More on Montana's pulling out of Silvertip oil spill joint command

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Montana's governor on July 7 withdrew his state from participation in the command team directing cleanup of oil spilled from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline, saying citizens "can't get straight answers" from the company.

In establishing the state's own incident command center in Billings, just downstream from the July 1 spill on the Yellowstone River, Gov. Brian Schweitzer cited what he characterized as a lack of public transparency by Exxon.

Schweitzer said Exxon was responsible for restricting reporters' access, and that of some state environmental officials, in violation of Montana's open-meetings law. He also said the company has been too slow in responding to citizens' queries about the spill.

"When Montana citizens call a hotline and Exxon Mobil doesn't get back to them, that's unacceptable," Schweitzer said in a phone interview.

A joint unified command organization consisting of the state, Exxon and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was set up after the spill to oversee efforts to assess damage, conduct cleanup and provide information to the public.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers denied the company had sought to restrict access to unified command meetings or information, saying the EPA was in charge. He said the company was doing its utmost to answer questions from the public.

Regulators allow Keystone oil pipeline to restart after repairs completed

WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have allowed TransCanada to restart its Keystone oil pipeline after the company completed repairs and safety tests.

In a letter to TransCanada, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said, "Based on a review of the information submitted, the restart plan is approved."

PHMSA's approval to restart the pipeline marks a reversal of its decision on June 3 after it had issued a corrective action order or COA to TransCanada that barred the company from restarting the pipeline, citing two leaks in the pipeline in the month of May.

Oil from the 1,300-mile pipeline that extends from Canada to Cushing, Okla., and Patoka and Wood River, Ill., began flowing on June 5 under a revised order from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The agency approved the revision on June 4.

The pipeline has been closed since May 29, when workers reported a 10-barrel leak in Kansas. That followed a leak of 400 barrels of oil in North Dakota on May 7.

Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer of TransCanada said, "TransCanada takes all incidents very seriously. Almost all of the oil releases over the last 11 months on Keystone have been minor - averaging just five to 10 gallons of oil. The vast majority of that oil was confined to our property and in all cases was cleaned up quickly. None of the incidents involved the pipe in the ground - the integrity of Keystone is sound."

Georgia responders hold debriefing on fatal Dixie Pipeline accident

THOMSON, Ga. - Firefighters, emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officers met with representatives of Dixie Pipeline Company at the Thomson Depot on Sept. 15 to discuss the lessons learned in a fatal pipeline accident.

The propane pipeline explosion killed 23-year-old Jason McCorkle. The explosion occurred near Belle Meade subdivision outside of Thomson. Earlier that morning, McCorkle's father, Paul McCorkle, a county commissioner, was operating a bulldozer and accidentally ruptured the pipeline while doing road work on McCorkle Farm.
The responders discussed the overall response, how it was handled and whether anything could be improved if a similar accident were to ever take place here again.
Paul McCorkle, whose son died, attended the meeting representing the McDuffie County Board of Commissioners.
The single biggest issue discussed involved making sure that before anyone digs that they call the Georgia 811 number.
"It's the law," said Michael McLaughlin, coordinator and public awareness/damage prevention representative with EPCO, Inc.
Paul McCorkle had not called that telephone number.
"We're here to get your feedback," said Jesse Gregoire, manager of regional safety for Dixie Pipeline Company. "I want this to be an interactive meeting. We want to see if there is anything we can do differently, if another accident happens around here."

Enbridge sees Michigan oil spill exposure at $51.4 million or below

CALGARY, Alta. – Enbridge Energy Partners LP says it might have to pay as much as $400 million in costs related to its pipeline rupture and dilbit (diluted bitumen) spill near Marshall, Mich.
The estimated costs cover the emergency response, pipeline fixes and environmental remediation, the company said, but not any fines associated with the spill.
However, Enbridge Partners disclosed on Aug. 17 that its costs would be only $35 to $45 million after its insurance claims are paid.
Parent Enbridge Inc., which owns 27 percent of Enbridge Energy Partners, said it expects its share of the costs of the pipeline rupture and oil spill to be only about $6.4 million after insurance claims are paid. The figures were released on Aug. 18 by Gina Jordan, an Enbridge Inc. spokeswoman in Calgary.
That would put the combined exposure of Enbridge Partners and Enbridge Inc. in the neighborhood of $41.4 to $51.4 million.
Enbridge Partners was still waiting on Aug. 19 for U.S. regulators to respond to its reworked plan to restart Line 6B, which has been repaired, Jordan said.
Neither the Enbridge Inc. nor Enbridge Energy Partners LP estimates of exposure include possible civil or criminal fines which are usually excluded from insurance coverage. Under the U.S. Clean Water Act, if negligence is proved, Enbridge could be fined up to $4,300 per barrel spilled. Given the 19,500 barrels estimated to have been spilled in the incident, that alone could add up to an additional $83.9 million.

PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to Enbridge in Michigan spill

DETROIT, Mich. - U.S. regulators have ordered Canada's Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) to prepare a safety and repair plan for a failed oil pipeline in Michigan after warning in January the company appeared to be in violation of safety standards because it was not monitoring corrosion in the 41-year-old-pipe.
The order from the U.S. Department of Transportation was sent on July 28 and raises the stakes in an oil spill that sent some 19,500 barrels of crude into a Michigan river.
Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency said on July 29 that the spilled oil did not pose a threat to the Great Lakes since the spill appeared to be contained about 50 miles inland from Lake Michigan by work crews with booms.
In its safety order, regulators told Enbridge that it will have to take a number of precautionary steps before the 286-mile pipeline carrying oil from northern Indiana to Sarnia, Ontario, can be restarted.
Those steps include digging up 100 feet of the failed pipeline in the oil-clogged marshes near Marshall, Mich., submitting a safety plan for its renewed operation and holding pressure to 80 percent of capacity after a restart.
At its capacity, the pipeline flows at a rate of 190,000 b/d.
Enbridge will also have to tell the government regulators how it will monitor and test the pipeline in the future to avoid accidents, and detail every failure along its span for the past two decades.
In January, the Department of Transportation's pipeline regulatory arm had warned Enbridge that it appeared to be in "probable violation" of safety regulations.
It said then that inspectors found that the company had discontinued monitoring corrosion in the pipeline in 2007, and was only in the planning stages of implementing a new method of checking the pipeline using an electrical imaging technology.