U.S. Probes Gulf Oil Fire Involving Paint Crew

Federal authorities are investigating the cause of a blaze that broke out Thursday (Sept. 2) while a 13-member painting and cleaning crew was working aboard an oil and natural-gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters planned this weekend to survey the site of Mariner Energy Inc.’s Vermilion Block 380 platform, about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, to determine whether the platform was leaking oil.

From SSPC's PaintSquare News.

Plains All American Pipeline to Pay $44.25M for Oil Spills

Cleanup in Homochitto National Forest in Mississippi;
photo courtesy of the US EPA.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Justice Department announced that Plains All American Pipeline and several of its operating subsidiaries have agreed to spend approximately $41 million to upgrade 10,420 miles of crude oil pipeline operated in the United States. The settlement resolves Plains’ Clean Water Act violations for 10 crude oil spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and requires the company to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty

Approximately 6,510 barrels (273,420 gallons) of crude oil were discharged from various pipelines and one tank owned and operated by Plains into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Most of the spills were caused by corrosion on the pipelines.

The $3,250,000 civil penalty will be paid to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

From the EPA website.

FAQ: The Science and History of Oil Spills

Interesting information about oil spills in a FAQ format at livescience.com.

Alyeska tests clamp to repair bullet holes

From Energy Pipeline News:

ANCHORAGE - Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is planning a field exercise this year to test a hydraulically powered clamp designed to stop oil from spewing out of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline through a bullet hole. The bullet-hole exercise is planned for a site at the Chatanika River. A test piece of 48-inch mainline pipe will be placed at the scene and pressurized with water to simulate a high-pressure oil spray through a bullet hole, an exercise description says.

From Wikipedia:

On October 4, 2001, a drunken gunman named Daniel Carson Lewis shot a hole into a weld near Livengood, causing the second-largest mainline oil spill in pipeline history. Approximately 258,000 US gallons (980 m3) leaked from the pipeline; 178,000 US gallons (670 m3) were recovered and reinjected into the pipeline. Nearly 2 acres (8,100 m2) of tundra were soiled and were removed in the cleanup. The pipeline was repaired and was restarted more than 60 hours later. Lewis was found guilty in December 2002 of criminal mischief, assault, drunken driving, oil pollution, and misconduct. He was sentenced to 16 years in jail and ordered to repay the $17 million cleanup costs.

Photo from BBC.

Assessing the need for CO2 pipelines

A recent study commissioned by the INGAA Foundation focused on the pipeline infrastructure requirements for carbon capture and sequestration in connection with compliance with mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The major conclusion of the study was that, while CCS technologies are relatively well defined, there remain technological challenges in the carbon capture and sequestration phases. There are fewer technological challenges in connection with the transportation of captured carbon. The study forecasts that between 15,000 and 66,000 miles will be needed by 2030.

From pipelineandgastechnology.com.

How Acid Rain Works

Interesting article on acid rain on the site howstuffworks.com here. The article discusses the effects of acid rain, methods being employed to reduce acid rain, and includes some links and a bibliography for additional resources.

Dowdey, Sarah. "How Acid Rain Works." 05 August 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 10 September 2009.