Oil pipelines are the subject of continued debate. Opponents say it isn’t safe and environmental catastrophes are imminent, but that approach glosses over the potential risks posed by other methods of transport. And in reality, the statistics show a very different story.
The Association of Oil Pipe Lines predictably says pipelines are the safest way to deliver crude oil and petroleum products, but they back it up with some convincing numbers, noting that U.S. pipelines transported over 13.5 billion barrels of crude oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel across the nation in 2012, with 99.99 percent of those reaching their destination safely.
Rail transport, the chief alternative to pipelines, boasts virtually identical numbers. An Association of American Railroads fact sheet released this year states that 99.9 percent of all rail-bound hazardous materials shipments reach their destination without incident. And Federal Railroad Administration statistics show that the number of rail cars containing hazardous material that were damaged or derailed declined by 38 percent over the past 10 years.
Still, accidents can happen regardless of how the crude is transported. The train derailment in Quebec, Canada, which happened in early July as I was finishing up this issue of GOMC, is a great example.
The Montreal Maine & Atlantic train was parked for the night seven miles from Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border. All but one of the train’s 73 tanker cars were carrying oil when they broke free from the locomotives early Saturday morning and rolled downhill into town and derailed. Several of the cars exploded.
Approximately 30 buildings were destroyed and dozens of people died as a result of the explosions and fire. Crews also had to try to contain 27,000 gallons of light crude that spilled from the tankers and made its way into nearby waterways.
The oil was reportedly being transported from North Dakota to a refinery in New Brunswick. Because of limited pipeline capacity in the Bakken region, over 70 percent of the oil pumped from that region leaves by rail.
Comment boards were quickly filled with people blaming environmentalists for standing in the way of pipelines. Arguments were as simple as people pointing out that pipelines don’t derail. True, but tanker cars don’t typically rupture like pipelines, so there are trade-offs with any method of transport. This spring, the U.S. State Department noted that methods of transporting oil from the Alberta tar sands other than pipelines – including rail, trucks and barges – each pose risks to the environment.
There is no 100 percent safe way to transport oil and petroleum products, but one thing is certain: Those products will keep moving across the country in some fashion, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best thing is for all involved to work together to find ways to improve safety measures, reduce environmental concerns and develop better emergency response strategies. Oil companies and oilfield service providers, from pipeline contractors to rail car manufacturers and spill containment specialists, can all play an important role in this task.
Protesting a given method of transport doesn’t make any sense if a better solution isn’t presented, because the oil is going to move no matter what. The focus needs to be on making all methods of transport safer, or else one set of risks will simply be supplanted by another.
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