Keystone XL Pipeline Safety Standards Not as Tough as They Seem

Research by NRDC shows that only 12 of the 57 conditions set by federal regulators differ from the minimum standards already required for pipeline safety. State Department have repeatedly touted safety standards for the proposed Keystone XL heavy crude pipeline as robust and unparalleled. As proof, they point to 57 conditions that the Alberta based pipeline operator has agreed to follow.

But environmental watchdogs counter that those much boasted about moncler outlet online claims are based on nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And they have compiled evidence moncler sale to back up their accusations.

According to recent research by the Natural Resources Defense Council, only 12 of the 57 conditions set by federal regulators at the Department of Transportation differ in any way at all from the minimum standards the DOT routinely requires for pipeline safety. NRDC is an advocacy organization intent on halting construction of the pipeline.

of uk moncler sale these safety moncler uk outlet conditions are just restating current regulations, said Anthony Swift, cheap moncler coats mens the NRDC energy analyst responsible for the point by moncler outlet store point study. they been used as the cornerstone in the argument that we don need to worry about Keystone XL because these 57 conditions will cheapmoncler solve any unknown safety risk that the pipeline poses.

The DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is responsible for overseeing hazardous liquid pipelines and enforcing safety measures. PHMSA began drawing up the list of conditions back in 2009 when TransCanada applied for a Keystone XL safety waiver. The company dropped its request for that waiver in August 2010 but announced in April that it would voluntarily comply with PHMSA 57 conditions.

These precautionary measures are supposed cheap moncler jackets mens to address pipeline safety concerns such as puncture resistance, inspections, and welding and construction standards. Both PHMSA and TransCanada said that exactly what they do.

The 57 safety conditions the company agreed to with PHMSA are and beyond the industry norm, TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha told InsideClimate News.

PHMSA spokesman Damon Hill said the list of conditions moncler outlet woodbury contains more stringent than existing regulations, adding that they increase safety from manufacture through operation of the pipeline. Gulf Coast. It could deliver up to 900,000 barrels of heavy crude moncler outlet prices daily.

Inside the Analysis

As part of its analysis of the 57 conditions, the NRDC sorted them into four categories rated moncler online store by how much difference uk moncler outlet each would make.

Swift said the dozen that improve upon existing minimum federal standards range from minor to substantive. They include burying the moncler sale online pipeline six to 12 inches deeper than required; assuring discount moncler jackets that the pipeline is puncture resistant under pressure; lengthening the time devoted to pressure tests; validating data provided by the leak detection system; bumping up the number of shutdown valves from 104 to 106; providing PHMSA with construction plans, and agreeing to notify PHMSA when spills are reported to the federal government National Response Center.

Many of the remaining 45 conditions restate current regulations, Swift said, some repeated word for word. moncler outlet sale Others, including one requiring the pipeline to be inspected 26 times a year and another requiring tests to prevent the use of defective steel, duplicate minimum standards that TransCanada must comply with via PHMSA or duplicate basic legal safety standards. Five of the conditions detail how TransCanada should keep records and report to PHMSA its progress on complying with cheap moncler jackets womens each standard.

a standard doesn mean moncler womens jackets it updated, Swift said. it doesn mean a pipeline is stronger or safer.

As an example of the semantics he encountered during his analysis, Swift pointed to a current federal regulation that covers the inspection of rights of way and crossings under navigable waters. It reads: operator shall, at intervals not exceeding 3 weeks, but at least 26 times each calendar year, inspect the surface conditions on or adjacent to each pipeline right of way. Methods of inspection include walking, driving, flying or other appropriate means of traversing the right of way.

The Keystone XL special condition pertaining to pipeline patrolling reads this way: the right of way at intervals not exceeding three (3) weeks, but at least twenty six (26) times each calendar year, to inspect for excavation activities, ground movement, unstable soil, washouts, leakage, or other activities moncler outlet or conditions affecting the safety operation of the pipeline.

In its final environmental analysis, the State Department noted that the difference between the two is that the original cheap moncler sale regulation is prescriptive on items to look for during survey.

That explanation left Swift scratching his head.

is one of the many examples of the State Department and TransCanada playing a shell game to avoid addressing the legitimate safety concerns that the American public has with the Keystone XL, Swift said.

Hill, the PHMSA spokesman, offered five examples of conditions that best moncler jackets he said substantially boost the pipeline safety. One ensures that the metal used to build the pipeline will be tracked from the production process to moncler usa its on site delivery. Another makes the pipeline subject to more stringent pressure testing before installation, and a third requires a TransCanada senior executive to certify that pipeline design, construction and maintenance plans meet all conditions.

Diluted Bitumen Needs Study

The NRDC, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and other organizations maintain that safety standards for Keystone XL won be adequate until the State Department commits to cheap moncler jackets conducting a study that specifically examines what kind of wear and tear diluted bitumen harvested from mines in Alberta actually has on steel pipelines.

Diluted bitumen also called oil sands or tar sands oil is a raw and thick form of heavy crude that is significantly more acidic and corrosive than standard oil. Pumping it at a high temperature and high pressure for long distances is a relatively new and untested venture, Swift said.

TransCanada says the crude oils transported by the Keystone system not unique. are cheap moncler jackets similar to those already being transported and processed by other pipelines and refineries across the United States, said Cunha, the company spokesman. includes oil from California, Venezuela and Mexico.

The head of PHMSA, Cynthia Quarterman, testified at a June congressional hearing that her agency has not studied the risks of oil sands pipelines.

A recent article in The New York Times documents how chronic understaffing and underfunding at PHMSA has left too much regulatory control to the companies that operate the estimated 167,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines snaking throughout the moncler sale outlet country underbelly.

have to keep in mind that our pipeline regulators are not aware of the risk these pipelines pose, Swift said. like a doctor prescribing medication for a condition he hasn yet diagnosed.