Tar Sands Secrets Exposed

by David Lincoln and Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Over a year ago, our organization, Green Fields Renewal (http://greenfieldsrenewal.com/)

set out to expose the oil industry abuses by the Koch Brothers, Exxon and others resulting

in Tar Sands spills (past, present and future) and major health impacts. We were

determined to help people subjected to spills visualize their probable toxic exposures and

inform the public about their future health risks of exposure. Here is how we approached

the problem.

STRATEGY:

1. Distributed entertaining and sarcastic original content based on startling new facts and satirical analogies which were spread throughout the mainstream media.

2. Created an original blog series of user friendly, evidenced-based content from deeply-buried, overlooked or misunderstood, publicly accessible sources.

3. Created and modified technical diagrams and figures to display highlights of easily understood graphics and visuals.

4. Created new environmental models and maps showing specific impacts of tar sands on communities from verifiable software.

5. Extracted relevant numbers and data from lengthy technical reports and tables with confirmed unit conversions and used them to support irrefutable arguments.

6. Provided precise references and quotes from linked government and industry documents used in articles.

Accomplishments

First to publish toxic air pollution models for Tar Sands spills in Mayflower, AR, Kalamazoo River

MI, Potential KXL break in Cushing, OK and possible South Pegasus Pipeline spill in Beaumont.

TX.

First to publish historical satellite imagery to map actual position of KXL pipeline and growth of

neighborhoods in relation to pipeline expansion.

Acquired first post-spill satellite image at Mayflower showing impacts 4 months after Tar Sands

spill.

Published Personal Emergency Guide for Toxic Events - a community emergency response

handbook of steps to take in the event of a chemical spill, leak, flood, explosion, earthquake or

other neighborhood disasters.

Accumulated over 10,000 pages of oil industry technical reports on Tar Sands in Canada and the

US.

Blog Highlights - The Friday Night Specials (http://kochtruths.blogspot.com/ )

No 1. Revealed that Mayflower Tar Sands originate as the worst Tar Sands for your health of all the

major Tar Sands deposits in the world forming the dirtiest oil on earth.

#2 Discovered that Mayflower Tar Sands must add the highest levels of poisonous Benzene and Toluene

in order to remain liquid for transport and delivery.

#3 Disclosed how the recycling of Condensate used for diluent goes from Texas to Canada and back

again and drives the marginal economic model for the entire North American Tar Sands industry.

#4 Showed how every Tar Sands spill is in two phases; first a toxic gas phase which makes people

immediately ill and then a poisonous liquid stage which can lead to chronic illnesses (including cancer).

#5 Interpreted the analysis of the Tar Sands Oil sampled at Mayflower compared to Tar Sands sampled

in the pipeline and at the Canadian source.

#6 Explained why the initial toxic exposures in the first hour after a Tar Sands spill cause acute

symptoms but the levels of gasses measured by agencies 3 hours later are minor.

#7 First to Model the real time exposure to toxic gases from two critical places in Mayflower and

showed the Threat Zones and safe distances for residents.

*8 First to show models of Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill with levels of toxic Benzene exposure in the

first hour and changes during the next 5 days.

#9 First to model a Kalamazoo-sized Tar Sands spill at a critical junction of the KXL pipeline in Cushing,

OK – a disaster in the making.

#10 First to model a Mayflower-sized Tar Sands spill in a neighborhood on the South Pegasus pipeline

one week before the pipeline reopened.

The Friday Night Specials

No. 1 - Just Like Molasses No. 2 – The Witches of Enbridge No. 3 & No. 4 - The Koch Game and Meet the Tar Sands Crudes

No. 5 - The Koch's Secret Sauce No. 6 - One Hour - Changing lives in Mayflower, Arkansas No. 7 – How Close is Too Close? No. 8 - Why the Kochs Don't Warn the Sheeple!

No. 9 - Playing Chicken in Tornado Alley - Cushing, Oklahoma

No. 10 - (Urgent) Charles and David are panting for Pegasus, reopening Tuesday, July 1st.

Friday, April 25, 2014

New Feature - Digging Up Koch Secrets

It is Friday Night, and from now on this is the time another tiny chink falls from the wall the

Koch’s have built between themselves and reality. Confession is good for the soul - if you have

one.

There are many things the Koch’s do not want you to know about them. Some of these touch on

their business practices, some on their unique and ongoing attempts to rent to buy America's

political system. And then there's their personal lives....

The Koch’s Share Their Little Secrets on Tar Sands

No. 1 - Just Like Molasses

(In the Continuing Series}

Remember when we told you Tar Sands have the viscosity of molasses?

We Lied.

This protester found out the Hard Way (Excuse the pun)

So, how do we shove it through those Pipes?

No. 2 – The Witches of Enbridge

And now, a few sobering facts

According to PHMSA, the oil must be heated to move it to the surface, making it more toxic.

Then, it must be combined with even more toxic solvents to keep it from turning solid in the

pipeline. The principal solvents used are Benzene and Toluene.

Benzene is a known carcinogen.

Toluene is a potent neurotoxin.

With up to 5% volatile solvents together with deadly hydrogen sulfide and increased heavy

metals, these poison pipelines are one of the most dangerous hydrocarbon transport

mechanisms known in America.

Wabasca Tar Sands are a thousand times more resistant to flow than molasses when the

Bitumen is in the reservoir (5 million cp).

In the Wabasca Field area, the bitumen is a solid asphaltic substance (see bitumen photo below)

composed of organic matter and Asphaltenes which by definition are soluble in both toxic

benzene and toluene.i

iUniversity of Alberta 2014, What are Asphaltenes in Petroleum, Oil Sands and Heavy Oil?

Refined Bitumen

Source: PHMSA 2012i

iPHMSA July 23, 2012 Transportation Research Board Study of Pipeline Transportation of

Diluted Bitumen

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) national Academy of Science

Briefing

Daugherty, Linda, Alan Mayberry, Jeff Gilliam

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/dilbit/Daughertyetal072312.pdf

Friday, May 2, 2014

Friday Night Special No. 3 & 4 - The Koch Game and Meet the Tar Sands

Crudes

No. 3 - What the Brothers Koch, and their Oily Friends don't want you to see –

12,000 documents.

The 12,000 were subpoenaed and copies were delivered to the U.S. Attorney General's Office,

and the State of Arkansas Attorney General's Office about a month after the spill. No one has

mentioned them since.

What was received? No one knows. Could it have been 1916 phone books? David Koch's Little

Black Book? Rex Tillerson's dirty laundry? No one knows what was handed over because the

Attorney Generals have not even published the titles of the documents. Why is that?

Not having the titles of the documents makes it really tough to request them.

But we have 10,000 documents which were processed through a procedure which we call – The

Koch Game.

These are documents found in places entirely unrelated to the apparent subject matter. We

found them in individual company reports to investors and shareholders, in data about sales

and assets, in legal proceedings from other spills.

They appear to have been 'misfiled,' if you know what we mean. As we have gone through these

we are turning the juiciest into cartoons. End of Koch Shell Game.

No. 4 - Meet the Tar Sands Crudes

The Tar Sands Crudes are the raw material which are processed to make the products used in

your car as gasoline and in so very many other ways. Because we are running out of relatively

clean crude oil supplies today Big Oil has turned to Tar Sands Crudes as raw material.

But while oil companies have always externalized their costs, forcing ordinary people to pay for

their spills and toxic accidents, the Crudes exact costs which make the earlier raw material look

like a rose-scented bubble-bath.

These are Tar Sands Crudes, the raunchiest, dirtiest substances imaginable.

Just to get Tar Sands Crude to move through the pipes means diluting it because it has the

consistency of something between tar and molasses. The diluent is not healthy for living things

and some of them cause cancer or are neurotoxins.

These things are ugly, nasty things which smell to high heaven and certainly deserve the name,

'crude.'

To make this more understandable we have given these Tar Sands Crudes names to inject a little

personality and provide personas which give you a sense of what they are about.

Introducing - The Tar Sands Crudes and their sponsor, Charles Koch.

WABASCA HEAVY DILBIT SYNTHETIC & CAL KOCH

All Tar Sands Crudes are not created equal. Some are far more toxic and dangerous than

others. Meet the baddest Tar Sands Crude of them all - WABASCA HEAVY. And as you read his

profile you will see just how heavy he is.

Friday, May 16, 2014

FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL No. 5 The Koch's Secret Sauce

The Koch's Secret Sauce – The Profit is in the Poisons

(Sort of like those special spices in your Indian food!)

Of course, it is not likely Charles himself was hunkered down in the secret laboratory under his

mansion in Wichita, Kansas. But he certainly knew the formula.

Koch Truths and Green Fields Renewal will now reveal the actual content of the ugly substance

which bubbled out of the broken pipe in Mayflower a little over a year ago. Notice, this

information has been carefully sequestered by ExxonMobil.

Believe us, they have their reasons for this.

This sample of Wabasca Heavy was taken at the Suspected Source, (the pump station about 20

miles upstream from the Pegasus pipeline rupture). From there, it was sent by the USCG for

analysis in Canada in June 2013, a few months after the Mayflower disaster. This is typical of

what was in the pipe just before it ruptured.

Gas Chromatogram of Mayflower Suspected Source - These are the fingerprints, what

ExxonMobil has worked so hard to hide from the public and their victims.

Source: EPA/ ESTS

Above we see a hybrid Dilbit mixture, with virtually identical distribution of heavy hydrocarbon

molecules (on the right) as we saw in the Wabasca Heavy sample in Part 1.

But this Secret Sauce has special additions. These new additions include the toxic BTEXs like

benzene, a potent carcinogen, and toluene, a neurotoxin.

And the concentration levels were very, very high in the Secret Sauce.

Would having known about this made a difference in treating the victims? Absolutely.

But then the evidence would also have been presented in court, an eventuality to be avoided at

all costs, especially if those costs can be externalized to small children and other victims.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

No. 6 - One Hour - Changing lives in Mayflower, Arkansas

We've been studying the Exxon Spill of Mayflower for months now and have compiled 10,000

documents which tell the story below. Here are the facts:

The critical period for maximum exposure during the Exxon Spill, March 31, 2013 in Mayflower,

Arkansas was short.

However, maximum exposure is not necessary for the effects to be life altering, causing

permanent damage to people, especially children, which will not be visible for years.

Exxon refused to turn over information, stalling during the time the impact of those impacted

should have begun treatment. This is their standard strategy, learned from the Koch Brothers to

maximize their profits by minimizing their costs.

We have the composition of what came out of the broken pipe, and we have used it, beginning

with the material below.

One Hour

Benzene, highly cancer causing, Toluene, toxic to the nervous system, especially in children, and

Hydrogen Sulfide, very poisonous, corrosive, flammable, and explosive, surged out of the broken

pipe with explosive speed, filling the air and rapidly moving out into the entire community.

The damage was being done to everyone before any warning took place. People reported they

were not told to leave the area.

MAXIMUM EXPOSURE IN FIRST HOUR

Significantly, there were NO monitors during this time.

PPM – Parts Per Million – This does not sound like a lot, but – it is, like a

poison, it does not take much to disable and kill.

Total Spill = 210,000 gals of dilbit, a highly toxic substance itself, only able to

move through the pipe because Benzene and Toluene were added.

BENZENE

1% of Condensate

4000 ppm to 25 yds.

800 ppm to 75 yds.

50 ppm to 300 yds. = approx. odor threshold

“If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe.”i

TOLUENE Acute Symptoms ii

2% of Condensate

4500 ppm to 30 yds.

Narcosis, impairment of reaction time and coordination

1200 ppm to 75 yds.

Weakness, Anorexia, staggering gate, nausea, nervousness, momentary loss of memory,

significant reduction in reaction time

200 ppm to 200 yds.

Mild throat and eye irritation, prolonged eye-to-hand reaction time, some impaired

cognitive function, mild headache, dizziness, sensation of intoxication, fatigue, general

confusion and moderate insomnia

Hydrogen Sulfide ACUTE

EXPOSURES

4% of Dilbit

50 ppm to 500 yds.

Maximum level of 50 ppm allowed for 10 minutes maximum duration if no

other measurable exposure occurs.

Mild conjunctivitis, respiratory tract irritation in 30-60 minutes

25 ppm to 750 yds.

Strong, unpleasant odor, but not intolerable.

OSHA has established an acceptable ceiling concentration of 20 ppm for

hydrogen sulfide in the workplace.

8- 10 pm to 2 miles

Easily detected, moderate odor

Beginning eye irritation.

Permissible Exposure Level, 8 hours

NIOSH has set a maximum Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) ceiling

value of 10 ppm for 10 minutes maximum duration.

Since these chemicals are heavier than air they also fill depressions and holes in the ground,

waiting like stalking predators for victims.

Everyone in Mayflower could smell the Exxon Spill

Everyone was at risk

But Rex Tillerson, the Koch’s and President Obama

do not think

Exxon Mobile

should be responsible for the damage still being done to

the folks of Mayflower.

Where were those who should have taken immediate

action?

Was any action taken to ensure the well-being of the

people of Mayflower?

The Answer is - NO

Charles Koch was in Wichita, Kansas

- 429 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas

See a larger picture of Charles' home.

Charles has built out a huge operation which uses deceit, lies, and stalling to optimize his profits

instead of doing business responsibly.

David Koch was in New York City, or may be his posh place in

Southampton, NY

- 1,248 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas

See a larger picture of David's home in Southampton.

David never opposed his brother as Koch Industries built out a huge operation using deceit, lies,

and stalling to optimize his profits instead of doing business responsibly. But today he

complains about the negative press.

Rex Tillerson was in Bartonville, Texas

- 363 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas

See a larger picture of Rex's Home.

Rex is responsible for the corporation he heads. He failed to ensure safety and followed the

Koch Method for evading the consequences of causing harm to others.

Barack Obama was in Washington DC

- 1,028 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas.

See a larger picture of the house where Obama resides.

And Obama enjoys his time in office, looking forward to a lucrative retirement, paid for by Koch

and his friends.

We have more coming.

i

Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services 2013 Benzene http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/benzene.htm

ii

International Programme on Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria 52: Toluene, 1986.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

No 7 – Friday Night Special – How Close is Too Close?

“If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe.”i

Last week we shared with you the facts about what chemicals gushed into the pristine air of

Mayflower, Arkansas on March 29, 2013. This was one of the things you were not supposed to

find out.

Remember what we told you about Benzene, which is highly carcinogenic, Toluene, a

neurotoxin, and Hydrogen Sulfide, which is a potent poison, being the chemicals of choice used

to force the Tar Sands through those pipes?

Now you know exposure to these for any length of time causes the victim to become sensitized to

any and all future exposure. Smelling it AT ALL is too close.

And knowing full well what kind of chemicals were in those pipes Rex Tillerson and men like the

Koch’s withhold this information because What We Don't Know Can't Hurt Them! It only hurts

us.

Here is the Time Line for those first hours after the spill began.

And here are the kind of maps which the ALOHA system could have delivered to residents and

HazMat units within minutes of the time the spill began.

Original Spill

HYDROGEN SULFIDE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH

H2S ALOHA MODEL MARPLOT

TOLUENE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH

TOLUENE THREAT ZONES MARPLOT

BENZENE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH

BENZENE THREATS MARPLOT

H2S Threat Zones 2 East Ditch

H2S Closeup East Ditch2

Toluene 2 East Ditch

Benzene 2 East Ditch

BENZENE 2 EAST DITCH

ALOHA MAYFLOWER CALCs

Est. size of spill at 5,000 barrels = 210,000 gallons of Dilbit

Measured 4.1 % H2S

Measured 1.84 % of Dilbit is BTEX (April 14, 2013)

Est. 35% of Dilbit is Condensate

Measure 4.85% of 35% Condensate is BTEX ( Nov. 1, 2013)

1% of Cond is Benzene

Est. 35% of Dilbit is Condensate

Measure 4.85% of 35% Condensate is BTEX (Nov1. 1, 2013)

2% of Cond is Toluene

1% of Cond is Benzene

And now we have the answer to the question of why folks like the Koch’s and Tex Tillerson don't

want us to know what those pipes contain.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-2qrgSwD9I/U5DowXDmsJI/AAAAAAAAK2E/gXKfbKCI_ys/s1600/What+They+Don't+Know.jpg

i

Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services 2013 Benzene http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/benzene.htm

Monday, June 16, 2014

No. 8 - Friday Night Special - Why the Koch’s Don't Warn the Sheeple!

The First Hour

When the 'Koch Method' is used:

( Don't Warn the Sheeple!!!)

Two Toxic Events - Why Lying Pays for Big Oil

In the first hour after a Toxic Event begins a torrent of toxins and poisons rush out of the broken pipe, dispersing into the local area. This conforms to a pattern which can be calculated.

Benzene, Toluene and Hydrogen Sulfide share these attributes, as we demonstrated in No. 7 – Friday Night Special, last week. These highly volatile and toxic chemicals impact

both air and water and all living things they contact. This happens immediately both through breathing in Benzene and through contact with water, which has also been exposed.

In No. 8 we are focusing on how fast and widely Benzene is dispersed to show you what needs to happen to change the behavior of Big Oil.

Continuing to breathe Benzene, for which we present profiles for two incidents, using the higher amounts from the Kalamazoo Toxic Event to what took place in Mayflower, Arkansas you can see why knowing what left those pipes, and how much, matters. The information must be available not years later, but within minutes.

In a very short space of time breathing Benzene or the other toxic chemicals used by Big Oil can have permanent impact on people, leaving them with a heightened vulnerability to later exposure.

But since this is carefully not documented by the companies responsible this provides a useful exit from accountability for them. We are going to show you how to close the exit.

Clear and reliable models for what will take place have been available for a long time. Enforcing the use of these in real time is part of the solution.

We produced the models below using open source software freely available through The Office of Response and Restoration.

Again, why is this this not being used and the information made immediately available to people at risk along the multitude of pipelines now in place across America?

Because folks like the Koch’s know this would nail them big time. Accountability would cut into their profits. So, let's not hear any more talk about how well free markets work when those doing business can externalize their costs, forcing the consequences of their irresponsibility on others using asinine justifications of the 'public good.'

This Libertarian says, “Hold the Koch’s responsible instead of allowing them to evade disclosure by using honorable rhetoric as cover for criminally irresponsible behavior."

We produced the simulation below, using the amount of the spill and what would have taken place if it had occurred in Mayflower, Arkansas to demonstrate what is possible. After you see this we'll tell you what needs to be done to stop the Big Oil in its tracks and make them accountable.

The two existing programs, ADIOS, (Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills), which provides models for how types of oil weather. This means how they undergo physical and chemical changes, in the marine environment. ALOHA, which you heard about in No. 7, exist. Used together we calculated the distance and size of the threat zones for Benzene in the Kalamazoo Spill-size scenario.

This chart shows that the level of Benzene in the air after the Kalamazoo River spill begins at about 6 ppm, (parts per million). As you can see, most of the impact is felt in the first hour. We used ADIOS2 for calculating air dispersion and weathering of the type of Tar Sands spilled, Cold Lake Blend, during that critical period. Working from a database of more than a thousand different crude oils and refined products, ADIOS quickly estimates the expected characteristics and behavior of spilled oil. It was designed for just this use.

Using the ADIOS model together with the previously described ALOHA model the extent and size of the threat zones for Benzene in the Kalamazoo Spill-sized scenario are clear.

These programs make models available fast enough to be used in real time, providing alerts to the areas which are being impacted.

As the graph below shows, the Benzene threat zone extends for more than 1.5 miles where the initial Benzene concentration in the air could be greater than 50 parts per million in the first hour.

Below is our simulation using the profile for the Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill in 2010 and the Toxic Event in Mayflower, Arkansas of 2013.

Amount of Benzene Released Kalamazoo River, Michigan

July 26, 2010

PPM - Parts Per Million

Mayflower, AR March 29, 2013

Distance Benzene Spread

Mayflower, AR March 29, 2013

Kalamazoo River July 26, 2010

No. 9 - Which will be available in a few days, will show you what can happen when one of these Toxic Events takes place in a major population center along the KXL pipeline. The Elephant in the Room question which must be confronted is this.

What action do we, the people, take now?

Spills within these ranges are growing in frequency. Big Oil has made it clear they take a psychopathic approach to the trauma and

damage done to individuals. They just do not care, not one bit. Their failure to factor these potential liabilities for doing business for any

company, producing anything, become Standard Operating Procedure.

When it is clear you can only expect irresponsible behavior, you accept this as a fact and legislate accordingly. The problem must be solved. There must be accountability.

Minimize the Impact of Toxic Events

Healing the Hazards A Narrative

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

No. 9 - Friday Night Special - Playing Chicken in Tornado Alley - Cushing,

Oklahoma

Taxpayers have been subsidizing exercises for a possible terrorist attack in 2004 with exercises

carried out by the FBI. Why isn't this on the books of such corporations as Koch Industries as a

business expense?

You can ask, but they will never answer.

Speak No Koch See No Koch Hear No Koch

Possible explosions resulting from the very unlikely possibility of a terrorist attack were

calculated by the FBI. This included unexploded bombs, simulated hostage takings analyzed,

handling injuries and looking around the tanks for suspicious persons.

Dozens of companies store about 50 million barrels of U.S. and Canadian oil in Cushing, a town

of about 8,000 people.

"Then somebody said, 'Hey, we're in Tornado Alley." A significant pause followed.

The biggest disasters are natural and you would think people as wealthy as the Koch’s would

know this. But then again, they probably do. Wichita, Kansas and Manhattan are a long piece

from Cushing, Oklahoma, Ground Zero for Big Oil. And we really mean, 'Ground Zero.'

The people who live and work there, mostly for the oil companies, have gotten the message.

Houses are on the market as people put distance between themselves and the potential for

becoming so much meat on the grill.

So, what would happen to a community if a Kalamazoo-sized spill (1 million gallons) occurred at

a critical junction of the KXL pipeline which has the capacity to transport 25 million gallons of

oil per day?

Glad you asked. That is a question we are prepared to answer.

Cushing Oklahoma is known as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World” with the largest known

tank farm anywhere. First, because the KXL pipeline already runs through it as shown by the

purple line in the Google Earth image above. Second, because over 25 major pipelines intersect

at this point and are shipping in or out oils and other fuels with a constant threat of fire of

explosion. More than 70 percent of the petroleum that’s shipped in the United States flows

through the pipes that intersect here. This is best seen in the Bloomberg Illustration below

which shows the pipelines and volumes at the Cushing oil hub.

Oil Pipeline Flows In and Out of Cushing, Oklahoma

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-27/in-the-pipeline

We have modeled the cloud of toxic Benzene which would immediately spread from a potential

pipeline break in the first hour after a large spill from the KXL Pipeline in Cushing, Oklahoma

(See the Aloha Model and colored Benzene threat zones in the Google Earth image below.

Possible Benzene Plume for a large

Tar Sands spill in Cushing Oklahoma

(Got the High School!)

This plume would likely spread for nearly 2 miles blown by the wind and would likely engulf the

local High School and half the city. The yellow confidence or uncertainty lines enclose the region

within which, about 95 percent of the time, the gas cloud is expected to remain.

We have modeled parameters similar to conditions at the Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill in

Michigan in 2010. We have also assumed a Cold Lake Blend of Tar Sands since this will be

transported by the KXL pipeline and it was the major component of the Kalamazoo spill.

Chemical Name: BENZENE

Wind: 5 miles/hour from S at 3 meters

THREAT ZONE:

Red : 699 yards --- (4000 ppm = AEGL-3 [60 min])

Orange: 1252 yards --- (800 ppm = AEGL-2 [60 min])

Yellow: 1.8 miles --- (52 ppm = AEGL-1 [60 min])

Model: ALOHA Heavy Gas

Simultaneously, a poisonous plume of Hydrogen Sulfide would spread along the ground

blanketing the town of around 8000 people across more than 6 miles (the limits of the Aloha

model shown below).

H2S Possible Spill Scenario for a large

Tar Sands spill in Cushing Oklahoma

Later, there would be a repeat of the Kalamazoo River spill with the tar sands oil finding a route

to the nearest stream or creek and contaminating the water over 10 miles downstream. The

likely creek spill extent is shown in blue above.

Photo of a Tank Farm Terminal at Cushing, OK

Just imagine living here.

Presumably the first responders are extremely well trained for an oil or tar sands spill, since the

gigantic tank farm consists of more than 300 oil shipping and storage tanks with a capacity to

store about 70 million barrels of hydrocarbons. Some terminals have published their action

plans, so it is surprising that their emergency planning and response models have apparently

not been made public.

Google Earth Image of Cushing Tank Farm

In May 2013, just two weeks before a devastating tornado hit Moore Oklahoma, Cushing

Emergency personnel conducted a drill based on an F-5 Tornado disaster scenario. The drill

revealed that once communications are knocked out, the terminals are basically on their own for

24 to 36 hours until the National Guard can be fully mobilized. According to Cushing Fire Chief

Chris Pixler, “At the initial tornado strike, we’re already out of resources,”

http://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2013/06/03/what-would-happen-if-an-f5-tornado-hit-

oklahomas-cushing-oil-hub/

And here is a map which shows which Petroleum Companies use Cushing. All of our favorites, including Charles and David!

This is not a good situation to be in under the best of circumstances. For such a strategic and

vital industrial complex which handles roughly 10% of the U.S. Crude Oil Inventory, it is

unacceptable. If we can have forward military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, is it too much to

ask to have National Guard troops as ready and prepared to protect our strategic assets and

adjacent neighborhoods as we were to defend Iraqi oil fields and the gold in Fort Knox. Do we

even know if there is enough respiratory equipment available for those who might not be able to

immediately evacuate a large area?

Of course, Cushing itself won't need to worry about breathing for very long.

The only possible solution is to plan for the worst case scenarios with realistic emergency

response models now and begin mobilizing those resources in advance.

Worst case scenarios must include the usual terrorist soft target and fire scenarios, as well as

tornado and earthquake threats, but now must also involve total pipeline and tank failures and

explosions. As we have learned since 2010, pipeline failures involving Tar Sands can be difficult

to detect in time and can be devastating to surrounding communities since the condensate and

diluent spread first. Too often evacuations come too late or are not extensive enough.

Only by involving local community leaders in disaster planning and informing the residents

about the real risks and emergency steps to be taken can we hope to minimize health and safety

impacts.

Steps must be taken. Step over here to read about that.

Bret Schulte in Cushing, Oklahoma For National Geographic News

Published March 8, 2013

A worker monitors a switch directing oil flow at one of Cushing, Oklahoma's terminals. The self-

proclaimed "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" has become a front in the conflict over the Keystone XL

pipeline. [What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]

Saturday, June 28, 2014

No. 10 -Friday Night Special - (Early and Urgent) Charles and David are panting for Pegasus, reopening Tuesday, July 1st.

Big Oil had worked hard and doubtless paid a lot of money to ensure the Pegasus Pipe Line is

reopened. Exxon plans to reopen the 210 mile southern leg between Corsicana and Nederland (near

Beaumont, Texas on July 1st, 2014. But the question we should be asking as Independence Day

approaches must be “Is it safe?”

There are many reasons why it is insane to accept the self-evaluation of Big Oil, and especially Charles and

David Koch, on whether or not the Pegasus Pipe Line can be safely operated.

First, there is the issue of honesty. Why would anyone believe the Koch’s or their close associates when

the Koch Method, the strategies which brought them all this success, includes ensuring their employees

lie, cheat and steal? Horrifying and incredible as this sounds there is plenty of evidence to back it up.

An article in Bloomberg, titled, Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales, written

by Asjylyn Loder and David Evans, appearing October 3, 2011, included several instances which illustrate

the enormous divide between what Charles, David, and other representatives of Koch say, versus how they

operate within Koch Industries.

The article provided a statement from Phil Dubose, a Koch employee. Dubose, who testified against the

company, saying he and his colleagues were shown by their managers “how to steal and cheat -- using

techniques they called the Koch Method. “

If they encourage these illegal acts it would be insane to trust anything said, either by them personally, or

by any representative of Koch Industries or their associates.

Second, what we know about the age and fitness of Pegasus.

The Pegasus is over 60 years old. Both the materials of which pipe lines and people are made are subject

to aging. You know, the joints start to give out along with the colon and bladder. Things just start falling

apart and leaking.

I'm going to give you a visual on this so you will see the point. Visuals are really good things because we

get the point so much faster.

Here is the Pegasus Pipe Line when it was first build. Shiny and new, its seams and joints would,

hopefully, withstand the pressure for which it was designed, just like the image below despite the

daunting example of the Keystone Pipe Line which has already experienced leaks.

The young Pegasus Pipe Line

But as time passes, the body ages. Those firm muscles, fast reactions, and stamina, especially stamina,

decline until the smallest incident can leave the former athlete flat on their face or dependent on a cane

for support, lest they break something important, or which they still hope is important.

The Pegasus Pipe Line Today

There is no point denying it, now is there?

The Pegasus Pipe Line is not only past the age to receive Social Security, it is way past its age of retirement

and it has been forced to carry twice the pressure for which it was designed. So it is hardly fair to expect

there not to be....well, incidents. The Pegasus might even need Depends to ensure a reasonable amount of

security.

Now, we will get into the kind of incident, very much like Mayflower, Arkansas, we can expect.

Let’s assume a spill about the size of the one which occurred in Mayflower, Arkansas on March 29th 2013

which hypothetically takes place under the upscale subdivision of Pinewood Estates about 10 miles NW of

Beaumont, Texas.

Pinewood Index Maps

Pegasus South Pipeline (in black) Index Map

Pegasus South leg is about 205 miles long and 20 inches in diameter built in 1954 (60 years old). Along

this route we chose Pinewood Estates because the subdivision was built on top of the pipeline and the pipe

crossing is exposed is exposed nearby at Little Pine Island Bayou.

Section of Pegasus South Line Exposed at Pinewood Estates

These are the type of areas where old pipelines are most likely to break!

Pinewood Regional Map

Ironically, Pinewood Estates is only about 5 miles east of the town of Sour Lake, the oldest surviving town

in Hardin County, famous as the birthplace of Texaco and also home to one of the biggest sinkholes in

Texas. Today, the Sour Lake oilfield is the oldest continuously-producing oil field in the world with

hundreds if not thousands of wells drilled since the early 1900’s.

Oil derricks at Sour Lake, circa 1910

It also happens to sit on a large salt dome which makes the whole region somewhat unstable and

susceptible to subsidence. This area is particularly risky after the withdrawal of nearly 100 million barrels

of oil and untold hundreds of millions of barrels of water saltwater produced for operations and

freshwater extracted for drinking.

Pinewood Estates Index Map

As shown above on the index map, Pinewood Estates was a designated census place in the 2010 census

with a population of nearly 1700 people. Virtually none of these homes were built when the Pegasus went

in over 60 years ago. Most were not even there in 2005 (see Google Earth image below).

June 2005 Feb 2013 – Most Recent Image Avail

Feb 2013 GoogleEarth Close-up of Pinewood Estates

But they are there now, built right over the Pegasus pipeline (shown in yellow above) because Exxon does

not want anyone to know where it is. Security, you know.

Pinewood Estates Regional Map Showing Site of Possible Break and Existing Leak

See that interesting little yellow outline with "Pinewood Estates," written over it? We're going to see next

what this portends for this very nice neighborhood where people chose to live entirely unaware of what

was flowing beneath their homes.

Drum roll and ominous overtones....

Pinewood Estates Mayflower-sized Spill

The following series of 3 maps show the extent of air pollution plumes in the first hour after a hypothetical

pipeline break after reopening the Pegasus South leg. In addition, the calculated threat zone distances and

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for each substance are shown from the Aloha Emergency

Planning models. The threat zones are shown for the toxic gasses hydrogen sulfide, benzene and toluene

which were modeled based on a Mayflower-sized spill of roughly 200,000 gallons of Wabasca Heavy Tar

Sands Oil. This seems like a reasonable estimate given that the 20” pipe is capable of transporting more

than 3.75 million barrels of Tar Sands per day.

Pinewood H2S Threat Zones

Hydrogen Sulfide Threat Zone

This is a very large threat zone and Hydrogen Sulfide is a poison. This is not the sort of thing your

children should be inhaling, even for a very short time.

This is why we are proposing legislation which takes into account the very limited trust which should be

granted to such corporations as Exxon and Koch Industries.

Benzene Threat Zones

Toluene Threat Zones

All Content Copyrighted by Green Fields Renewal, January 2014. Simple template. Powered by Blogger.

David Lincoln

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Green Fields Renewal

July 2014