Petroleum pipeline violations alleged

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

From a story by Barry Adams in the Wisconsin State Journal about construction of a pipeline to carry oil from Canadian tar sands to refineries in the Chicago area:

A Texas company installing two pipelines from Superior to Delavan was asked this month to stop construction on the 321-mile project following alleged multiple violations of its state-issued permit.

The state Department of Natural Resources has issued a "notice of violation " to Enbridge Energy for failure to follow the guidelines of a dredging, grading and bridge permit. The DNR is also reviewing a letter of response from Enbridge to determine if its plans will correct the problems and if further enforcement action is required.

The DNR does not have the authority to halt the project but could refer the case to the state Department of Justice, which could go to court. Fines could reach up to $5,000 a day.
In addition to the environmental issues raised by other groups, RENEW previously questioned the value of the pipeline in a letter to the DNR:
1) How much petroleum can be extracted from the tar sands;
2) how much natural gas will be available for the extraction process;
3) how much the refined petroleum will help U.S. gasoline supplies compared to ethanol production; and
4) how much of the refined product will even reach Wisconsin.

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