Ruh roh. For all those worried about the safety of the proposed Keystone Pipeline, Exxon-Mobil’s oil spill this weekend in a small Arkansas town isn’t allaying anyone’s concerns.
According to authorities, the spill was caused by a leak in a pipeline that goes from Illinois to Texas. There’sspeculation that the oil that was spilled might come from the same area where the Keytone Pipeline would start:
The pipeline, which was built in the 1940s and was recently expanded, was carrying low-quality Wabasca Heavy crude oil from Alberta, Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan T. Jeffers said. According to the Crude Monitor Web site, Wabasca Heavy is a blend of oil produced in the Athabasca region, where the oil sands are located.
An existing Keystone pipeline carries crude oil that comes from the oil sands deposits in Alberta to Patoka through Exxon Mobil’s lines. Jeffers said he did not know if this batch of crude oil came from the Keystone line.
I have to say, the idea of having an oil spill in a town that’s 450 miles from the sea is something I hadn’t really ever considered. But that’s the concern with pipelines. In addition to other environmental impacts that the State Department official study openly fretted about, then ignored.
Construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline would create “numerous” and “substantial” impacts on the environment, the State Department said Friday in a draft environmental impact statement. But the project is a better bet than any of the alternatives, it said in essentially clearing the project to go ahead.
Environment, schmironment – would you want to let the Koch Brothers, who stand to benefit financially from the Keytstone Pipeline.
Gaius posted a list the other day of the “climate-criminal Democrats” in the Senate who support the Keystone Pipeline.
Below is a map showing just how not close to the ocean Mayflower, Arkansas really is. And then a few videos of the mess.
Mayflower, Arkansas, in red.
First, here’s a local video shot by an amateur, and after that a news broadcast confirming the spill was an Exxon-Mobil pipeline.
First the amateur video:
Then the local news broadcast:
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