Transcanada Pipeline Corroded 95% Through Pipe Wall In 2 Years (> Dime's Thickness Left)

[hatrack]

Last edited Fri May 1, 2015, 10:45 AM - Edit history (1)

Documents obtained by DeSmogBlog reveal an alarming rate of corrosion to parts of TransCanada's Keystone 1 pipeline. A mandatory inspection test revealed a section of the pipeline's wall had corroded 95%, leaving it paper-thin in one area (one-third the thickness of a dime) and dangerously thin in three other places, leading TransCanada to immediately shut it down. The cause of the corrosion is being kept from the public by federal regulators and TransCanada. “It is highly unusual for a pipeline not yet two years old to experience such deep corrosion issues,” Evan Vokes, a former TransCanada pipeline engineer-turned-whistleblower, told DeSmogBlog. “Something very severe happened that the public needs to know about.”

When TransCanada shut the line down, the company and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) told the press that the shutdown was due to “possible safety Issues.” And although an engineer from PHMSA was sent to the site where TransCanada was digging up the pipeline in Missouri, no further information has been made available publicly.

Only after DeSmogBlog made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to PHMSA in August 2013 — which the agency partially responded to this April — was the information revealing the pipeline had deeply corroded in multiple spots exposed. The documents also disclosed a plan to check for a possible spill where the corrosion was detected. However, documents explaining what caused the corrosion and findings concerning a possible spill were not included in response to DeSmogBlog's request. According to PHMSA spokesman Damon Hill, documents that might impact an ongoing compliance review the agency is conducting of TransCanada were withheld.

EDIT

TransCanada's non-compliance with regulations is nothing new. Vokes shed light on the company's risky behavior in 2011 by turning over internal documents to the Canadian National Energy Board and PHSMA. Later, he gave the same documents to the Canadian Senate, resulting in a probe of the company’s compliance practices. According to a recent report by Reuters, Canadian regulators began investigating TransCanada's safety practices again, after it received documents submitted by another whistleblower. The final inspection report of the Keystone XL southern route (now known as the Gulf Coast pipeline) was also obtained by DeSmogBlog. It offers further evidence that TransCanada is not code complaint. The report concluded TransCanada's work to be unsatisfactory in more then seven areas it considered. Furthermore, last year, when the Keystone XL's southern line was shut down shortly after it was put into operation, many questioned TransCanada’s claim that it was due to planned routine work, since shutting down a pipeline costs a company millions of dollars.

EDIT

http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/04/30/exclusive-transcanada-keystone-1-pipeline-suffered-major-corrosion-only-two-years-operation-95-worn-one-section

[global1]

2. Where Did The Materials Come From That This Pipeline Was Built Out Of?......

Seems to me to be a material issue - probably imported steel from China. That's what happens when we close manufacturing facilities that produced good product - but couldn't compete with the competition that makes things on the cheap.

The tendency is almost always to save money so one goes for the cheaper alternative. I've found that when I cheap out when I purchase something that I have to repurchase and replace stuff - because it just doesn't hold up. So I learned to do it right the first time - even if it is more expensive.

When carpeting a house - that's one thing if you cheap out and have to replace it faster because the cheap rug you bought didn't hold up. However, when you are building a pipeline - the stakes are higher. If the materials break down - you can cause an environmental calamity. I'm thinking that's what happened here. They built this pipeline by going to the least expensive bidder - not taking into account the quality of the materials they were buying.