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It’s been almost a year now since the Trump Administration gave the go ahead on a permit allowing for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. On June 1st, crude oil began flowing through the pipeline. And since then, Dakota Access has mostly stayed out of the headlines.
Meanwhile, over the course of 2017, the pipeline leaked at least five times, according to a recent report from The Intercept. These spills were relatively small by some standards, ranging from a 20 gallon leak in North Dakota to 168 gallons in Illinois. In a statement to The Intercept, Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s developer, said that pipelines are still the "safest and most environmentally friendly way to transport the oil and gas products we use every day."
Alleen Brown, a reporter for The Intercept, joins The Takeaway to give a closer look at the impact of these spills.
Below is a statement from Energy Transfer Partners:
As with all of our pipeline projects, safety is the company’s first priority — the safety of our employees who build and operate them, the safety of those who live in the communities through which our pipelines pass, and the safety of the environment which surrounds them. Our projects are carefully planned and thoroughly vetted over many years in some cases to ensure the safe construction of our routes with the smallest environmental footprint.
Pipelines are heavily regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation for both safety and reliability, and have proven to be the safest, most efficient means of transporting energy resources.
The combined Energy Transfer family currently owns and operates approximately 71,000 miles of pipeline in 38 states. This includes approximately 60,000 miles of natural gas pipelines (includes gathering and processing, and transportation), approximately 4,000 miles of natural gas liquids pipeline, approximately 6,000 miles of crude pipelines and approximately 1,800 miles of refined products lines.
I do have a stat on 2015 – The Energy Transfer family of companies moved 46,216,106 bbl of onshore crude, onshore HVL, and onshore refined and/or petroleum products (non-HVL) in 2015, of which 99.96 percent was delivered to its end destination.
As background:
Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.78 billion investment that created approximately 10,000 jobs during construction, as well as permanent operations jobs in each state. The pipeline generated millions in state and local revenues during the construction phase and an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes. These tax dollars can be used to support schools, hospitals, emergency services and other critical ongoing needs. The project also recently donated $15 million to the state of North Dakota to help offset the costs the state incurred for the response to protests, $1 million to first responder departments in all 50 counties it traverses, and $455,000 to 4-H and FFA programs across the four states.
The value of the pipeline also extends to the agriculture industry because it can ease transportation shortages by freeing up rail cars to move grain, especially out of South Dakota, thereby decreasing the cost to transport bushels of corn. The pipeline has helped to raise the price of Bakken crude, making it more competitive with other shale plays.