An explosion erupts as TransCanada awaits U.S. permit for Keystone XL oil pipeline to U.S. markets
Manitoba is facing its coldest winter since 1949, with temperatures dipping below -20 C.
On Saturday January 25 th , 2014 at approximately 1:00am an explosion on a natural gas pipeline near Otterburne, Man., 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg lit up the sky with flames shooting as much as 600 feet into the air. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)responded around 1:05 a.m. to reports of a "loud explosion."
Paul Rawluk lives nearby said, As we got closer, we could see these massive 200 to 300 meters high flames just shooting out of the ground and it literally sounded like a jet plane a nd that's the thing that really got us, was the sound of it.
Emergency Measures spokesperson Nicki Albus on Saturday said as many as 4,000 people and maybe more in the area were without natural gas.
Manitoba Hydro said the following communities are affected:
New Bothwell.
Niverville.
Otterburne.
Kleefeld.
St-Pierre-Jolys.
Grunthal.
St. Malo.
Dufrost.
Ste. Agathe.
Hydro said it does not know when service will be restored but that people should prepare for an extended outage."
By Saturday afternoon, more than 12 hours after it started, TransCanada officials said the fire was out.
NextGen Climate Group led by U.S. billionaire Tom Steyer, a vocal Keystone XL opponent made mention of the Manitoba explosion in a news release announcing a new anti-pipeline ad that will coincide with President Barack Obama's state of the union address Tuesday night.
Environmental Defenses Adam Scott, who has been campaigning against Energy East, says the blast over the weekend shows that oil and gas pipelines are inherently risky to communities.
The northern United States has also been impacted :
The affected lines also provide the main supply of natural gas to more than 100,000 Xcel Energy customers in the U.S. as well.
Gas customers in eastern North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and western Wisconsin have also been impacted by the explosion but are not without service.
Xcel Energy currently is receiving natural gas supply to serve customers in Fargo and Grand Forks in North Dakota; East Grand Forks, Moorhead and Brainerd in Minnesota; and communities in west-central Wisconsin, including the Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls and Menomonie areas, from alternate routes from Michigan and from the Twin Cities area.
| Past pipeline blasts in Manitoba | |||
| Place | Date | Company | Report |
| St. Leon | Oct. 3, 1994 | Interprovincial Pipeline | |
| Rapid City | July 29, 1995 | TransCanada Pipelines | |
| St. Norbert | April 15, 1996 | TransCanadaPipelines | |
| Brookdale | April 14, 2002 | TransCanadaPipelines | |
Between the year 2000 and 2012 there were 1,047 incidents for the TransCanada pipeline, have any of them been near you? Check this interactive map for other locations.
The Keystone XL pipeline will expose far to large a segment of the U.S. population to these explosions and resultant fires, thats just to big a risk for me. Stop the construction of this line before its to late.
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I have been dead set against this pipeline from the beginning Larry..Let's hope that it never goes across the U.S.
I hear you, I have written more than one letter to the capital about the Keystone XL Pipeline and I'm sure that I'll be writing many more before it's all over. So how it has to be stopped.
We recieved a computer message from Xcelvia phone around 1:30 in the morning to turn down the thermostat to 60 degrees to conservefuel. We had a blizzard the next day with sustained winds of over 40mph and temps approcaching 30 below F; that is about a 60 to 70 below wind chill temp. After reducing the heat, our electricity went out in Warren, Alvarado, and Oslo Mn around 7:30 in the evening for about 3 hours. Not good.
I thought they said they were going to have the service back up by Tuesday night. Did that not happen?
And the U. S. State Department just said that the EIS for the pipeline shows no "significant" environmental impacts - Sorry guys, not buying it.
Sorry I wasn't clear.
We recieved that phone message from early saturday morning, the blizzard took place, and electricity went ou,t on Sunday. The gas was back up to full speed by Tuesday afternoon.
btw, good to see ya Larry!
:~)
With the tar sands oil being as corrosive as it is the number of incidents will get even higher in the coming years if this pipeline is allowed to be built and they will all be happening on American soil. Somebody on capital hill needs to pull their head out of their ass and wake up. We are supposed to be stewards of the land for our children and grand-children, at this rate there wont be anything to be stewards of. We have to draw the line and start some very serious protection of what little resources we have left if we are to survive at all.
Lately there have been several high profile cases of pipeline damage as well as accidents involving fuels being transported by rail. Which raises an interesting question.
Obviously people in the U.S. (and Canada as well) need some sort of fuel to heat their houses and other buildings, to power their cars & trucks, etc. Since everyone doesn't live close to an oil well-- what is the safest way to transport oil, gas & other fuels from their source to the end users? (And: what fuel is the best in terms of minimal damage to the environment, lowest toxicity to humans and other life forms, and lowest risk of explosions, leaks and other serious risks?)
This paragraph is key to that article 1st and we as the public need to follow up and raise the roof when and where ever we can when the report is brought out:
When that document is released, it does not or will not represent a decision. Rather, another step in the process there will be an opportunity after the release of the [report] for both the public and other government agencies to comment before the State Department makes its final national interest determination, Mr. Carney told reporters.
Glad to hear that Larry and it is good to see you are still here on NT's.
It's true. We need fuel and there is no way around that in modern Western society. The recent rail problems seem to have put the talk of the pipeline in vouge again. Now,after the explosion inManitoba,I'm not so sure...
Yes there is and will always be a need for fuels to keep our country running. But we need to stop allowing the Big Oil Companies ram through legislation and projects in this hap hazard fashion. The need is there and will be there when everything has been taken into consideration and the best possible answer has been found. If we don't take the time now to do these things right, how the hell will we ever find the time and finances to correct the sure to be fatal mistakes?
Make sure you read the fine print, ".. national interest determination " includes profits by the Oil and Gas industry, at least it does in US policy.
The following is EIA analysis of the impact of LNQ exports impact on consumers prices:
EIA Analysis (Study - Part 1)
So as you can see, the affect(s) can be over-looked merely based on Trade Agreements andwith little consideration oftaxpayers, pricing or their environmental concerns.
While people debate whether rail or pipeline is safer, IMO both are too unsafe. Hopefully in the future we can work out solutions to any of the current problems that exist with some of the alternative energy sources. ( IMO solar has real potential-- and there's no hazardous fuel to transport, you just need electrical high power lines).
But, McConnell needs to learn the proper definition of "shovel ready" project. This project is going to cut through hundreds of cultural sites - and the tribes haven't been consulted with either.
Transporting fuel is a risky proposition . I have read about a system that you install at your home which produces fuelwhen you supply it with some organic materials ... sugar maybe ? Let me know if anyone wants a link .
Another way to deal with it is to install a home wind turbine . If you also install storage batteries you may be able to supply your heating needs 24/7 .
I suppose using ethanol would be fairly safe to transport . And the environment just loves gittin' drunk !
Then there is coal . It is safe to transport . Some don't like the environmental effects ...
Post the link Pete lets have a look.
Judging from the articles about Canada that you've been posting lately, Larry, I get the feeling you have a bone to pick with that country.
Absolutely not Buzz,
My son, daughter, grandson and granddaughter are all Canadian living and working in Toronto. The other article I have posted had to do with the abuse of indigenous native children at the hands of a Catholic School. The TransCanada Pipeline has had 1,047 critical incidents along the current stretch of their pipeline in just 12 years from 2000-2012. Read the entire article I was very specific why I am against the Keystone XL pipeline and those behind the big push to hurry legislation through.
The article I read was from several years back . I was unable to relocate it . I do recall that it was quite expensive to purchase ... about $10 K maybe .
To bad I would have liked to read it. Thanks for looking anyway.
The U.S. takes all of the environmental risks? Let's have a little talk about ACID RAIN.
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869V/CHEM869VLinks/ www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/acidfact.html " target="_blank"> www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/acidfact.html
The prevailing South-Westerly winds carrying your industrial pollutants over Canada and raining acid down on what was our pristine lakes is something Canadians can beef about. I was lucky because when I had a cottage on a lake in the Haliburton area the base was limestone so it counteracted the acidity of the water and it was safe to eat fish from the lake and drink the water with minimal filtration. However, most of the lakes in Muskoka and Haliburton are granite-based and there is no counteraction with the acidification so the lakes are being deadened. Thank you, America, for YOUR little gift.
Somebody has to be making a profit in the USA or else there wouldn't even be a question of allowing it.
Besides, I didn't bitch, I thanked you for your wonderful acid rain.
Why is Keystone so important to supporters and opponents?
Growing Canadian production and a stagnant U.S. market puts pressure on Canadian oil companies and pipeline producers to find other routes to market or, simply, other markets, with or without Keystone XL.
TransCanada itself is hard at work on a second, all-Canadian route to move oil to the east coast,
Dubbed Energy East , it involves converting part of TransCanadas under-used main natural gas pipeline to carry oil eastward.
The $12 billion project would also require new sections of line to be built in Alberta, Ontario.
There is another way even though the U.S. isn't being told about it.
I think I just read that Obama has okayed the XL Pipeline, and they are already clearing the route in Texas.
I read that too. It's was called the 'southern leg' of the K-XL pipeline and that oil was flowing.
I think that notwithstanding its name, TransCanada Pipelines is mostly American owned. There are refineries on the East coast, which is why there is consideration of building a pipeline East rather than West. However that would make China less available distance-wise. But even going East it faces lots of opposition by the public, especially the Indians whose lands will be crossed.
Kicking up the pressure: Keystone XL pipeline foes ready challenges
The project now goes to a 30-day comment period and a review by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other agencies. Obama has 90 days to make the decision on the pipeline, but the White House on Friday disputed the notion that the report is headed to a fast approval. Oil began flowing last week through an Oklahoma-to-Texas section already approved by Obama.
National activists say they have recruited more than 75,000 volunteers willing to participate in civil disobedience, should President Obama approve the Keystone project.
Bruce Boettcher, a Bassett, Neb., rancher who is fighting the project said, Were not trying to hold up progress, were trying to stand up for what our forefathers fought for. When weve lived here for so many generations, and someone comes in and says were going to stick this pipeline in whether you like it or not thats a violation of our rights.
Also this from 9news in Denver:
Keystone XL opponents brace for protests in Neb.
As they waited for an opportunity to speak at the Heartland Events Center on the state fairgrounds, many activists outlined plans for civil disobedience and state-court lawsuits designed to keep the project from moving forward. Project foes have promised to block construction workers and lie down in front of equipment - whatever it takes to stop the $7.6 billion pipeline from connecting Canada's tar sands region to Texas refineries.