Oil & Gas News
Spills & Explosions
Spills and accidents happen. Unfortunately returning the land to its original condition is not easy and not always possible. There are many types of spills including but not limited to: diluted bitumen (“dilbit”); produced water, saltwater, brine.
For example, in North Dakota, a U.S. state with a booming oil and gas economy, some landowners are questioning “the state’s ability to keep up with the boom, to enforce the regulations that are supposed to protect their land and hold oil companies accountable”. (article)
“Now to clean up a spill you cannot simply pick up what has leaked out. Diluted bitumen, or dilbit for short, contaminates the soil, foliage, kills wildlife and flows into ditches, marshes and waterways. Some of the chemicals in dilbit do evaporate into the air once it is released from the pipeline but those still pose serious health risks to everyone exposed to the toxic fumes. Residents of Kalamazoo still claim to suffer health effects from a dilbit spill several years ago but I digress. When a highly toxic substance like dilbit spills into the surrounding environment, a great volume of contaminated water, soil and debris will have to be collected.” Alexander Knight (article)
“Pipeline accidents have spilled an average of 76,000 barrels per year during the last 27 years [in the USA].” Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (article)
“I live 10 miles east of Boonville. It looked so large and bright, I thought it WAS in Boonville. Nope-60 miles away.” Mudd (comment re: pipeline explosion - article)
Canada’s Tar Sands Oil Boom Yields Toxic Wastewater Lakes (Bloomberg Business week, 21-Nov-2013)
In January 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a Safety Alert concluding Bakken crude is more flammable than heavier oils. (Source .pdf)
General Oil & Gas Spills/Explosions History (partial list)
|
Date yyyy-mm-dd |
Spill |
Quantity |
Location |
Comment |
|
2020-10-26 |
Husky produced water spill |
900,000 litres |
Northern Alberta southeast of Rainbow Lake |
(article) |
|
2020-06-13 |
TransMountain Sumas pump station spill |
TBD |
Abbotsford, BC |
(article) |
|
2020-02-24 |
Denbury Enterprises gas pipeline rupture |
To be determined (TBD) |
Sartartia, Yazoo County, Mississippi, USA |
(article) - 300 people evacuated, 46 sent to hospital |
|
2020-02-19 |
Emo train derailment |
Several of 30 rail cars leaking |
136km southeast of Kenora, Ontario |
|
|
2020-01-31 |
Tottenham truck spill |
200-300 litres |
Simcoe County, Ontario |
(article) - Near town reservoir |
|
2019-11-05 |
Clearview Township truck spill |
TBD |
Clearview Township, Ontario |
(article) |
|
2019-10-31 |
Keystone XL pipeline spill
|
383,000 gallons of oil |
North Dakota, USA
|
(article)
|
|
2019-07-15 |
Chevron in California |
800,000 gallons of water and crude oil |
Kern County, California, USA |
(article) - seepage began May 10, 2019 (30% oil/70% water) |
|
2019-06-21 |
Philadelphia Refinery Explosion |
TBD |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA |
(article) |
|
2019-06-06 |
Santa Fe explosion |
TBD |
Santa Fe, Texas USA |
(article)
|
|
2019-03-18 |
Deer Park Fire |
5 tanks (242 tanks onsite) |
Houston, Texas, USA |
(article) |
|
2019-02-16 |
Manitoba derailment |
TBD [640 bbls of oil per rail car] |
St. Lazare, Manitoba, Cda |
- 37 cars off the tracks
|
|
2019-01-22 |
Summerfield Ohio natural gas explosion |
TBD |
Summerfield, Ohio, USA |
(article)
- Enbridge 30-inch natural gas line
|
|
2019-01-13 |
Tanker jet fuel spill |
50,000 litres of jet fuel |
Cambridge, ON, Cda |
|
|
2018-11-19 |
Husky Energy SeaRose FPSO offshore spill |
250,000 litres (66,000 gallons) |
White Rose oil and gas field off the Newfoundland, Cda coast |
|
|
2018-09-21 |
Petro-Hunt LLC produced water leak |
1,520 bbls / 63,840 gallons of produced water |
Dunn County, North Dakota, USA |
(article) - cause of leak unknown |
|
2018-09-13 |
Columbia Gas LNG Community explosions |
39-60 explosions |
Andover, Lawrence, North Andover, Boston area, USA |
(article) - high pressure gas main |
|
2018-09-10 |
Energy Transfer Partners/Sunoco pipeline explosion |
2 hours (5am-7am) |
Beaver County, Pennsylvania, USA |
- pipeline newly activated (one week)
|
|
2018-08-18 |
Bonterra Energy Corp. Alberta spill |
40,000 litres |
14kms south of Drayton Valley, Alberta |
(article) - spilled into Washout Creek |
|
2018-08-09 |
Rail car spill into Delaware River (USA) |
4,000 gallons of diesel fuel |
Deposit, New York, USA |
|
|
2018-08-02 |
Series of Natural Gas pipeline explosions |
TBD |
Midland County, Texas (USA) |
(article)
|
|
2018-06-26 |
BP Canada drilling mud spill in Nova Scotia |
136,0000 litres of synthetic-based drilling mud spilled in water |
Off the coast of Nova Scotia, 330 km from Halifax
|
(article)
- mud sinks - contains chemicals, potentially oils and diesel |
|
2018-06-19 |
NGL Energy Partners explosion |
TBD |
Hudson, Weld County, Colorado, USA |
(article) – lightening caused explosion |
|
2018-06-22 |
Iowa Train Derailment |
230,000 gallons / 870,000 litres |
Iowa, near Rock River, Rock Valley, USA |
- 33 oil cars derailed, some leaking |
|
2018-06-17 |
Freshwater Oil Spill Remediation Study |
4 x 1.25 litres |
Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area southeast of Kenora, Ont. |
(article) |
|
2018-06-07 |
TransCanada natural gas pipeline explosion |
|
Nixon Ridge, Marshall County, West Virginia, USA |
- smoke seen for 20 miles - est. 10 acres affected - suspected Leach XPress “best-in-class” new pipeline |
|
2018-05-27 |
Kinder Morgan, Trans Mountain Pipeline leak |
100 litres revised to 4,800 litres |
Darfield, BC |
- leak in a flow metre
|
|
2018-05-24 |
Trempealeau River / Mississippi River spill |
Pond – 37.8 mln litres / 10 mln gallons |
Hi-Crush mine, Whitehall, western Wisconsin, USA |
(article) - water released to rescue a contractor’s bulldozer |
|
2018-05-03 |
Anadarko Minerals Inc. leak from a closed well |
600 bbls / 95,000 litres / 25,000 gallons of oil & 90,000 bbls brine (production water) |
Fort Peck Reservation, northeast Montana, USA |
(article) - notification by farmer - Sioux and Assiniboine nations - cattle pond contaminated |
|
2018-05-03 |
FlowChem Technologies Fire |
Massive plumes of black smoke |
Duson Louisiana, USA |
(article) - services oil & gas industry - evacuation 1 mile perimeter |
|
2018-04-26 |
Husky Oil refinery explosion |
To be determined |
Superior, Wisconsin, USA |
(article) 15 injuries; fire re-ignited
(article) 20 injuries
|
|
2018-03-31 |
Pertamina pipeline leak |
18,300 gallons of oil collected |
130 square kms / 50 square miles |
(article) - used fire to “clear the oil” - five deaths - affecting health of locals |
|
2018-03-20 |
Marathon Petroleum Big Creek pipeline spill |
42,000 gallons of diesel |
Posey Creek, Indiana, USA |
(article) - expects 60% recovery |
|
2018-03-03 |
Ecopetrol Colombia oil spill |
550 barrels / 23,100 gallons |
Barrancabermeja, Colombia - Lizama and Sogamoso rivers |
(article) - killed more than 2,400 animals - 3 weeks response from state-owned company
|
|
2018-01-31 |
Sinking of Howe Sound barge |
Fuel tanks – diesel |
Howe Sound near Port Mellon, BC |
(article) - Squamish Nation |
|
2018-01-14 |
Sinking of Sanchi tanker |
136,000 tonnes of ultra-light crude (condensate) |
Off the coast of Shanghai, China toward Japan |
- “suddenly igniting” - condensate is “toxic, low in density and considerably more explosive than regular crude”
|
|
2017-12-05 |
Kinder Morgan Pipeline Explosion |
To be determined |
Lee County, Illinois, USA |
(article) - two people killed when tractor dug into a pipeline |
|
2017-11-24 |
Fraser Canyon derailment |
Leak from locomotive fuel tank |
Hells Gate, B.C. Fraser River |
(article) - rock slide |
|
2017-11-16 |
TransCanada Keystone leak |
795,000 litres / 210,000 gallons |
South Dakota |
|
|
2017-10-22 |
St. Albert 12-car train derailment |
30-50 litres |
Sturgeon County North, near Edmonton, Alberta, Cda |
(article) - people evacuated
|
|
2017-10-15 |
Clovelly Oil Co. explosion |
To be determined |
Lake Pontchartrain, St. Charles Parish, Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA |
(article)
|
|
2017-10-14 |
LLOG Exploration Co. LLC |
9,3500 bbls or 393,000 gallons of oil |
Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana, USA |
(article) |
|
2017-09-13 |
Tanker spill near Athens, Greece |
2,000 tons of crude oil |
Island of Salamis, Greece |
- Agia Zoni II tanker sank - drone footage of waterfront (article) |
|
2017-07-13 |
Magellan Midstream Partners, Longhorn pipeline |
1,200 bbls or 50,400 US gallons |
Southwest of Bastrop County, Texas, USA |
(article) |
|
2017-04-21 |
Plains All American Pipeline LP, Buffalo Cashion pipeline |
19,000 gallons (45 bbls) |
Kingfisher County, Oaklahoma, USA |
(article) |
|
2017-03-05 |
Chevron Corporation |
4,800 gallons oil |
Rio Blanco County, northwest Colorado, USA |
- 6” diameter pipe - more than one spill per day in Colorado |
|
2017-02-15 |
Kinder Morgan natural gas explosion |
To be determined, natural gas |
Refugio, South Texas, USA |
(article) - flames 200’ into the air - vibrations felt 20 miles away |
|
2017-02-02 |
Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd. (#2) |
5 cubic metres of crude oil / 30 bbls / 5,000 litres |
Ingoldsby terminal near Storthoaks, Saskatchewan |
(article) - former Enbridge pipeline |
|
2017-01-25 |
Magellan Midstream Partners |
138,600 gallons diesel |
Iowa, USA |
(article) |
|
2017-01-24 |
Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd. |
200,000 litres / 53,000 gallons / 1,257 bbls |
Ocean Man First Nation, near Stoughton, Saskatchewan, Canada |
- see second spill Feb 2, 2017) - former Enbridge pipeline |
|
2017-01-16 |
Enbridge Energy pipeline spill (USA) |
15,330 gallons / 58,000 litres |
Lawrence County, Everton, Montana, USA |
(article) - 22 inch pipeline |
|
2017-01? |
Hilcorp Alaska LLC (pipeline formerly owned by XTO Energy) |
210,000 – 310,000 cubic feet natural gas daily - 8” line |
Alaska’s Cook Inlet |
(article) - cannot repair pipeline in “current winter conditions” - cannot shutdown pipeline due to residual crude oil - 2 leaks in 2014 |
|
2016-12-05 |
Belle Fourche Pipeline Co., Ash Coulee Creek spill (USA) |
176,000 gallons / 666,000 litres (article) |
Ash Coulee Creek, 16 miles northwest of Belfield, North Dakota, USA |
- 15 spills in 16 years |
|
2016-12-01 |
Skull Creek source water spill (USA) |
2,000 bbls (84,000 gallons) / 318,000 litres |
Bowman County, North Dakota, USA |
(article) |
|
2016-10-31 |
Colonial Pipeline explosion (2) (USA) |
TBD |
Shelby County, Alabama, USA |
- killed 1 worker, injured 5 |
|
2016-10-21 |
Sunoco Susquehanna River gasoline spill (USA) |
1,300 bbls (55,000 gallons) of gasoline / 200,000 litres |
Loyalsock Creek and Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, USA |
- ruptured pipeline and heavy rains |
|
2016-10-17 |
Liftlock Fuels tanker spill |
30,000 – 55,000 litres |
Cannington, Brock Township, Durham, ON |
|
|
2016-10-13 |
Bella Bella, BC diesel spill (Cda) |
TBD, tug carrying 60,000 gallons of diesel |
Bella Bella, BC, heart of Great Bear Rainforest |
(article) - articulated tug barge |
|
2016-10-06 |
Trilogy Energy Corp (Cda) |
TBD oil emulsion (mixture of oil and produced water) |
Kaybob Montney oil project near Fox Creek, Alberta |
(article) |
|
2016-10-01 |
Leamington ON gas leak (Cda) |
TBD |
Leamington, ON |
(article) |
|
2016-09-09 |
Colonial Pipeline spill (1) (USA) |
6,000 bbls (225,000 -336,000 gallons) of refined gasoline fuel / 1 million litres |
Shelby County, Alabama, USA |
- cause of leak is unclear - vapour is an issue |
|
2016-07-22 |
Husky Energy oil spill in Saskatchewan River (Cda) |
200,000-250,000 litres of crude and other material |
North Saskatchewan River near Maidstone, Saskatchewan, Canada |
(article) (article) (article) (article) (article) - expected to affect Prince Albert residents - 17-Jan-2018 no criminal charges laid yet |
|
2016-07-17 |
Nexen Alberta (Cda) |
5 million litres of emulsion (mixture of bitumen oil, water and sand) / 31,000 bbls |
35km southeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta |
(article) - 20 inch pipeline - 16,000 square metres |
|
2016-07-11 |
WPX Energy New Mexico explosion and fire |
|
San Juan County, New Mexico |
(article) - Marcos shale deposit “550 Corridor”, Greater Chaco Canyon - 6 new oil wells, 30 temporary storage tanks holding either oil or produced water - all 36 tanks caught fire |
|
2016-06-14 |
Grande Cache Alberta pipeline |
380,000 litres |
Grande Cache, north west Alberta |
|
|
2016-05-20 |
Shell Oil San Pablo Bay pipeline |
21,000 gallons |
San Joaquin County, California’s Central Valley |
- 24” diameter |
|
2016-05-13 |
Shell Oil Gulf of Mexico |
2,100 bbls / 88,200 gallons |
Gulf of Mexico, 97 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana USA |
(article) - Brutus platform |
|
2016-04 |
Marathon Petroleum pipeline spill |
48,300 gallons oil |
Wabash River, near Mount Carmel, Illinois, USA |
(article) |
|
2016-04-04 |
TransCanada Keystone pipeline spill |
To be determined |
6km from Freeman pump station, 60km southwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-12-24 |
St. John River New Brunswick spill |
3,200 litres |
St. John River, New Brunswick |
(article) |
|
2015-12-15 |
California Aliso Canyon gas storage leak |
|
Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California USA |
(article) - 2 months and counting |
|
2015-12-05 |
Platform 10 explosion |
To be determined |
Guneshli field in the Caspian Sea, offshore Azerbaijan |
(article) - 32 dead - severe weather ruptured a gas line |
|
2015-11-17 |
Lubrizol Corp. explosion |
To be determined |
Leetsdale, Pitsburgh, USA |
- oilfield chemistry site (surrounded by residential neighbourhood) - hydraulic fracturing chemicals (article) |
|
2015-11-15 |
Bakersfield explosion |
To be determined |
Bakersfield, USA |
- killing 1, injuring 3 - line ruptured by heavy equipment (article) |
|
2015-11-08 |
CP train derailment in Wisconsin |
4,000 litres / 1,000 gallons of crude |
Wisconsin, USA |
- prompted evacuations (article) |
|
2015-11-08 |
Louis-Joillet diesel leak |
7,500 litres of diesel |
St. Lawrence River |
(article) |
|
2015-10-23 |
Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) Company SS-25 natural gas leak |
110,000 lbs per hour |
Aliso Canyon, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles |
|
|
2015-10-17 |
Oasis Petroleum well blowout |
67,000 gallons oil & 84,000 gallons brine |
15 miles south of White Earth, Mountrail County, North Dakota |
(article) - Helling Trust 11-15H (more than 4 miles/6.4 km long) has produced nearly 10 million gallons of oil since coming online in 2011 - may be “communication” between wells |
|
2015-10-16 |
Lewis Energy Group (oil?) natural gas pipeline explosion |
To be determined |
Encinal, Texas |
No injuries, no evacuations (article) |
|
2015-09-17 |
Shell Oil San Pablo Bay pipeline |
21,000 gallons |
San Joaquin County, California’s Central Valley |
(article) - 24” diameter |
|
2015-08-20 |
NuVista Energy emulsion spill |
100,000 litres of emulsion (oil, water, gas) |
Hay Lake First Nation, 100km NW of High Level, Alberta |
(article) |
|
2015-08-09 |
Shell Oil butadiene spill |
326,166 lbs of butadiene |
Deer Park, Texas, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-07-15 |
Nexen Energy Long Lake |
5 million litres of emulsion (a mixture of bitumen oil, water and sand) 31,000 bbls |
Alberta |
- breach in a double-walled pipe |
|
2015-06-02 |
Spectra Energy Corp. LNG pipeline rupture |
4 million cubic feet |
Arkansas River, USA |
(article) - The average U.S. family uses 168 cubic feet of natural gas per day |
|
2015-05-19 |
Plains All America Pipeline spill |
79,000 litres (21,000 gallons) of oil 105,000 gallons 140,000 gallons |
Refugio State Beach, along California coastline parallel to hwy 101 near Santa Barbara, California, USA |
(article) (article) (article) (article)
(article) left a four mile/6.4 km slick along Refugio State Beach extending about 50 years/46 meters into the water |
|
2015-05-06 |
Heimdal, North Dakota derailment |
10 oil tanker cars on fire |
Heimdal, North Dakota, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-04-28 |
Oklahoma David Loftus family farm spill |
TBD Salt/processed water |
NW Oklahoma City, near Danforth & Rockwell, Oklahoma County, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-04-20 |
Toronto house explosion |
n/a natural gas related? |
Toronto, ON Canada |
(article) - leaves 1 dead and damages 12 homes |
|
2015-04-17 |
NGL Energy Partners gas explosion |
n/a |
22620 Weld County Road 64, Greeley, Colorado, USA |
(article) - lightening
|
|
2015-04-17 |
Shale Tank Truck Company |
n/a |
Karnes City, (San Antonio) Texas, USA |
- explosion at shale yard - lightening “Officials said these type of incidences are common” |
|
2015-04-17 |
Fresno County, California gas explosion |
n/a |
Fresno County, California USA |
(article) - crews accidentally struck a gas line |
|
2015-04-17 |
Williams Energy 4” pipeline leak |
132 barrels marcellus shale condensate |
Marshall County, West Virginia, USA Near Little Grave Creek and Molly Run |
(article) - small leak narrowed down to 2 acres after one week |
|
2015-04-09 |
English Bay, Vancouver BC |
2,800 litres estimated of bunker fuel |
English Bay, Vancouver BC |
(article) (article) (article) (article) - source unknown but vessel suspected |
|
2015-03-10 |
Gogama, ON CN derailment |
10 cars derailed |
Gogama, ON |
(article) |
|
2015-03-05 |
Illinois train derailment & explosion of 8 cars |
105-car train including 103 carrying crude oil. |
Galena, Illinois, USA near Mississippi River |
|
|
2015-03 |
Murphy Oil |
2.7 million litres of condensate |
Northwestern Alberta |
(article)
|
|
2015-02-24 |
New Jersey natural gas explosion |
|
New Jersey, USA |
(article) - 15 injured |
|
2015-02-18 |
ExxonMobil refinery explosion |
n/a |
Torrance, California USA |
|
|
2015-02-16 |
CSX Corp. train derailment & explosion |
14 rail cars |
West Virginia |
- 1,000+ people evacuated - Kanawha River - response hindered by snow |
|
2015-02-14 |
CP Rail train derailment |
10 railcars remained upright, 2 on side |
Near Frank in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta |
- no apparent leaks |
|
2015-02-14 |
CN train derailment |
29 of 100 rail cars, 7 cars on fire |
Gogama south of Timmins, Ontario |
- site is remote and cannot be accessed by road
|
|
2015-01-29 |
Oasis Petroleum oil and brine storage tank overflow |
490 bbls oil / 455 bbls brine |
Williams County, North Dakota, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-01-26 |
ATEX Express pipeline rupture |
ethane |
Brooke County, West Virginia, USA |
(article) |
|
2015-01-23 |
Summit Midstream Partners LLC pipeline leak of fracking wastewater |
3 million gallons of brine |
Williston, western North Dakota, USA
|
- reported around Jan.6th - worst spill of its kind in ND - Blacktail creek (draining creek to clean up spill) |
|
2015-01-23 |
Bridger Pipeline LLC Montana pipeline spill into Yellowstone River |
40,000 gallons of crude |
Yellowstone River, Montana, USA |
- contaminating drinking water for the town of Glendive - river is frozen - small 12 inch pipe |
|
2015-01-21? |
Hess Bakken Investments source water spill |
2,500 bbls of source water |
Williams County, North Dakota, USA (9 miles southwest of Tioga) |
(article) - source water is higher in dissolved minerals and solids than fresh water |
|
2015-01-20 |
Gas tanker roll-over spills into wetland |
13,000 litres |
Calgary highway |
- single vehicle accident, 4 am (article) |
|
2014-12-18 |
Enbridge line 4 leak |
1,350 bbls increased to 13,000 bbls / 56,700 gallons |
Pumping station in Regina, Saskatchewan |
|
|
2014-12-04 |
Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company, trans-Israel pipeline spill, mechanical failure |
600,000 gallons |
Near Eilat, southern Israel |
(article) - 80 people hospitalized due to fumes - occurred in Evrona Nature Reserve |
|
2014-11 or 12 (Nov?) |
Cdn Natural Resource Ltd pipeline, mechanical failure |
60,000 litres of crude oil and hydrogen sulphide gas |
27 kms north of Red Earth Creek, Alberta |
|
|
2014-10-07 |
Major train derailment near Wadena, Saskatchewan |
26 of 100 cars derailed, 50 people evacuated - hydrochloric acid or caustic soda, petroleum distillates |
Wadena, Saskatchewan |
|
|
2014-09-24 |
Disposal & Recycling Truck diesel spill |
150 litres of diesel fuel |
Stayner, ON |
|
|
2014-09-19 |
Hydro-Quebec pipeline leak |
100,000 litres of diesel |
Cap-aux-Meules harbour, Magdalen Islands |
(article) |
|
2014-09-16 |
TransCanada gas pipeline rupture, |
TBA |
Benton Harbor, Michigan |
(article) - evacuation of 500+ people |
|
2014-08-29 |
Anterra Energy spill (Alberta) |
300,000 litres of crude oil and salt/produced water |
63km north of Slave Lake |
(article) |
|
2014-08-28 |
Lightstream Resources (Alberta) |
20,000 litres of emulsion from a pipeline |
7km north west of Balm Alberta |
(article) |
|
2014-08-25 |
Fort Berthold Reservation spill (USA) |
3,000 bbls brine |
Near town of Mandaree, North Dakota, Fort Berthold Indian Reseravation |
(article) |
|
2014-08-18 |
Duke Energy spill into the Ohio River (USA) |
8,000 gallons of oil |
Near Cincinnati, Ohio |
(article) |
|
2014-08-03 |
Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley tailings pond breach (mining) |
10.6 million cubic meters (2.8 billion gallons) of water, 7.3 million cubic meters (1.9 billion gallons) of tailings and 6.5 million cubic meters (1.7 billion gallons) of interstitial water |
Hazeltine Creek, Mount Polley, BC |
- mining tailings pond (article) (Interstitial water is the water that sits between the spaces of the ground-up rock in the tailings pond)
|
|
2014-07-11 |
Crestwood Midstream Partners Inc. fracking brine spill (USA) |
1,000,000 gallons of fracking brine |
Mandaree, North Dakota |
|
|
2014-07-10 |
Ohio River hydraulic fluid spill (USA) |
Hundreds of gallons of hydraulic fluid (max. est. 1,000 gallons) |
New Martinsville hydroelectric plant, Ohio Near Hannibal Lock and Dam |
Turbine failure at New Martinsville hydroelectric plant (article) |
|
2014-06-27 |
Nagaram Village, India pipeline explosion (India) |
TBA |
Nagaram Village, India |
(AP video) state-owned pipline |
|
2014-05-26 |
Northwestern Minnesota pipeline explosion (USA) |
TBA |
Northwestern Minnesota, USA |
(article) |
|
2014-05-15 |
L.A. pipeline rupture (USA) |
38,000 litres / 10,000 gallons of crude oil |
Los Angeles (USA) |
- L.A. “knee-deep” in oil (article) |
|
2014-05-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
2014-05-02 |
BP pipeline spray in Alaska (USA) |
TBA |
Alaska |
(article) |
|
2014-04 |
Cdn Natural Resources Ltd. pipeline leak |
70,000 litres of oil and processed water |
Northwest of Slave Lake, Alberta |
(article) - not an emergency since not near people, water or wildlife (article) |
|
2014-04-31 |
CSX Corporation, James River derailment (USA) |
Three tanker cars |
James River, Va (USA) |
(article) (Desmog Blog) |
|
2014-04-16 |
Penn West Petroleum Ltd. Peace River pipeline spill (USA) |
2,000 litres crude + 58,000 litres produced water |
74km east of Peace River |
(article) - includes list of other spills in 2014 by same company |
|
2014-04-01 |
Williams Partners’ Northwest Pipeline LNG explosion (USA) |
TBA |
Plymouth, Washington at Oregon border, USA |
(article) - 1,000 people evacuated - cause unknown |
|
2014-03-28 |
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (USA) |
TBA |
Utah, USA |
- contamination from aging Garfield County oil field (article) |
|
2014-03-24 |
BP Whiting Refinery spill into Lake Michigan (USA) |
TBA |
Whiting Refinery, Indiana, USA Lake Michigan |
|
|
2014-03-23 |
Houston Texas, barge and ship collide (USA) |
168,000 gallons of oil |
Gaveston Bay |
- RMG 380 (persistent oil) |
|
2014-03-20 |
North Dakota, Hiland Crude pipeline spill (USA) |
800 bbls / 34,000 gallons of crude |
6 miles northeast of Alexander |
- failed gasket (article) |
|
2014-03-19 |
Sunoco / Mid-Valley Pipeline Co. interstate pipeline spill (USA) |
240 bbls / 10,000 gallons of crude |
|
- contaminating Oak Glen Nature Preserve |
|
2014-03-13 |
New Jersey tanker truck explosion (USA) |
8,500 gallons of gasoline |
Newark, New Jersey |
- truck collided with car (article) |
|
2014-03-04 |
Greeley explosion (USA) |
TBA |
North of Greeley, Colorado USA |
- static electricity possible cause (article) |
|
2014-02-13 |
Columbia Gulf natural gas pipeline explosion (NiSource Columbia Pipeline Group) |
n/a |
Knifely, Adair County, Kentucky, USA |
- three homes set ablaze, two barns, four, cars - 30” pipeline 30’ underground (article) |
|
2014-02 |
TransCanada pipeline leak (Cda) |
TBA natural gas |
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta |
(article) |
|
2014-02-22 |
Mississippi River barge/tugboat crash, spill (USA) |
TBA |
Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans |
- shut down 65 miles of Mississippi River in New Orleans |
|
2014-02-11 |
Chevron Appalachia, Dunkard, Greene County explosion, Lanco 7H well (USA) |
TBA |
641 Bald Hill Church Road, Bobtown, Greene County, Pennsylvania |
Propane truck also ignited complicating matters - one person injured, one missing (article) |
|
2014-01-25 |
TransCanada pipeline explosion (Cda) |
TBA |
Otterburne, Manitoba 50km south of Winnipeg, MB |
5 houses evacuated |
|
2014-01-08 |
Jay-Bee, Lisby well, Marcellus drilling pad explosion (USA) |
50 bbls fracking fluid |
Middlebourne, Tyler County, West Virginia |
(article) |
|
2014-01-07 |
Plaster Rock New Brunswick train derailment, 16 cars (Cda) |
16 rail cars derailed & on fire (4 propane, 4 crude oil) |
Plaster Rock, New Brunswick |
(article) - evacuate 2kms & 45 households |
|
2013-12-30 |
North Dakota train derailment, 20 cars (USA) |
~20 rail cars on fire |
Casselton, North Dakota |
|
|
2013-11-29 |
Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. explosion (USA) |
TBD |
Hughesville/Houstonia, Missouri in Pettis County, USA |
- 30” natural gas pipeline ruptured - video footage (article) |
|
2013-11-22 |
Sinopec Corp pipeline spill & underground explosion (China) |
TBD |
Qingdao, China |
- 35 people killed, 166 injured - spilled into ocean, caught fire at 2 locations (article) |
|
2013-11-14 |
Chevron Corp. LPG pipeline explosion (USA) |
TBD |
Ellis County, Texas |
(article) |
|
2013-11-08 |
Genesse & Wyoming train derailment, 20 cars (USA) |
11 rail cars on fire = 100,000 litres |
Alabama, rural area |
- 90 car train |
|
2013-11-01? |
Koch Pipeline Co. spill (USA) |
64,000 litres / 17,000 US gal crude |
Smithville, Texas |
(article) - statistics - impact rural area & two livestock ponds |
|
2013-10 |
Sherritt coal tailings spill (Cda) |
1 billion litres / 264 million US gallons |
Athabasca River |
|
|
2013-10-28 |
Tanker truck crash, Southern California (USA) |
30,000 litres / 8,000 US gallons |
Long Beach freeway, Southern California |
|
|
2013-10-19 |
CN train derailment, 13 cars (Cda) |
9 cars liquefied petroleum gas
4 cars petroleum crude = 400,000 litres of crude
|
Edmonton/Gainford |
- 24 hour evacuation of Gainford (article) - 3 rail cars (gas) caught fire (article) |
|
2013-10-09 |
Northern Natural Gas, Oklahoma (USA) |
TBD |
Oklahama |
- 30” natural gas line w/900 lbs pressure buried 8 feet below ground - flames 100’ in air (article) |
|
2013-09-29 |
Tesoro Logistics LP? (USA) |
1,000 litres/5-7 bbls reduced from 150 bbls |
Divide County, North Dakota |
- 1” oil gathering line - near small wetland (article) |
|
2013-09-29 |
Tesoro Logistics LP high plains pipeline (news release) (USA) |
3.3 million litres / 20,600 bbls
18-Dec-2016 840,000 gallons |
Tioga, North Dakota |
- 6” diameter pipeline - 20 years old - 7.3 acres - break and spill kept quiet for 11 days - largest spill in North Dakota’s history |
|
2013-09-25 |
CN Rail derailment, 17 cars (Cda)
|
Up to 1 crude oil rail car (640 bbls) Petroleum, ethanol and chemicals (article) |
Landis, Saskatchewan |
“They can’t cross land as flat as a billiard table but will send 7 two hundred oil car train loads through the Rockies on a daily basis?” jondamnvan |
|
2013-09-18 |
Colorado flooding (USA) |
Platte River south, Millikden – 20,000 litres/5,250 gallons
Total 163,000 litres/1,027 bbls/43,134 gallons |
Colorado |
Heavy flooding in area has created havoc for oil companies (article)
(article) |
|
2013-09-11 |
Sarnia, St. Clair River (Cda) |
Unknown qty of diesel |
Sarnia, St. Clair River |
(article) |
|
2013-08-31 |
Sept-Iles, Quebec (Cda) |
450,000 litres oil |
Sept-Iles, Quebec |
- Cliffs National Resources - A botched reservoir transfer (article) |
|
2013-08-21 |
MarkWest Energy (USA) |
Natural gas liquids |
Rocky Run/Fish Creek, Wetzel County West Virginia |
Landslide ruptured pipeline (article) |
|
2013-07-23 |
Walter Oil & Gas Corporation, Hercules 265 rig (USA) |
|
55 miles off Louisiana coast, Gulf of Mexico |
Natural gas leak has ignited (article) |
|
2013-07-07 |
Antero Resources natural gas well explosion in West Virginia (USA) |
|
Morgantown area, New Milton |
Marcellus shale Hinterer 2H well on the Ruddy Alt pad |
|
2013-07-06 |
Quebec train derailment (Cda) |
5.7 million litres / 73 tankers / 36,000 bbls |
Lac Megantic, Quebec |
- centre of town explosion - 47 people died |
|
2013-07-05 |
Crow Reservation, Montana (USA) |
95,000 litres / 25,000 US gallons / 600 barrels |
Crow Reservation, Montana – 15 miles from Lodge Grass city |
(article) |
|
2013-06-18 |
Louisiana natural gas pipeline explosion (USA) |
|
Texas to Florida gas line |
Explosion obliterated an 80-foot section of Florida Gas Transmission line (article) |
|
2013-06-28? |
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (Cda) |
Bitumen emulsion 26,000 bbls (May-July 13) 1.27 mln tonnes (Aug-13) |
Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, northeastern Alberta |
Slow seepage of product underground that is coming to the surface |
|
2013-06-22 |
Penwest Exploration (USA) |
5,000 litres |
Little Buffalo, 25 kms north |
Effecting muskeg and surface water over 2.5 square kms (article) |
|
2013-06-22 |
Enbridge light synthetic crude (Cda) |
750 barrels (119,240 litres) |
Fort McMurray, Alberta |
Leaked into a creek forcing the shut-down of two major oil sands pipelines (article) |
|
2013-06-20 |
Legacy Oil & Gas (Cda) |
Sour gas containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S) |
Turner Valley, southwest of Calgary |
H2S is extremely toxic even in small concentrations - heavy flooding in Alberta |
|
2013-06-16 |
Plains Midstream Canada (Cda) |
950 barrels (151k litres) |
Kemp pipeline system – 90km northwest of Manning (northwestern Alberta) |
Condensate – a very light oil used to thin down heavy oil sands bitumen (article) |
|
? prior to 2013-06-01 |
Pace Oil and Gas Ltd. (Cda) |
800,000 litres oil-water mixture or 9.5 million litres? |
Region of Zama City, Alberta |
(article) |
|
2013-06-13 |
Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain line (Cda) |
12 barrels (1,900 litres) |
Merritt, B.C., mountainous section of the line between Hope and Kamloops
|
Trans Mountain line ships 300,000 barrels per day of various petroleum products from Alberta to the Metro Vancouver and Washington State. (article) |
|
2013-06-11 |
Imperial Oil Ltd. Refinery spill (Cda) |
5-7 barrels (795-1,113 litres) |
Sarnia, Ontario |
(article) |
|
2013-06-01 |
Apache Corporation, Zama City, Alberta (Cda) |
60,000 barrels (9.5 million litres) of contaminated water |
Zama City, Alberta |
Cleanup efforts underway after northwestern Alberta pipeline spill -Took 2 weeks to report - Affecting tributaries of the Zama River (article) |
|
2013-05-21 |
Train Derailment (Cda) |
One rail car (est. 600 barrels or 95,400 litres) |
Saskatchewan |
CP Rail rushes to contain oil leak after train derails in Saskatchewan, Scott Deveau, Financial Post |
|
2013-04-04 |
White River derailment oil spill (Cda) |
400 barrels / 16,800 gallons (63,000 litres) |
White River, Ontario, Cda |
22 cars off the rails (article) |
|
2013-03-29 |
Shell Pipeline spill (USA) |
30,000 gallons of crude oil / 700 barrels (111,000 litres) |
West Columbia, Texas, USA |
(article) 3rd major spill in one week |
|
2013-03-29 |
Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline leak (USA) |
84,000-210,000 gallons of heavy crude oil from Alberta, Canada (320,000 - 800,000 litres)
3-Jun-2013 Tar Sands Blockade estimates 300,000 gallons (1.1 million litres)
24-Jun-2013 Tar Sands Blockade estimates 375,000 gallons (1.4 million litres) into residential neighbourhood and marsh near Lake Conway |
Mayflower, Arkansas, USA
|
Evacuation of 22 homes (article) As at 4-Apr-2013 19,000 barrels recovered As of 3-Jun-2013 evacuees have not returned home |
|
2013-03-27? |
Suncor’s frozen pipeline leaks into Athabasca River for 10 hours (Cda) |
|
Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada |
Company notorious for not releasing info on spills |
|
2013-03-27 |
CP rail derailment (USA) |
15,000-30,000 gallons of crude oil from Alberta, Canada (? Litres) |
Minnesota, USA |
Thickened into heavy tar like substance allowing for recovery of only 1,000 gallons (article) |
|
2013-03-05 |
Enbridge refuses to pay for ongoing damage study of Michigan tar sands disaster |
|
|
Jacob Chamberlain Kalamazoo River |
|
2013-02-25 |
|
|
|
|
|
2013-02-19 |
Washington is right: Canada must confront its climate neglect |
|
|
Tzerporah Berman |
|
2013-02-17 |
Oilsands tailings leaking into groundwater, Joe Oliver told in memo |
|
|
Mike De Souza Joe Oliver, federal Minister of Natural Resources |
|
2013-02-08 |
Confirmed: Tar Sands Toxic Liquid Waste Contaminating Local Waterways |
|
|
Environmental Defense |
|
2013-01-28 |
What a waste! Picture from space reveals how U.S. oil field is burning off gas |
|
|
Simon Tomlinson “flare off” unwanted gas |
|
2013-01-27 |
Barge with 80,000 gallons oil hits Vicksburg railroad bridge, leaks |
80,000 gallons |
|
Light crude oil, Mississippi River |
|
2012 |
Enbridge line in Northern Alberta |
1,455 barrels (231,000 litres) |
Northern Alberta |
(article) |
|
2012-06 |
Enbridge flange gasket failure |
230,000 litres / 1,400 bbls of crude oil |
Northeast of Edmonton near Elk Point |
(article) |
|
2012-08 |
Baton Rouge, Louisiana sinkhole |
sinkhole |
Bayou Corne |
- Assumption Parish area is crisscrossed with oil & gas pipelines |
|
2012-06 |
Plains Midstream Canada, Red Deer River pipeline spill |
477,000 litres / 3,000 barrels sour crude oil |
Near Sundre, Alberta Red Deer River, upstream of Gleniffer Lake & reservoir |
(article) - submerged pipeline - cleanup took 3 weeks - made for better boating |
|
2012-05 |
Pace Oil and Gas Rainbow Lake pipeline spill |
3.5 million litres of emulsion (30% oil and 70% water) |
Rainbow Lake, northwestern Alberta near Northwest Territories border |
(article) - muskeg |
|
? prior to 2013-06-01 |
Plains Midstream Canada
|
3.5 million litres of oil |
Region of Zama City, Alberta |
(article)
|
|
2011-Jul |
ExxonMobil Silvertip Pipeline |
63,000 gallons oil |
Yellowstone River, Montana |
Sent oil plume 25 miles downstream (article) (article) (article) |
|
2011-Apr |
Plains Midstream Canada Rainbow Pipeline rupture |
4.5 mln litres / 28,000 barrels / 1.1 mln gallons of light sweet crude oil |
Little Buffalo northeast of Peace River, area around Woodland Cree reserve |
- worst oil spill in 36 years - problem detected 8 hours prior to halting flow |
|
2011 |
Oasis Petroleum blowout |
|
North Dakota, USA |
Killed 2 contractors (referring article) |
|
2011 |
Suncor spewed toxic water into Athabasca River for 3 days |
|
|
Company notorious for not releasing info on spills |
|
2011 |
Nigerian government announcement that there has been more than 7,000 oil spills in the country between 1970 and 2000 that could take up to 30 years and $1 billion to clean up. |
|
|
(article) |
|
2010-07-25 |
Enbridge’s Lakehead system, Kalamazoo River |
20,000 barrels of crude (3.2 million litres) |
Near Marshall / Detroit, Michigan |
8,000 barrels reached the Talmadge Creek / Kalamazoo River Still not cleaned up in 2013 + 2015
|
|
2010-07 |
China’s largest oil spill |
1,500 tons / 461,790 gallons / 11,000 barrels / 1.8 mln litres oil reported |
Dailan, northeast China |
165 sq miles / 430 sq kms in Yellow Sea |
|
2010-06 |
Chevron pipeline rupture, Red Butte Creek, Utah |
33,000 gallons |
Red Butte Creek spill, Utah |
(article) |
|
2010-05 |
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Spill |
Unknown, “likely limited to the gravel on top of the containment area’s line” |
Fort Greely, Alaska |
(article) |
|
2010-03-16 |
Trans-Northern Pipeline, Bronte spill |
Unknown quantity of gasoline |
Bronte, Ontario, Canada |
(article) - cleanup forecast to take 1-2 more years [total=5 yrs] |
|
2010 |
Dalian, China, two pipeline explosion |
18 million US gallons / 27 million US gallons of oil spilled into Yellow Sea |
Dalian, northeastern China port |
“at least as much as the Exxon Valdez disaster” (article) |
|
2010 |
BP Gulf oil spill |
|
Gulf of Mexico (article)
|
Killed 11 workers, blackened beaches in 5 US states, crippled the region’s tourism and fishing industries. Worst environment disaster in US history. |
|
2010 |
Exxon Mobil Corp. / XTO Energy |
50,000 gallons fracking waste |
A Marcellus Shale drilling site, Pennsylvania |
Eight charges (article) |
|
2009-07-20 |
TransCanada Peace River mainline explosion |
2 hectares of wooded area razed |
Peace River, northern Alberta |
NEB criticized company for “inadequate” field inspections and “ineffective” management (article) (article) |
|
2008-07-09 |
Iowa train derailment |
4,400 gallons of diesel oil |
Cassville, Wisconsin, USA |
|
|
2007 |
San Francisco Bay spill |
54,000 gallons of oil |
San Francisco Bay, USA |
(article) |
|
2006 |
North Dakota saltwater brine spill |
1 million bbls of saltwater brine (a by-product of oil production) |
|
(article) (article) - still being cleaned up nearly a decade later |
|
2005-08-03 |
Alberta CN derailment, 43 cars |
700,000 litres heavy fuel oil 88,000 litres pole treating oil |
Wabamun, Alberta |
In and around Wabamun Lake Forced evacuation of 20 people (article) |
|
2004 |
Taylor Energy Company |
Estimated 4 to 2,329 gallons per day (365 days x 10 years) = 15,000 gallons minimum |
Gulf of Mexico |
Offshore platform topples over in Hurricane Ivan “hurricanes and oil rigs don't mix” - leak covered up from 2004 until 2010 and still leaking today (article) - William Pecue, Taylor Energy lobbying to walk away |
|
1999-06-10 |
Olympic Pipe Line Co. rupture |
277,200 gallons gasoline |
Bellingham, Washington, USA |
- spilled in to Hanna and Whatcom creeks - 3 youths killed - cascading series of events rather than catastrophic failure |
|
1989 |
North Dakota |
|
|
(article) |
|
1989-03-24 |
Exxon Valdez in Alaska |
41 million to 119 million litres / 260,000 to 750,000 bbls |
Prince William Sound, Alaska (article) |
- Oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California from Prudhoe Bay oil field - oil covered 2,100km of coastline and 28,000km2 of ocean
|
|
1973 |
Banks Township underground coal fire (USA) |
Coal burning underground for almost 40 years |
Banks Township between Jeanesville and Tresckow, Pennsylania, USA (article) |
- in March 2018 fire is “close” to being extinguished - started as a garbage fire |
General News Articles – Spills/Explosions/Pollution
|
Date yyyy-mm-dd |
Posted By |
Article Link |
Comment |
|
2020-11-13 |
Global News |
Wintry weather prompts Husky to suspend cleanup work at site of northern Alberta pipeline leak |
Phil Heidenreich |
|
2020-01-30 |
New Orleans Advocate |
Louisiana, Alaska fishers sue EPA over health problems from dispersant in oil spill cleanup |
Sara Sneath |
|
2018-11-21 |
EcoWatch / Lorraine Chow |
Clean Up 14-Year Oil Spill or Face $40K Daily Fine, Feds Tell Taylor Energy |
Lorraine Chow |
|
2018-10-21 |
Washington Post |
A 14-year-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U.S. history |
Darryl Fears |
|
2018-08-11 |
NBC News |
Salting the earth: North Dakota farmers struggle with a toxic byproduct of the oil boom |
Likhitha Butchireddygari |
|
2018-04-04 |
Thechronicleherald.ca |
Opinion: Public at risk for oil and gas industry’s clean-up costs |
Mark Tipperman |
|
2018-01-17 |
CBC News |
- 21-July-2016 Husky Energy spill |
|
|
2017-09-13 |
Independent.co.uk |
Oil spill turns Greek island bay black and is deemed 'environmental disaster' |
Video, drone footage of tanker spiill |
|
2017-07-13 |
KVUE.com (USA) |
- pipeline accidentally cut by excavator conducting maintenance |
|
|
2017-04-17 |
Corpus Christi Caller Times |
Natural gas wells have leaked into water supply for years, records show |
Matt Woolbright |
|
2017-01-30 |
Democracy Now (USA) |
North Dakota Lawmakers Advance Bill to Limit Oil Spill Reporting |
|
|
2016-11-18 |
Youtube / Rod Webber |
Whistleblower John Bolenbaugh tears up explaining Standing Rock's importance |
Rod Webber |
|
2016-11-17 |
CBC |
Husky's oil pipeline broke due to ground movement, report says |
John Weidlich |
|
2016-10-25 |
EcoWatch / Dan Zukowski |
220 ‘Significant’ Piepline Spills Already This Year Exposes Troubling Safety Record |
Dan Zukowski |
|
2016-09-27 |
theFreeThoughtProject.com |
Oil Company Lied About Safety of DAPL – Report Exposes Thousands of Spills in Last 6 Years Alone |
Justin Gardner |
|
2016-05-09 |
EcoWatch / DeSmogBlog |
Duke Study: Rivers Contaminated With Radium and Lead From Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills |
Sharon Kelly - North Dakota, USA - radium persistence |
|
2016-02-23 |
EcoWatch / Greenpeace |
The Biggest Oil Leak You’ve Never Heard Of, Still Leaking After 12 Years |
Tim Donaghy - Taylor Energy - Gulf of Mexico |
|
2015-09-09 |
EcoWatch / Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams |
Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams |
|
|
2015-07-17 |
CBC News |
|
|
|
2014-11-27 |
WC Native News |
Millions of litres spilled in Saskatchewan according to Documents |
|
|
2014-11-21 |
NY Times |
Reported Environmental Incidents in North Dakota’s Oil Industry |
Database containing 8,690 incidents in North Dakota from 2006 to 2014 |
|
2014-09-18 |
TheGuardian.com |
The hidden leaks of Pennsylvania's abandoned oil and gas wells |
Peter Moskowitz |
|
2014-07-16 |
TheGrid |
‘Saltwater’ From Fracking Spill Is Not What’s Found in the Ocean |
Lisa Song |
|
2014-05-31 |
Youtube/dutchsinse |
Dutchsinse - carbon sequestration - “mud” slide |
|
|
2014-05-29 |
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association |
If a pipeline spills, who covers the cost? 3 things you should know |
|
|
2014-05-23 |
CBC As It Happens |
American “innovation”: US Congressman on oil well leak, repaired with duct tape and a garbage bag |
audio & video |
|
2014-05-23 |
Grist |
Don’t worry about that oil spill, congressman says — we’ve got duct tape |
Jim Meyer [Louisiana Republican Vance McAllister is a real life Red Green!] |
|
2014-05-13 |
Grist |
John Upton 26 million gallons of oil, fracking fluid, fracking wastewater, and other toxic substances during 7,662 accidents in just 15 states |
|
|
2014-02-04 |
CBC News |
Pipeline rupture report raises questions about TransCanada inspections |
Amber Hildebrandt |
|
2013-11-23 |
Bloomberg Business Week |
Jeremy van Loon |
|
|
2013-05-22 |
Global News |
Crude Awakening – Introduction: 37 years of oil spills in Alberta |
Leslie Young Alberta’s had an average of two crude oil spills a day, every day for the past 37 years. |
|
2009-11-21 |
Daily Mail (UK) |
How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world |
- bunker fuel |
Not Just Oil
It is not only oil pipelines that leak. Diluents, source water and produced water pipelines can leak as well. Local emergency personnel don’t always know exactly what the pipelines carry because the chemical mixes are often proprietary to the oil company’s way of doing business.
Diluents - Diluent is a diluting or thinning agent and it’s really important to the oil sands. That is because the bitumen that makes up Canada’s oil sands is too viscous or thick to be pumped through a pipeline. At cold temperatures bitumen has the viscosity that is somewhat like molasses. By diluting the bitumen it can more easily flow through pipelines to be refined and sold.
The typical diluent for the oil sands is natural gas condensate, though shippers also used refined naptha or synthetic crude oil. Condensate is rather plentiful in America as drillers have focused on higher value natural gas liquids such as ethane and propane. These wells also typically contain a fair amount of condensate, which is also known as natural gasoline. (source)
Source water - is used for enhanced oil recovery and is higher in chloride than fresh water, but does not carry the same environmental implications as produced water. As per Bill Suess, source water is groundwater that is "a little higher in chloride in total dissolved solids than drinking water standards, but it is not produced water". (article) The drinking water standard for chloride is 250 ppm (parts per million) (North Dakota, USA).
Produced water - water that is brought to the surface along with oil or gas, has a much higher chloride reading, sometimes up to 180,000 ppm (article)
Cleaning up a spill (dispersants, exposure, health risk) can be worse than the spill itself.
For more information:
Why We Pretend to Clean Up Oil Spills by Andrew Nikiforuk, Hakai Magazine (July, 2016)
Canada’s Tar Sands Oil Boom Yields Toxic Wastewater Lakes (Bloomberg Business week, 21-Nov-2013)
Arkansas Residents Sick From Exxon Oil Spill Are on Their Own
John Bolenbaugh – Mayflower, Arkansas whistleblower
Di Bello – Cannington, ON family evacuated from their house for more than 2 years
CBC News (28-Oct-2013) Exclusive: Pipeline safety incident rate doubled in past decade / pipeline map
What’s the worst that could happen? Check out the Niger Delta (article 4-Dec-2013)
Link to 2015 Spill Tracker (USA)
Link to EarthJustice.org “Fracking Across the United States”
“While the Natural Resources Department estimates the oilsands industry represents two per cent of the Canadian economy, the companies face intensive scrutiny over their environmental footprint since extraction requires massive amounts of energy and water that have made it Canada’s fastest growing source of the heat-trapping pollution that warms the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.” OCanada.com (article)
Return to AWARE-Ontario Oil & Gas News
Return to AWARE-Ontario.ca Home Page
List of Ontario’s Issues
Disclaimer: This information has been compiled through private amateur research for the purpose of allowing the reader to make an informed and educated decision. However, while the information is believed to be reliable, completeness and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
APPENDICES
https://awareontario.nfshost.com/AWARE-Ontario/Issues/Oilgas_Other/News%20Oil_Gas%20Spills.htm
Conversion:
1 US gallon = 3.78541 litres
1 barrel = 159 litres = 42 US gallons
1 railcar = 640 barrels (bbls)
1 shipping tanker = 200,000 bbls (source)
1 tonne = roughly 7+ barrels (depending on oil grade)
Players:
|
Player |
|
|
|
Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) |
|
|
|
Plains Midstream Canada |
Subsidiary of Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline L.P. |
VP Stephen Bart (13-06-17) |
|
|
|
|