Posted on Dec 15, 2022
Not just any oil spill. The Keystone pipeline dumped notoriously hard-to-clean 'dilbit' in Kansas...
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The spill in Kansas is now the second-largest spill of tar sands crude on U.S. soil. And scientists say this stuff comes with major complications for containing and cleaning it.
Each day that passes, the hundreds of thousands of gallons of sludgy oil coating Mill Creek in north-central Kansas become harder to clean up.
That’s because the pipeline that busted just outside the town of Washington on Dec. 7 doesn’t carry conventional crude oil. It carries a product of the Canadian tar sands called diluted bitumen that changes dramatically in chemical composition and behavior soon after escaping from pipes.
A National Academies of Sciences study found that transformation means the crude oil can start sinking below the water’s surface in a matter of days.
The Kansas spill occurred eight days ago and is now the second-largest spill of tar sands crude on U.S. soil.
Each day that passes, the hundreds of thousands of gallons of sludgy oil coating Mill Creek in north-central Kansas become harder to clean up.
That’s because the pipeline that busted just outside the town of Washington on Dec. 7 doesn’t carry conventional crude oil. It carries a product of the Canadian tar sands called diluted bitumen that changes dramatically in chemical composition and behavior soon after escaping from pipes.
A National Academies of Sciences study found that transformation means the crude oil can start sinking below the water’s surface in a matter of days.
The Kansas spill occurred eight days ago and is now the second-largest spill of tar sands crude on U.S. soil.
Not just any oil spill. The Keystone pipeline dumped notoriously hard-to-clean 'dilbit' in Kansas...
Posted from kcur.org
Oil
Oil and Energy
Canada
Science
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The scientists expressed concern that federal policies that govern spill planning and response fell short of properly considering the special conundrums posed by diluted bitumen.
“Broadly, regulations and agency practices do not take the unique properties of diluted bitumen into account, nor do they encourage effective planning for spills of diluted bitumen,” the report said.
Most methods for trying to detect sunken bitumen don’t seem to work well, the report said.
The cause of the pipeline break in Kansas remains unknown, and a third-party analysis of the matter could take up to three months, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation administration that regulates oil pipelines.
The Michigan spill involved upward of 840,000 gallons (20,000 barrels) of oil. That contaminated more than 30 miles of the Kalamazoo River, plus nearby woodlands and wetlands. The sheer scale of the disaster was exacerbated by heavy rains.
It took four years and more than $1.2 billion to retrieve as much of the oil as was deemed feasible. Some amount was left because getting at the sludge is itself so damaging to the affected ecosystems.
Thousands of animals coated in oil were caught, treated and released.
In Kansas, TC Energy has said one beaver has been caught and is being treated.
The EPA added Thursday morning that four dead mammals and 71 dead fish have been found. It says biologists from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks are assessing injured and dead animals.
TC Energy has put its initial estimate of the Kansas spill at about 588,000 gallons.
The region saw some rain this week, but TC Energy says it built a second earthen underflow dam in recent days to brace the initial containment dam for the anticipated rain, and that containment remains successful."
..."The scientists expressed concern that federal policies that govern spill planning and response fell short of properly considering the special conundrums posed by diluted bitumen.
“Broadly, regulations and agency practices do not take the unique properties of diluted bitumen into account, nor do they encourage effective planning for spills of diluted bitumen,” the report said.
Most methods for trying to detect sunken bitumen don’t seem to work well, the report said.
The cause of the pipeline break in Kansas remains unknown, and a third-party analysis of the matter could take up to three months, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation administration that regulates oil pipelines.
The Michigan spill involved upward of 840,000 gallons (20,000 barrels) of oil. That contaminated more than 30 miles of the Kalamazoo River, plus nearby woodlands and wetlands. The sheer scale of the disaster was exacerbated by heavy rains.
It took four years and more than $1.2 billion to retrieve as much of the oil as was deemed feasible. Some amount was left because getting at the sludge is itself so damaging to the affected ecosystems.
Thousands of animals coated in oil were caught, treated and released.
In Kansas, TC Energy has said one beaver has been caught and is being treated.
The EPA added Thursday morning that four dead mammals and 71 dead fish have been found. It says biologists from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks are assessing injured and dead animals.
TC Energy has put its initial estimate of the Kansas spill at about 588,000 gallons.
The region saw some rain this week, but TC Energy says it built a second earthen underflow dam in recent days to brace the initial containment dam for the anticipated rain, and that containment remains successful."
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