unsupported by Evidence, Say Critics » Ship & Bunker
http://shipandbunker.com/news/am/526205-canadas-west-coast-tanker-ban-unsupported-by-evidence-say-critics [links in on-line article] Canada's West Coast Tanker Ban Unsupported by Evidence, Say Critics Wednesday December 9, 2015 A proposed ban on tankers operating on Canada's West Coast that has been called for by the country's new Liberal government is not based on tanker safety data, nor is it an evidence-based policy as was promised by the new government, local media reports. Kenneth Green and Taylor Jackson, writing for the Vancouver Sun, argue that "the actual data on tanker safety would dispel the idea that this policy is evidence-based." A study by Canada's Fraser Institute is said to show that, when it comes to maritime oil spills, Canada has an "outstanding" record, and that the general safety of moving oil by tankers has been demonstrated and is improving. Further, Green and Taylor say that data from Transport Canada show that there has been just one major oil spill off Canada's West Coast over the past 20 years, and note that the spill was actually a bunker spill which resulted from the sinking of a locally operated ferry that was carrying 240 tonnes of fuel, not from an oil tanker. Globally speaking, large spills - said to be more than 700 tonnes - declined to an average of two large spills per year in the first four years of the 2010s, from an average of 24.5 spills in the 1970s, say Green and Taylor. Medium-sized spills - which are classified as seven to 700 tonnes - are also reported to have "declined significantly" from about 54.3 spills per year in the 1970s to an average of five each year in the first potion of the 2010s. "When the broader data on maritime safety and oil transport are considered, the evidence points to a high degree of safety that has continued to improve over time," said Green and Taylor, noting the reduced numbers of accidents come over a period when the amount of goods being shipped has increased significantly. Plans for the Northern Gateway pipeline to deliver oil to the west coast are said to have been killed by the tanker ban, with the risk of a tanker spill during the operation of the pipeline reported to have been approximately 0.4 percent during any given year. "Without a way to increase shipments of Canadian oil to areas of growing demand, Canada will miss out on the economic prosperity that comes with developing our resources," argue Green and Taylor. A "Much Greener" Vision for the Future However, despite the apparent threat to the country's maritime industry, in an article published by Canada's MacLean's Magazine, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (Port Metro Vancouver), is said to embrace a "much greener" vision for the future of shipping and trade that will allow the maritime industry to thrive alongside the increasing environmental-mindedness of local residents. "We've got this triangle of land between the mountains, the [U.S.-Canada] border and the sea," said Robin Silvester, CEO of Port Metro Vancouver. "All these different things need to be accommodated for it to continue to be a vibrant and sustainable region. If we don't get that balance right, we're going to have a problem." Nevertheless, the same article warned the city risked becoming "a 'lifestyle bubble' for tourists and the rich." In November, Ship & Bunker reported that, in-line with one of its election platform promises, Canada's new Liberal government had moved to implement a ban on crude oil tankers along the country's West Coast. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Oil spill leaves dead animals, possible $250, 000 cleanup bill | MLive.com
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/12/oil_spill_leaves_dead_animals.html [links and photo gallery in on-line article] Oil spill leaves dead animals, possible $250,000 cleanup bill OWOSSO TWP, MI – Officials say it may cost as much as $250,000 to clean up a Shiawassee County oil spill that left multiple dead geese and nearly 100 tons of polluted earth in its wake. A Michigan Department of Environmental Quality analyst said Wednesday, Dec. 9, as much as 1,000 gallons of used motor oil may have spilled into a county drain just west of the Shiawassee River. Original estimates placed the scope of the spill at roughly 300 gallons. Susan Doty, an environmental quality analyst with the DEQ, said oil-soaking booms are still in place as crews enter the maintenance stage of the clean-up process. A hunter discovered the spill Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, in the county's Miner Drain near Wilkinson Road. The cause of the spill remains under investigation, but Doty said investigators have traced the oil back to a nearby farm. Nearly 2.5 miles of surface water was impacted by the spill between Mason and King roads, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is heading the investigation and cleanup efforts. EPA reports show oil samples were taken from the drain for laboratory analysis. Oil samples were also taken from a sump area and an underground storage pit at the suspected source of the oil. Investigators discovered at least three dead geese and cleanup crews removed seven, 13-ton loads of oil-affected soil and debris from the spill area, reports show. Roughly 2,500 gallons of oil and water were vacuumed from the drain. Owosso Township Fire crews were dispatched Nov. 26 after the spill was discovered. Firefighters deployed oil-soaking booms to help contain the spill. Officials said they were able to prevent the spill from reaching the nearby Shiawassee River. The spill remains under investigation. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Environmentalists sue regulators for not releasing info on tri-county oil pipelines | Pacific Coast Business Times
http://www.pacbiztimes.com/2015/12/08/environmentalists-sue-regulators-for-not-releasing-info-on-tri-county-oil-pipelines/ Environmentalists sue regulators for not releasing info on tri-county oil pipelines By Alex Kacik / Tuesday, December 8th, 2015 Environmental groups have filed lawsuits against federal regulators for allegedly refusing to release information regarding oil pipelines in the Tri-Counties. The Environmental Defense Center and Santa Barbara Channelkeepers sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on May 22. PHMSA has yet to fulfill the FOIA requests, according to the complaint. PHMSA officials contacted by the Business Times on Dec. 8 declined to comment. The nonprofits requested all records regarding the most recent internal inspection of Line 901, which was conducted in 2012, according to the filing. They also asked for details of all other inspections of Line 901 since 2013 such as maintenance data, monitoring information, incident reports and repair logs. The heavily corroded Line 901 was responsible for the Refugio oil spill that fouled the Gaviota Coast. The pipeline leaked up to 142,800 gallons on May 19, according to owner Plains All American Pipeline, which initially underestimated the spill. “The Plains pipeline spill at Refugio State Beach showed how little we know about the oil pipelines running under our beaches and parks, and through our communities,” EDC attorney Brian Segee said in a news release. “Our lawsuits are intended to help bring needed transparency regarding not only what went wrong at Line 901, but how we can avoid future disasters at other major regional pipelines in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and those serving offshore oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel.” PHMSA said on May 26 that it had a 63-request backlog and the average processing time was 54 workdays. Sept. 1 was the last correspondence when someone from the agency asked for clarification, according to the complaint. Agencies have 20 work days to comply or deny the FOIA request; they could have 30 days in certain circumstances. The EDC also requested inspection data from M-143 and Tosco Oil pipelines that convey oil produced in Ventura County. M-143, which is owned by Crimson Pipeline, runs from Carpinteria to Ventura and Tosco runs from Ventura to Los Angeles. It asked for the oil spill response plans, incident reports and all other records. The EDC filed a second lawsuit against the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for allegedly not fulfilling a “voluminous” FOIA request, as described by BSEE. The amended request asked for all internal and external Outer Continental Shelf pipeline inspection reports from 2011. These pipelines transport water, natural gas, oil and other hazardous materials to and from the offshore oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel. PHMSA proposed new regulations for pipeline oversight in October that would, in part, extend reporting requirements to all gathering lines, including rural lines and ones that transport oil through gravity that are currently exempt. The proposals would require that all pipelines have a system for detecting leaks and establishing a 72-hour window for pipeline inspections following a storm or natural disaster. The proposed regulations do not include a mandate for installing automatic shutoff valves. They are only required for newly constructed or entirely replaced pipelines. But PHMSA intends to move forward with a separate rule concerning automatic valve usage in the near future, a PHMSA representative told the Business Times. Line 901 was not equipped with an automatic shutoff valve, unlike other lines in Santa Barbara County, because Plains successfully fought the mandate in court. Line 901, and its connecting Line 903 that transports oil to refineries, were shut down following the spill and essentially cut off some of the region’s major oil producers, including ExxonMobil and Venoco. Although SB 295, authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will require annual inspections for intrastate pipelines beginning in 2016, federal regulations, which govern the pipelines at issue in these lawsuits, are not as strict. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Authorities Warn Russian Fuel Oil Spill Could be an "Ecological Disaster"
http://shipandbunker.com/news/emea/782199-authorities-warn-russian-fuel-oil-spill-could-be-an-ecological-disaster [links in on-line article] Authorities Warn Russian Fuel Oil Spill Could be an "Ecological Disaster" Wednesday December 9, 2015 Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Sakhalin region, has warned the recent fuel oil spill in the region could be "an ecological disaster," local media reports. Clean up efforts are said to be continuing after a spill caused by Russian-flagged tanker, the Nadezhda, which grounded on a reef off of Nevelsk, Sakhalin Island in Russia on November 28, contaminated at least 2 miles of coastline, extending 12 feet above the waterline, according to UK media reports. One Russian news agency said as much as 11 km (6.8 miles) had been contaminated by the spill. As Ship & Bunker reported last week, the 1,139 DWT tanker ran aground in the Tatar Strait while carrying 786 tonnes of fuel oil and diesel fuel. "We consider it a fairly serious incident," said Alexei Knizhnikov, a World Wildlife Fund representative, noting that damage from the spill is likely to be restricted to the western part of Sakhalin. The clean up operation, which has included 100 personnel and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Boomerang and Sakhalin Environment Watch, is said to have persisted despite poor weather. Oil booms are reported to have been installed, and large sections of the beach are said to have been successfully cleaned. However photos are said to have been released by Nevelsk's town administration showing oil covered seabirds and rocks. Operations are also reported to be underway to clean and rehabilitate as many of the affected seabirds as possible. A temporary road is also said to have been under construction Tuesday in order to allow for easier access to the tanker and expedite the clean up operation, which has been estimated to take at least two weeks for completion. Removing the remaining fuel in the Nadezhda is reported to have been planned alongside hopes that the operation would lighten the vessel enough to free it from the obstruction on which it grounded. In October, a 14km long oil slick was reported to have been caused by a collision between two tankers, Japanese-flagged Wako Maru No 2 and Panamanian-flagged Sulphur Garland, 10 nautical miles off Shimonoseki, Japan. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Fisheries accuse Halliburton of negligence in the 2010 BP oil spill | Louisiana Record
http://louisianarecord.com/stories/510651918-fisheries-accuse-halliburton-of-negligence-in-the-2010-bp-oil-spill Fisheries accuse Halliburton of negligence in the 2010 BP oil spill Robert Hadley Dec. 9, 2015, 9:46am NEW ORLEANS – The plaintiffs in a class action suit related to the 2010 BP oil spill are suing Halliburton for an alleged faulty well design that allowed oil to damage fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Bon Secour Fisheries et al., as the beneficiaries of the Deepwater Horizon economic and property damages settlement class, filed a lawsuit Sept. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Halliburton Energy Services Inc., alleging product liability. According to the complaint, after an equipment failure inside the Macondo well sank the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010, the well ruptured, sending oil into the Gulf for 12 weeks. The suit says Halliburton’s faulty cement blend and other design choices made the well unsafe, leading to damage to commercial fisheries and the environment. The plaintiffs seek reimbursement for re-drilling the well, economic loss, cleanup costs and other punitive and compensatory damages. Attorneys Stephen J. Herman of Herman Herman & Katz in New Orleans and James Parkerson Roy of Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards of Lafayette are lead counsel. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:15-cv-04654 ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Unique Hazards of Tar Sands Oil Spills Confirmed by National Academies of Sciences | InsideClimate News
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/09122015/unique-hazards-tar-sands-oil-spills-dilbit-diluted-bitumen-confirmed-national-academies-of-science-kalamazoo-river-enbridge [links in on-line article] Unique Hazards of Tar Sands Oil Spills Confirmed by National Academies of Sciences Oil companies need to inform regulators which type of oil they are transporting in pipelines and tailor response plans accordingly, the report recommends. By Zahra Hirji, InsideClimate News Dec 9, 2015 A sobering critique of America's pipeline spill response efforts was delivered in a new study released Tuesday, concluding they aren't adequate when it comes to spills involving sludgy crude oil pumped from the Canadian tar sands. The 144-page report's main message is that the thick type of oil called diluted bitumen, or "dilbit," initially behaves like conventional oil in the first few days following a spill but then quickly degrades, or weathers, into a substance so chemically and physically different that it defies standard spill responses. The report recommends tailoring spill response plans by oil type, a stark contrast to the reassurances often uttered by energy companies that dilbit doesn't need special regulations. In recent years, the volume of dilbit coursing through American pipelines has increased steadily, from 250 million barrels in 2013 to 300 million barrels in 2014. Conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the investigation released Tuesday offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of dilbit spill properties, environmental and health impacts and effectiveness of response methods. "We feel that we have put forward practical and pragmatic recommendations and we are optimistic that these recommendations will be taken in that spirit," said Diane McKnight, chair of the National Academies committee that developed this report. The report, requested in May 2014 by regulators at the U.S. Department of Transportation in response to a Congressional inquiry, comes more than five years after the destruction of dilbit spills first hit the national spotlight, following the country's largest inland oil spill in Michigan. An Enbridge pipeline rupture in July 2010 released more than 1 million gallons of dilbit, mostly in the Kalamazoo River, where it dirtied the water and impacted the surrounding vegetation and wildlife. The massive spill displaced 150 families, forced a two-year closure of a section of the river and cost pipeline operator Enbridge at least $1.2 billion to clean up. An InsideClimate News investigation of the accident—"The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Spill You've Never Heard Of"—won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. In 2013, another pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., fouling a suburban neighborhood. "The National Academy of Sciences is skewering the industry's 'oil is oil' talking point—making it clear that diluted bitumen is a different beast altogether and needs to be treated as such," Anthony Swift, Canada program director for the green group Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement Tuesday. "Canadian oil sands crudes have been transported safely in the U.S. for more than 40 years," Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the industry trade group American Petroleum Institute, wrote in an email to InsideClimate News. "All crude oils have to meet the same criteria when put in a pipeline, which protects the pipeline and the quality of all transported crudes If a release does occur, pipeline operators are prepared to respond quickly and effectively, working with local emergency responders." "The prospect of a release of crude oil into the environment through a pipeline failure inherently raises a number of concerns," wrote the study authors, a collection of nearly a dozen oil spill experts from academia and industry in the U.S. and Canada. "These concerns include not only minimizing a number of possible long-term environmental impacts but also protecting the safety of responders and the public during and after the spill response," the study continued. "When all risks are considered systematically, there must be a greater level of concern associated with spills of diluted bitumen compared to spills of commonly transported crude oils." 'Act Quickly and Decisively' When a pipeline ruptures, often the people impacted do not know it is dilbit. "In the U.S, and many other places, once the oil spills, the first responders do not know what it is," said Merv Fingas, a study author and an Alberta-based energy consultant. "They are told it is crude," not what kind of crude. Once on the scene, the oil cleanup crew still won’t know the oil type by looking at it, explained Fingas, because dilbit and the more commonly transported oil, called conventional medium and light crude, look exactly the same—"until a few days pass." Dilbit is a mix of heavy bitumen, or oil sands
