Oil Enough for Everyone, Everywhere!

Pretty soon we may be able to just walk down to the nearest lake, stream, or river and scoop up enough oil for our own personal needs.  We could even build a community oil refinery sort of like when the used to have community grain mills.  Just scoop it up, bring it on down, and walk away with your gasoline.  But of course that won’t happen because we wouldn’t want an oil refinery in our back yard.  As long as we get what we want we shouldn’t have to care about how it’s produced.

Well it looks like those days of ignorant bliss are only a distant memory now. The oil industry, responding to our demands, has been supplying us with all the oil we could ever want and doing anything to make sure we are never disappointed at the pump.  But of course we are now we are learning the real cost of all that cheap oil.

Michigan Governor Warns of Oil Spill Threat

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm expressed growing worry on Wednesday that an oil spill, believed to be among the largest ever in the Midwest, might reach Lake Michigan if efforts to contain the oil were not strengthened.

“It would be a tragedy of historic proportions if this reached Lake Michigan,” Ms. Granholm said.

More than 800,000 gallons of oil spilled Monday into the Kalamazoo River, a major waterway that flows into Lake Michigan, about 60 miles away. The leak came from a 30-inch pipeline that carries millions of gallons of oil each day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.

Response crews worked Wednesday to contain the oil spill, which had already reached at least 35 miles of the river and left fish and birds coated in oil.

On the river on Wednesday, Dan Backus arrived at his favorite fishing spot and found black water and oil-soaked plants. Looking out at the damage from the spill, he mourned the loss of fish and vegetation.

“It’s all destroyed,” said Mr. Backus, 64. “I’m just sick about it.”

Source: Michigan Governor Warns of Oil Spill Threat

Minnesota saw 57 oil pipeline spills since 2000

Enbridge Energy, the firm behind a pipeline leak in Michigan that dumped more than 800,000 gallons of oil in a rural creek over the weekend, has had leaks in Minnesota 11 times since 2002, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (pdf). The data – which doesn’t count spills from trucks, generators, fires and explosions at refineries or gas stations – was provided to the media by Minnesota environmental groups who this morning are releasing the National Wildlife Federation’s new study, “Assault on America: A Decade of Petroleum Company Disaster, Pollution, and Profit.” It underscores that oil spills aren’t just limited to the Gulf of Mexico – or Michigan, which is a point environmental advocates will make at a 10:30 a.m. press conference in Edina.

The DOT data shows that around 8,000 gross barrels of oil were spilled by Enbridge. Overall, Minnesota saw 57 pipeline spills between 2000 and 2009, “or one every other month for ten years on average,” according to a statement by organizers of the press conference. Property damage for all spills statewide surpasses $36 million.

Source: Minnesota saw 57 oil pipeline spills since 2000

Tags: Oil Spill