Inspection records for Enbridge pipeline spotty at best (MI oil spill)

[Bozita]

Source: Michigan Messenger

Inspection records for Enbridge pipeline spotty at best
Feds and company offer little information
By EARTHA JANE MELZER 7/29/10 11:20 AM


Enbridge and government officials have refused to give details on the inspection record for the section of oil pipeline that sprung a leak in Marshall, Michigan this week, spilling more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River.

Under current federal rules less than half of the oil pipelines in the country are required to be actively monitored for defects and safety problems.

Oil pipelines are regulated by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Since 2002 the agency has required pipeline operators to conduct “Integrity Management” operations to “identify, prioritize, assess, evaluate, repair and validate” the integrity of their pipelines. This rule, however, only applies to sections of pipeline that run through designated “High Consequence Areas.”

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