TransCanada says Their Eleventh Leak Proves Keystone is Safe

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UPDATE: The 1,600 figure we reported yesterday was an early and apparently erroneous estimate. The most recent figure, fromย The National Response Center, is closer to 8,000 litres. According to the Montreal Gazette,ย overย 110,000 litres of oil have spilledย along TransCanadaโ€™s Keystone line in the last yearย alone.

Today, TransCanada shut down its Keystone oil pipeline following itsย second pump station leak in less than a month. The most recent spill dumped nearly 1,600 litres of oil at a pumping station in Kansas over the weekend. With two spills in the last month, andย ten more over the course of the last year, how can TransCanada convince U.S. authorities to trust the safety of its controversial expansion plans?ย ย 

As DeSmogBlog recently reported, spills are far more common than industry would have us realize. Aย 2007 report by the Alberta Energy Utilities Boardย recorded a whopping 5,000 pipeline spillsย between 1990 and 2005 in Alberta alone.ย 

The string of spills over the past year have only heightened public worries about the safety of North Americaโ€™s vast pipeline network, and provide evidence that theย proposed Keystone XL and Northern Gateway lines should beย blocked.

The Montreal Gazette reports that over 110,000 litres of oil have spilled along TransCanadaโ€™s Keystone line in the lastย year.

To top it all off, TransCanada has somehow managed to spin its treacherous spill record and suggest – and youโ€™re not going to believe this – that itโ€™s doing a great job.

How do they figure? Simple.ย ย 

โ€œWeโ€™ve demonstrated we have built a very safe pipeline system because we havenโ€™t had a leak on our pipeline,โ€ says Terry Cunha, a spokesperson for TransCanada. Apparently โ€œoil releasesโ€ at pump stations mean the pipeline is safe.ย ย 

I know I donโ€™t buy it, but othersย do.ย 

Steven Paget, an analyst with First Energy Capital Corp., argues that TransCanadaโ€™s string of spills will not hinder its chances of regulatory approval to extend the line to refineries in the Gulfย Coast.

Paget likens these spills to โ€œnew car issuesโ€ – petty andย small.ย 

I hardly think we can liken environmentally devastating oil spills to car problems. But if my car leaked eleven times in one year, youโ€™d better believe Iโ€™d get aย refund.ย 

Head on over to the Canadian Press and Globe and Mail to readย more.ย 

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