Plains All American
Plains All American
(OP)
Here we go again,
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Oil-Spill-...
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Oil-Spill-...
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RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
They apparently aren't off to a good start.
http://www.khou.com/story/news/investigations/2015...
And ... "One of the big surprises to emerge out of the most dramatic oil spill to hit the South Coast this century is that the Plains All American Pipeline is the only pipeline in all of Santa Barbara County not to have an automatic shut-off valve. Not coincidentally, it happens to be the only pipeline over which the County Energy Division has no safety and inspection oversight authority."
It gets worse...
http://www.independent.com/news/2015/may/21/whos-w...
RE: Plains All American
At time of typing this the reason for the leak had not been ascertained.
Just wonder what your thoughts are on weld acceptance criterias (I noted in the stories about the refusal of the owner to allow review of radiographs by regulatory bodies)
As an ex radiographer who has worked on a lot of API 1104 (pipelines) and B31.3 (refineries) I have always wondered why API 1104 is much less stringent than B31.3 when generally it is same product at same pressures but one is above ground and one is buried.
Always thought that it was the coverage of the pipe by a lot of dirt that allowed the lesser acceptance criteria.
Is there any data on the numbers in the US on reported pipeline incidents - failure due to corrosion, failure due to mechanical damage or failure due to weld defects ?
Cheers,
DD
RE: Plains All American
PHMSA maintains a website where "pipeline incidents" and their causes are listed.
http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/library/datastat...
Whenever I think that there are enough regulations, some irresponsible operator proves me wrong.
IMO More CEOs, engineers and operators need to be held personally responsible for these things.
It is not sufficient for shareholders to pay (or usually avoid) fines. Some countries now lock these guys up first then sort it out later.
I am not intending to prescribe blame to the innocent not proven guilty in this case. Just stating some general prudent operating practices and procedures that I am hopeful, and reasonably confident will eventually see, were followed prior to handover of this particular pipeline.
RE: Plains All American
If the same product at the same pressure and the same temperature is travelling through the same pipe, why is it then going from different jurisdictions (API / B31.3) with different acceptance criterias ?
Not expecting you to answer - just wondering ?
It doesn't bother me as I live on the Thai / Cambodian border in the middle of nowhere but if I was a US citizen living in close proximity to a pipeline I would want to be confident of that pipelines integrity.
We used to joke when I was welding on pipelines in NZ that we would never buy a house on or near the pipeline "spread".
Food for thought ?
Cheers,
DD
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
The news story was such crap. Headlines with "Disaster" and inflammatory language about 21,000 gallons of leaked oil. In Santa Barbara. Just a few miles from the Santa Barbara Channel oil seep that puts nearly that much oil into the ocean every day for the last several million years. This is a "Disaster", a "Crises", a "Crime" because it came out of a pipeline I suppose?
Don't get me wrong, a pipeline operating adjacent to recreation areas that doesn't have proper isolation valves and leak sensors is most likely a crime. People breaking the law should be held accountable. But damn, can't we dial back the rhetoric? If you say "nearly 4 miles of beach" in the "right" tone of voice it really sounds like a big deal. It is not a big deal. When I was a kid, the 30 miles of beach just south of Huntington Beach was called "Tin Can Beach" (now Bolsa Chica State Park) by everyone because it looked so nasty and in addition to the trash the gave it its name, the oil seeps from off shore coated everything with oil and tar. We went there because the crowds at Huntington and Seal beaches were unpleasant even back then and my dad wouldn't tolerate them. Every time you left tin can beach you had to scrape tar off of everything. In the late 1960's the state cleaned up the trash, but the oil was still there as late as 2001 (last time I was there). That beach (like the Santa Barbara Channel) had many millions of gallons of oil on it and since there was no company to vilify, it was considered "natural". It was in fact a part of nature. This spill was caused by the actions (or inactions) of people. Those actions and inactions should carry consequences, but "Disaster"? I don't think so.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Plains All American
Careful now, or we'll end up arguing about "good" and "bad" CO2...
Piping Design Central
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
In the live feed you linked the worst they could come up with was a rock partially covered by oil and two guys SEARCHING for ANY birds that they could film and maybe help, no luck. The only animals they showed were a non-oily duck and a dog in in its owners arms. This happened on Tuesday and by Saturday they still don't have any oily-duck pictures.
As of 8 hours ago CNN Claims there were "5 pelicans and a sea lion" affected. A tiny bit short of a Disaster 5 days after the rupture.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
Pipeline was experiencing "mechanical difficulties on both sides of the line".
Local DA promises to hold the responsible parties accountable.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/21/cal...
RE: Plains All American
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pipeline-in-california...
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
My guess is that the legal processes will keep the data out of the light of day for a decade if not forever. Another unfortunate result of the media and regulators rush to blame.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
http://www.gasprocessingnews.com/news/california-l...
RE: Plains All American
This is exactly what happens when operators will not do anything except what they are forced to do by regulation. The problem is not with the lack of regulations, it is with irresponsible operators. PHMSA has long been calling for operators to install and use automatic valves for these situations, but with the absence of regulations, PHMSA has no teeth. All they can do is ask.
In this case it appears that having this California regulation would not have helped, since the leak was actually in California, but the pressure source and most of the pipeline are in offshore federal waters. Exactly why the CA Fire Marshall's office returned responsibility for oversight back to PHMSA, because CAFM had no authority in Fed waters and they knew they could not provide effective oversight. Once PHMSA had full responsibility, they didn't have the regulation to force the installation of an automatic valve. The operator could have bridged the fed/state gap, but that unfortunately would have required some proactivity and far too much assumption of civic responsibility by the operator, which is about as rare as hobby horse crap and apparently getting rarer by the moment.
RE: Plains All American
RE: Plains All American
Steve Jones
Corrosion Management Consultant
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/83b/b04
All answers are personal opinions only and are in no way connected with any employer.
RE: Plains All American
Looks like PHMSA is bringing their full weight to bear as well.
RE: Plains All American
Steve Jones
Corrosion Management Consultant
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/83b/b04
All answers are personal opinions only and are in no way connected with any employer.
RE: Plains All American
http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles//PHMSA/Downlo...
Steve Jones
Corrosion Management Consultant
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/83b/b04
All answers are personal opinions only and are in no way connected with any employer.
RE: Plains All American
Exxon still reportedly owes $92MM for the Valdez fiasco.
Apparently they prefer to pay the lawyers as much of that money as possible.
RE: Plains All American
Missed this one before. Issued on 4 June.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/jun/...