Exxon, the master media
manipulators, have continued to hide or obscure many of the basic
facts about the nature of tar sands oil spills and their health risks
by referring to them as “heavy oil.” It has now been 11 months
since the March 29, 2013 pipeline catastrophe in Mayflower, Arkansas,
yet still many secrets remain. This series will pull back the curtain
to answer some of the simplest questions which Exxon does not want us
to ask and which they have flatly refused to answer. Finally, we will
begin to answer these questions in surprising ways which will forever
change the way we look at Alberta tar sands development.
The
Secret Sauce
What do
you get when you add a group of known cancer causing chemicals such
as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs incl. BTEX) to a naturally
occurring poison like bitumen tar? You get a dangerous toxic mess
the oil companies call Dilbit, which is basically just pitch tar
liberally mixed with natural gasoline.
Source: Conoco Phillipsi
As we
covered in Part 1 of this series, Dilbits often start out as “hockey
puck” hard hydrocarbon Bitumen, and then are injected with
chemicals and frequently steam heated to make it flow into the
production pipe. Compared with other Heavy Oils, Wabasca Heavy crude
is one of the Dirtiest, hardest and most resistant to flow of any oil
in the world. As a result it must be combined with a high amount of
Diluent as a highly toxic solvent consisting of natural gasoline. The
Bitumen is blended with Light Oil/Condensates containing lighter
hydrocarbons like Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX),
the toxic organic solvents added to make the Dilbits flow long
distances in a pipeline (sometimes!).
CONDENSATE
CON GAME
One of
the Diluted Bitumens or Dilbits from Canada was identified in the Tar
Sands oil that catastrophically flowed through the neighborhood of
Mayflower, Arkansas from a ruptured Exxon pipeline on March 29, 2013.
This Tar Sands spill of at least 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons)
spread into the residential neighborhood of Northwoods subdivision
causing the evacuation of some 22 homes (at least 20 bought by Exxon)
and the eventual destruction of 3 houses so far. The evacuation was
due to contamination with carcinogenic VOCs and Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons (PAHs) which can persist for decades in soil, water and
buildings and furniture.
Dilbit
was also the type of Tar Sands oil which contaminated 35 miles of the
Kalamazoo River in Michigan from a burst Enbridge pipeline spilling
close to a million gallons of Dilbit in July 2010. This Michigan
disaster was the largest on-land spill in American history and has
already cost more than a billion dollars in clean-up costs.
Amazingly,
neither of these Dilbit pipeline spills would have been possible
without the addition of Diluent in the form of Condensate. The
Diluent was exported from the U.S. to Canada and back to Canada as
Dilbit in a tragic cycle which greatly benefited the very companies
which are principally responsible for these calamities. This is the
untold story of where the Diluent poisons originated and how the
responsible parties profited most from this dangerous and unnecessary
trade.
Bitumen
Toxicity
We have
already demonstrated in Part 1 that solid, crude bitumen in the
reservoir contains toxic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs),
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), hydrogen sulfide and heavy metals
which are further released into the tar when it is steam heated.
In
addition, Naphthenic Acids always found in Tar Sands, contaminate the
water and are toxic to fish and amphibians. In humans and other
mammals these acids may irritate the nose and throat and cause
coughing and wheezing. However, Naphthenic Acids have not yet been
tested for potential to cause cancer or reproductive impacts.
Diluted
Bitumen Transport
The
specific Dilbit which oozed into the Mayflower Arkansas neighborhood
in March 2013 was called Wabasca Heavy which originated from the Tar
Sands in the Wabasca Field area of Alberta, Canada. The map below
shows the Wabasca Field area near the Wabasca lakes (NE Corner of
map) as well as the Pembina pipeline (in yellow) which goes to
Edmonton with chemicals such as polymers and solvents to make the
Bitumen flow.
Exxon
Reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) that “before transport the dilbit is
combined with corrosion additives such as Baker Hughes WAW 3049 water
treatment additive [obsolete] which is also added by Mustang on its
way to Patoka Illinois.”ii
Other chemicals used in production and processing are considered
proprietary and are kept secret.
ii
Exxon Response to EPA 2013
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/686697-exxonmobil-pipeline-co-308-response-4-10-13-3.html
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