Crude Oil on the Move Down the Hudson River Valley Pipelines – Virtual and Real Tuxedo Town Board August 10, 2015 Kate Hudson, Director, Cross Watershed.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Slide 1
Crude Oil on the Move Down the Hudson River Valley Pipelines
Virtual and Real Tuxedo Town Board August 10, 2015 Kate Hudson,
Director, Cross Watershed Initiatives
Slide 2
Crude Oil on the Move Risks for Hudson River Communities
1.Crude Oil on the move: Where is it coming from, how is it
shipped, what are the risks? 2.Proposed Pilgrim Pipelines: a new
risk 3. Are pipelines safer? Why not? 4. Pipeline impacts and costs
5. Pipeline benefits? 6. What actions can be taken and why now
Slide 3
Crude Oil = Unrefined Petroleum Before 2012, little or no crude
oil was sent through the Hudson Valley Tar Sands Crude Photo: Ben
Garvin Bakken Crude
Slide 4
Bakken-to-East Coast Virtual Pipeline Route Crude Oil Trains,
Barges and Ships As industry has extracted more oil, it has
employed a virtual pipeline of trains, barges, and ships to get
Bakken crude from North Dakota and Canada to coastal
refineries.
Slide 5
More Oil = More Oil Transport Unit trains carry 80-120 tank
cars, each with 30,000 gal. capacity A 4000% increase in crude
transport in 7 years 2008: 9,500 tank carloads of crude by rail
2013: 400,000 tank carloads of crude by rail 2014: 493,126 tank
cars of crude oil
Slide 6
Current Crude Oil Transport in the Hudson Valley Up to 5
billion gallons shipped Per Year (more than 10 million gallons per
day)
Slide 7
Crude Oil Transport Risks Train derailment of Bakken crude oil
Could lead to devastating explosions and fire and/or discharges of
oil to adjacent waterways, including the Hudson River or its
tributaries. On-Water Spill of Bakken crude oil Federal spill
responders have said that the best case spill response would only
recover 20-25% of the oil. On-Water Spill of Tar Sands crude oil
Federal spill responders have said the best case spill response for
heavy, sinking oil would be 5% recovery. Pipeline Spill of crude
oil Frequency and spill quantities much greater than other forms of
transport.
Slide 8
Proposed Pilgrim Pipelines
Slide 9
Pilgrim Pipelines Basics Two parallel pipelines are proposed to
run from Albany, NY for 178 miles, more or less parallel to the NYS
Thruway, from Albany, connecting to distribution points along the
way, before turning east at I-287 to reach the Phillips 66 Bayway
refinery in Linden NJ. The two lines proposed are an 18 inch line
would transport crude oil south and a 16 inch line refined products
(aviation fuel, gasoline, heating oil) north. In Orange County,
laterals would run to the Roseton tank farms and through New
Windsor and the City of Newburgh to tank farms on the Hudson
River.
Slide 10
Pilgrim Pipelines Basics In Ulster County, the pipeline path
would run through the towns of Esopus, Lloyd, New Paltz,
Plattekill, Rosendale, Saugerties and Ulster, and the City of
Kingston. Other affected counties in NYS include Albany, Greene and
Rockland. Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, formed specifically for this
project, is a Connecticut-based affiliate of Petroleum Solutions
Management LLC, based in Winter Haven, Florida.
Slide 11
Pilgrim Pipelines: The Siting Process No federal agency with
overarching authority to permit oil pipelines as FERC does with gas
pipelines. Thus, no opportunity for public input until permit
applications filed. Out of state, private oil pipeline companies
like Pilgrim do not have power of eminent domain. They cannot take
private property from homeowners who refuse to grant
access/easement. Access to Thruway right-of-way will be difficult,
due to cost, permitting restrictions and notoriously tough approval
process. But a pipeline corporation could be formed by Pilgrim
under NYS Transportation Corporation Law that would have the power
to condemn in order to construct and operate a petroleum pipeline
for public use.
Slide 12
Pilgrim Pipelines: Permitting Permits Required DEC wetlands,
401 Certification Army Corps 404 dredging, stream crossing, wetland
disturbance CZMA Coastal Consistency (Army Corps, DOS) The
Permitting Process Need for full EIS under NEPA/SEQRA in all
permitting proceedings. Full review would require impact of
pipeline transport of oil on climate change/ GHG emissions. Federal
permits need for ESA consultation if endangered species or their
habitat is affected.
Slide 13
Pilgrim Pipeline What are the risks for the Town of
Tuxedo?
Slide 14
Are pipelines safer? Spill Risks of Pipelines v. Rail v. Vessel
Pipeline spills are inevitable (Forbes, April 2014). Pipeline
spills release much larger amounts of oil than spills from any
other mode of transport. From 2004 to 2012, pipelines spilled three
times the oil that oil trains did over the same period (PHMSA). The
10 year average (2004-2013) is 631 pipeline incidents per year with
97,263 barrels (over 4 million gallons) per year spilled resulting
in $494 million per year in property damage (PHMSA).
Slide 15
Slide 16
Why arent they safer? New technology will not reduce the risk
Photo: The Advocate Photo: pbs.org PHMSA data indicates that 44% of
pipeline leaks are due to non-technology factors Examples:
excavation damage, natural force damage, outside force damage, and
incorrect operation Pipelines poor track record from 2003-2013,
1,880 crude oil pipeline spills (on average, nearly one every other
day), 44 million gallons spilled
Slide 17
Kalamazoo River Michigan, 2009 843,000gallons of tarsands
crude35 miles ofriverCleanup at$2B+
Slide 18
Tioga, North Dakota September 2013 Farmer finds 865,200 gallons
of fracked oil spilled onto his property from a pipeline leak,
covering the equivalent of seven football fields. One of the
largest spills in state history, soils were contaminated to a depth
of 30 feet. Photo: John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper Source: Neal
Lauron
Slide 19
Glendive, Montana Jan 2015 Pipeline breach spilled 50,400
gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, contaminating
drinking supplies. At time of rupture, 110 feet of pipeline lay
uncovered on the bottom of the river, exposing it to damage. Three
and a half years before it was 8 feet under the river. Photo: The
Advocate Photo: pbs.org
Slide 20
Pipeline Under Sediment Pipeline exposed leak
Slide 21
Santa Barbara, California May 2015 Pipeline breach spilled
~105,000 gallons of crude oil near the coastline of southern Santa
Barbara County, contaminating Refugio State Beach. Photo: The
Advocate Photo: pbs.org Source: KTLA ~21,000 gallons passed through
storm drain to ocean $3 million/day. $62 million as of 6/10/15
Source: LA Times
Slide 22
What Went Wrong in Santa Barbara? The Smart Pig Didnt Work!
Photo: The Advocate Photo: pbs.org Devices (e.g., Smart PIGs) used
to detect corrosion not always effective, especially in high
corrosion areas. Possibility of human error in analyzing the
results of tests. Preliminary PIG results showing that the pipe had
lost half its metal near the break vastly underestimated just how
thin the pipeline had become. Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG).
Source: PPSA
Slide 23
Costs and Impacts of Oil Pipelines Condemnation Pilgrim will
need to lease or condemn all or part of several hundred privately
owned parcels along its proposed route Secondary impacts Many more
property owners just off the route will face secondary impacts
including construction impacts (noise and traffic), threats to
property values and health and safety risks First responder
preparedness costs Spill clean-up costs and damages Pilgrim will
not indemnify Threats to public drinking water supplies if impacted
it could take years to clean up Impact on property values, not only
as a result of a spill, but even proximity to an oil pipeline
(lower property values means lower property tax revenue) Presence
of an oil pipeline can cause homeowners insurance premiums to rise
for that property and potentially for adjacent properties
Slide 24
Pipeline Construction Impacts (There are none for rail or
vessel transport) Impacts on homeowners Noise and air impacts
associated with clear-cutting, blasting and drilling, and
construction vehicle traffic, among others Construction across key
waterbodies including important tributaries to the Hudson River
(Esopus, Rondout, Sawkill and Plattekill Creeks and the Wallkill
River) Wetland Disturbance: federal and potentially state
Stormwater impacts due to vegetation removal Potential impairment
of sensitive aquifers on which residents depend for drinking water
Crossing of Delaware and Catskill aqueducts that supply drinking
water to more than 9 million New Yorkers Disturbance of critical
wildlife habitat
Slide 25
Are There Any Benefits? Will constructing Pilgrim Pipelines
take crude oil transport off the rails and the river as Pilgrim LLC
predicts? Pilgrim has not designed the pipelines to be big enough
to end both rail and river transport, or even both vessel and barge
No one can require that rail or vessel transport be moved to the
pipelines. It will depend on the choices that the industry makes,
which no one can predict. Here is what the industry has said: When
we look at the modes of transportation, our industry the oil and
gas industry we take an all of the above approach. Robin Rorick
(oversees transportation of oil and gas from well to market for the
American Petroleum Institute) Two thirds of Bakken crude is now
transported to East Coast refineries by rail, demonstrating the
industrys preference for the extensive network and increased
flexibility of rail as compared with pipelines. It is just as
likely that the building of Pilgrim Pipelines will increase the
amount of oil being transported down the Hudson Valley not, as
Pilgrim claims, move it from rail and vessel to pipelines. More oil
transported encourages more fossil fuel extraction, accelerating
climate change.
Slide 26
Other Benefits claimed by Pilgrim Job growth? Temporary,
construction, primarily to out of state firms; small number of
permanent jobs, but are they new jobs or just replacing jobs that
will be lost in the Port of Albany and on barges and vessels?
Pipelines are a safer means of transport? Not supported by the
pipeline safety track record and pipeline spills are larger and so
harder and more expensive to clean up. Pilgrim pipelines will mean
cheaper fuel for consumers because transport will cost less? How do
we know that Pilgrim will charge less and whether that savings for
wholesalers will be passed on to consumers. No guarantees. May
reduce GHG emissions? Compared to barge traffic, but will lock the
region into fossil fuel for decades at a time when we need to
rapidly transition to more sustainable forms of energy.
Slide 27
Actions We Can Take on Pilgrim Pipelines Write to the Governor
and the NYS Thruway Authority and Department of Transportation and
urge them to deny Pilgrim the ability to use the Thruway right of
way for their pipelines. Write to the NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers and urge
them to require a full environmental review of Pilgrims proposal.
Work in your community to introduce and pass County and
local/municipal resolutions opposing Pilgrim Pipeline and a zoning
ordinance prohibiting oil pipelines that do not bring products or
services to town residents. Urge your state and federal elected
representatives to join you in pressing regulators not to authorize
the Pipeline.
Slide 28
18 New York Hudson Valley communities pass resolutions opposing
the pipelines City of Kingston Cornwall Esopus Marbletown New
Paltz, Town of* New Paltz, Village of Newburgh, City of* Newburgh,
Town of* Plattekill* 34 New Jersey Municipal Resolutions also
passed Red Hook Rhinebeck* Rochester Rosendale* Saugerties (No
confidence resolution) Tuxedo Park Ulster County* Wawarsing
Woodstock * available online
Slide 29
Why take action now? There is an opportunity now to influence
decisions yet to be made by regulators, Pilgrim investors and even
Pilgrim itself that could be lost after applications are filed. A
resolution by the Town Board opposed to the pipelines that directs
the sending of letters to the NYS Thruway Authority, the Department
of Transportation and other regulators, combined with those of many
other Towns, could: influence their decision about granting or
denying access to the Thruway right of way; impact decisions that
Pilgrim makes re route selection; result in a more comprehensive
environmental review process being required by state and federal
regulators; send a message to investors in the pipelines that this
is not a good capital investment for them. Without investors, the
Pilgrim pipelines project may fail to move forward.
Slide 30
Further Information and Resources on Pilgrim Pipelines If
residents have interactions with Pilgrim, LLC representatives
trying to gain access to their property that are concerning or have
questions about your rights and Pilgrims, call the New York State
Attorney Generals Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau at
845-485-3900. Further information available at
stoppilgrimpipeline.com and riverkeeper.org/crude. Kate Hudson,
Riverkeeper [email protected] Iris Marie Bloom, Coalition
Against Pilgrim Pipelines-New York 845-687-7810,
[email protected]@gmail.com THANK
YOU!