Part of Beacon Sloop Club Winter Lecture Series
The Beacon Sloop Club Winter Lecture Series continues on Thursday, April 9, with “Bomb Trains, Pipelines, and Tankers, Crude Oil Transport on the Hudson River” with Riverkeeper’s Jeremy Cherson, who will discuss the risks posed by crude oil transport in the Hudson Valley.
Until recently, there was little or no crude oil transported in the Hudson Valley. The growth of oil production in North Dakota and elsewhere has spurred industry to make the Hudson Valley into an international conduit for crude oil. Up to 5 billion gallons of crude oil are being transported through the Hudson Valley annually by train, barge and ship.
All three transportation methods, what is being called by industry a “virtual pipeline,” could affect our communities and environmental resources. Spills, explosions and fires — some resulting in the catastrophic loss of life — have occurred elsewhere on this virtual pipeline. Further, proposed Hudson River oil facility expansions and the proposed development of a regional pipeline could increase the transport of crude oil locally by as much as 3.8 billion gallons annually.
Public reaction has prompted New York State to increase inspections, uncovering 93 defects this month.
This free event will be held at the Beacon Sloop Club, 2 Flynn Drive in Beacon, (adjacent to the harbor). Attendees can learn what to do to encourage further action to insure the safety of citizens and our environment. In the event of inclement weather, check the website at beaconsloopclub.org. For further information, call 845-463-4660 or 914-879-1082.
Pipelines leak.
Bridger Pipeline LLC’s Poplar line broke and allowed 30,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Mont., contaminating the local water supply. an hour of the leak.
On Oct. 13, 2014, a Sunoco/Mid-Valley crude oil pipeline ruptured and spilled 168,000 gallons of crude oil in Caddo Parish, La. A little more than 18 months earlier, on March 29, 2013, an ExxonMobil pipeline carrying Canadian Wabasca heavy crude from the Athbasca oil sands ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., 25 miles northwest of Little Rock. About 250,000 gallons of oil were released and 22 homes were evacuated.
And on July 1, 2011, an ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. pipeline burst, allowing 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River 20 miles upstream from Billings, Mont.
America’s largest inland oil spill from a pipeline rupture occurred July 25, 2010, when an Enbridge pipeline ruptured near Marshall, Mich., spilling 840,000 gallons of tar sands crude into a scenic part of the Kalamazoo River and causing more than $767 million in damage.
Environmentalist Ed Fallon quotes Keith Puntenney, Iowa farmer:
“This pipeline is going to create a five-foot dam. When water hits that dam, instead of running downhill like it does now, it’s going to rise up into the topsoil, into your crops. With the additional moisture caused by that dam and the heat created by the pipeline itself, you’ve got the perfect storm for crop disease issues.”
Fallon continues: “The pipeline company is telling landowners it will put the soil back the way it was. But what I’m hearing from farmers across the state is that there’s no way they can do this, given the size of the pipeline, compaction and other factors.”
If we must ship crude oil by train, do it safely.
Click on petitions.moveon.org.