Tar Sands Pipelines Should Get Special Treatment, EPA Says [View all]
Last edited Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:40 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: NPR
Tar Sands Pipelines Should Get Special Treatment, EPA Says
by ELIZABETH SHOGREN
April 24, 2013 3:21 PM
Up until now, pipelines that carry tar sands oil have been treated just like pipelines that carry any other oil. But the Environmental Protection Agency now says that should change. That's because when tar sands oil spills, it can be next to impossible to clean up.
The agency made this argument in its evaluation of the State Department's environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline project which, if approved, would carry heavy crude from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the United States.
The EPA's letter urges the State Department to set special standards to prevent Keystone from spilling, and make sure any spills that happen are rapidly contained.
The EPA says it has learned about the additional risks of tar sands spills from a cleanup of a 2010 tar sands spill into Michigan's Kalamazoo River that has dragged out nearly three years and cost more than $1 billion. A lot of the heavy crude sank to the bottom and hasn't biodegraded.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/24/178844620/tar-sands-pipelines-should-get-special-treatment-epa-says
Even rocks that have been contaminated must be disposed of....
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