SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
The Dakota Access pipeline already had its first leak – 84 gallons of oil – at a pump station in South Dakota in early April, sparking outrage and calling into question its environmental safety.
[...] The report of the spill can be found on the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources website. The agency apparently did not make any official announcement on the incident as it was relatively minor and had no environmental impact, according to Brian Walsh, a scientist with the department, as cited by the Guardian. The site "was cleaned up right away," the official added as quoted by ABC news.
The spill occurred less than 110 miles from Lake Oahe, which supplies Sioux tribes with water.
Source: Dakota Access pipeline suffers oil leak even before becoming operational
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Saturday May 13 2017, @02:11PM (1 child)
> Pipeline planners have no qualms about routing piping next to (or even through) fresh water bodies.
DAPL’s route crosses agricultural land, protected wildlife habitats, and three major rivers: the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Big Sioux.
-- https://grist.org/justice/theres-a-new-mega-pipeline-in-town-heres-why-it-has-so-many-protesters-in-the-trenches/ [grist.org]
Its opponents have called themselves "water protectors" to highlight their concern about contamination of water.
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/standing-rock-safe-dapl-still-needs-cross-river/ [wired.com]
This small leak onto what I'm guessing was a concrete apron with a lip is inconsequential. Leaks elsewhere along the pipeline could be uncontained and could go unnoticed until large amounts of oil escaped. If oil got into a waterway, it could spread out into a thin film on the surface, and could be transported with the water's flow. Those factors would add to the difficulty of cleaning it up. Events of those sorts are what the fuss was about, if I'm not mistaken--not events like this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 13 2017, @03:24PM
Don't worry friend, we will install a nice thick lead lining to contain the oil spills.