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The Bakken Boom: East Coast at Risk

The Bakken Boom: East Coast at Risk

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Published by Food and Water Watch
Fracked oil from the Bakken Shale has put North Dakota at "the center of a revolution." As production soars, so does the demand for pipelines, trains & barges.
Fracked oil from the Bakken Shale has put North Dakota at "the center of a revolution." As production soars, so does the demand for pipelines, trains & barges.

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Published by: Food and Water Watch on Oct 07, 2014
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10/07/2014

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The Bakken Boom: East Coast At Risk 
    
WATER 
H
ydraulic fracturing (fracking), an energy extraction method that injects large quantities of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure to crack the rock and release oil and gas,
1
 has caused a surge in domestic oil production.
2
 Fracked oil from the Bakken Shale has put North Dakota at “the center of a revolution,”
3
 now yielding more oil than Alaska and rising to second place for production behind Texas.
4
 But, as production soars, so does the demand for pipelines, trains and barges to transport Bakken crude oil to refineries,
5
 increasingly on the East Coast,
6
 the most densely populated region of the United States.
7
Alhough racking or shale oil is no occurring in New Jersey or New York,
8
 residens o hese highly populaed saes, and he naural resources ha hey rely on, are sill subjec o spills and explosions, as Bakken oil currenly eners he region by rain and barge. The risk o disaser will only increase i he proposed Pilgrim Pipeline is allowed.
Transporting Bakken Crude: Potential Safety and Health Hazards
Shor-erm exposure o crude oil can cause difficuly breah-ing, headaches, nausea and skin irriaion
9
; long-erm effecs include damage o he liver, kidney, respiraory, reproducive, blood, immune and nervous sysems, as well as cancer and birh deecs.
10
Signiicanly, Bakken crude oil is more dangerous o ranspor han oher ypes o crude oil. Is composiion, including more combusible gases and higher vapor pressure,
11
 makes i more volaile and lammable.
12
 Thus, when Bakken crude is josled in rain cars, i is more prone o explosion.
13
 Bakken crude also conains higher levels o benzene han oher crude oils, as well as poenially problemaic levels o hydrogen sulide gas.
14
 Benzene is a known carcinogen and muagen ha causes a variey o diseases, including leukemia.
15
 Exposure o hydro-gen sulide, a noxious, colorless gas described as having a “ro-en egg” sench a low concenraions,
16
 can cause respiraory problems, nausea, vomiing, headaches, difficuly breahing, coma, convulsions and deah.
17
Wih he uncerainy surrounding pending proposals or new pipelines and/or exising pipeline expansion,
18
 and an oudaed exising pipeline nework,
19
 oil companies are urning o rails and barges o move heir diry producs.
20
 The ypical liespan
 
2
o peroleum pipelines is 50 years, wih he poenial o las longer i adequaely mainained and upgraded.
21
 Considering ha he majoriy o America’s exising pipeline inrasrucure was buil beween 40 and 60 years ago, here is concern abou pipeline inegriy as oil producion increases.
22
 Despie claims ha pipelines are he saes way o move crude oil,
23
 increased pipeline developmen can cause environmenal and public healh problems or nearby communiies.
A Pipeline of Problems, Coming to New Jersey and New York
Oil and gas developmen can subsanially reduce he value o real esae and land while increasing he risk o leaks and explosions.
24
 More han 10,000 pipeline incidens have oc-curred in he Unied Saes since 1993, including abou 6,000 rom peroleum pipelines.
25
 In ac, one o he wors and mos expensive oil spills in U.S. hisory came rom a pipeline ailure. I occurred in July 2010 when a pipeline rupured near a ribuary o Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, spilling as much as 1 million gallons o ar sands crude. The clean-up cos almos $1 billion, and he spill devasaed sensiive ecosysems and impaced people who live in nearby communiies.
26
 Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings has proposed building a pipeline o ranspor Bakken crude rom Albany, New York o a reinery in Linden, New Jersey
27
 — he mos densely populaed sae in he counry.
28
 The pipeline is proposed o ravel hrough he Highlands, a region ha provides drinking waer o more han 5 million people, and would come close o he Jersey Ciy Reservoir, a waer body used or recreaional ishing.
29
 When an aquier is pollued by oil, he impacs can endure. For insance, despie effors o clean up an oil spill ha pol-lued a Minnesoa aquier in 1979, he waer sill wasn’ sae o drink 17 years laer because levels o benzene, oluene, eh-ylbenzene and xylenes sill exceeded saey limis esablished by he U.S. Environmenal Proecion Agency.
30
 I a spill were o conaminae he Ramapo River Aquier, a drinking waer source beneah he anicipaed roue o he Pilgrim Pipeline,
31
 i could likewise ake decades beore he waer is sae o con-sume. Addiionally, i vapors rom an oil-conaminaed aquier migrae o he surace, here could be an explosion or ire.
32
 Ye our curren regulaory ramework does no allow or adequae assurance o he saey o our naion’s pipelines. In erms o governmen oversigh, only 400 ederal and sae in-specors are charged wih monioring our counry’s 2.5 million miles o pipelines and ensuring heir saey.
33
Exploding Trains, Albany At Risk
The oil boom has signiicanly increased he amoun o crude oil ranspored by rail.
34
 The number o carloads used o ranspor oil spiked by more han 6,500 percen rom 2005 o 2013.
35
 According o he Norh Dakoa Pipeline Auhoriy, 75 percen o Bakken oil leaving or reineries leaves by rain.
36
 O his oil, approximaely a quarer ends up in Albany, a “hub” because o is por, rail nework and proximiy o Eas Coas reineries.
37
 As o February 2014, only abou 20 percen o he hazma ank cars used o ranspor crude oil and oher lammable liquids had been buil o he laes saey san-dards.
38
 Even wih improved saey sandards or railcars, Bakken crude remains highly volaile,
 
and his pus Albany in grave danger. Described as a “icking ime bomb” by Senaor Charles Schumer (D-NY),
39
 rain derailmens have already occurred in he Albany region,
40
 and one signiican acciden could devasae Albany. For example, in July 2013, explosions swep hrough Lac-Méganic, a small own in Qébec, afer a 72-car rain ransporing close o 2.2 million gallons o Bakken crude oil derailed, killing 47 people and spilling 26,385 gallons o oil ino he Chaudiere River.
41
 Such an acciden would be dev-asaing o New York’s sae capial, which has a populaion densiy almos six imes ha o Lac-Méganic.
42
Barges of Bakken Oil Along the Hudson
Barges are able o carry exremely large amouns o cargo, so when accidens occur, housands o gallons o crude oil can be released direcly ino waerways. For example, on January 27, 2013 in Vicksburg, Mississippi a barge sruck a railroad bridge
PHOTO CC-BY-SA © SAM MALONE / FRACTRACKER.ORG
 
3
Endnotes
and spilled abou 7,000 gallons o crude oil ino he Mississippi River.
43
 A litle over a year laer, in February 2014, an acciden caused a barge o spill 31,500 gallons o crude oil ino he Mis-sissippi River, beween Baon Rouge and New Orleans.
44
 Abou 25 million gallons o Bakken crude oil is ranspored by barge and ship on he Hudson River each week, amoun-ing o some 2.8 billion gallons a year.
45
 In December 2012, a anker carrying 12 million gallons o Bakken crude los conrol and ran aground on rocks in he Hudson River, jus souh o Albany, while en roue o New Brunswick, Canada.
46
 The acciden did no cause a spill in he river, bu i serves as a wake-up call. I he nex such acciden leads o a spill, millions o gallons o Bakken crude could low downsream, and he resuling vapors could lead o headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiing in communiies along he river.
47
Train, Barge or Pipeline: No Good Methods of Transportation
Pipeline spills release much larger amouns o oil han spills rom any oher mode o ranspor.
48
 Undeeced spills, rom inadequae deecion sysems or as a resul o monioring personnel’s ailure o ideniy a rupure, can enable a spill o go or hours or even days,
49
 posing serious risks o drinking waer. Oil rain wrecks have caused massive explosions,
50
 and oil barges pu major bodies o waer a risk in he even o a spill.
51
 Forunaely, he opposiion o he Pilgrim Pipeline is growing, wih communiies in norhern New Jersey passing resoluions in opposiion o his racked oil pipeline.
52
 Allowing he build ou o sprawling pipeline inrasrucure would lock in decades more o U.S. dependence on diry ossil uels. While crude ranspor by rail and barge may be less binding, hisory proves ha hese mehods could subjec he densely populaed Norheas o polluion, disease and deah. As an independen consulan on hazardous maerial shipmens explained in he Albany newspaper
Times Union 
, “Albany now has been unorunaely sor o argeed by he oil indusry or major low o crude oil across he coninen … I’s like Houson on he Hudson excep wih no jobs. You have a lo o he risks, bu no jobs.”
53
 Insead, he Eas Coas — and he enire Unied Saes — should be weaning off ossil uel consumpion hrough policies ha will lead us o a susainable, clean energy uure.
1 American Petroleum Institute. “Freeing Up Energy. Hydraulic Fractur-ing: Unlocking America’s Natural Gas Resources.” July 19, 2010 at 1, 2, 4
                                      
years.”
Bloomberg News
. January 9, 2014.
       
Wall Street  Journal.
             
unlikely loser.”
Wall Street Journal 
. August 10, 2014.
                                                        
Wall Street Journal 
           
Boston Globe.
           
-
    
CNBC 
             
Bloomberg Businessweek 
.
                              
Bis-marck Tribune.
 June 11, 2014.
                  
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             
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                                                         
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           
Marketing Corporation, 2011 at 1 and 2.
                          
2014 at 2; U.S. EPA. “Guide on Federal and State Summer RVP Standards
                               
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                  
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                         
14
Ibid 
. at 2 and 4.
                     
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      
.
                      
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                                                                                                                    
Capital 
             
Dallas Morning News
          
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