By Peyton Gill
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is responsible for a pipeline explosion in Pennsylvania that occurred early in the morning on September 10th, right outside Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission says it suspects the blast was caused by heavy rainfall, which they believe caused the pipeline to slip on the saturated ground, break, and then explode. The 24-inch diameter pipeline had gone into service just 7 days prior. Energy Transfer Partners is the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Bayou Bridge pipeline. Local authorities hadn’t been told ETP had begun using the pipeline to transport any gas or liquids because the pipeline had been behind schedule with construction problems. This explosion continues ETP’s horrible track record with explosions, sinkholes, spills, and leaks.
In the past 48 years, there have been 44 oil spills, each over 420,000 gallons, in U.S. waters. Over the past 30 years, at least 8,000 significant pipeline related incidents have occurred in the U.S. NOT counted in this total are 1,000’s of less significant pipeline-related incidents. We need to keep an eye on these pipeline projects because these big oil and gas companies are gradually connecting pipes across the states and spilling barrels of oil with no consequences