January 22, 2001
restarted Saturday evening (January 20th) after being shut down
last week due to a leak near Hardisty, Alberta. The line carries
heavy crude types from Western Canada to Superior, Wisconsin,
where the oil is forwarded on to refineries in Ontario and the
U.S. Midwest.
Crews installed temporary bypass piping to send crude shipments
around the site of the leak, which is under repair. The pipeline
is being operated at approximately three-quarters of its maximum
capacity of 102,000 m3 (640,000 barrels) per day while the
permanent repair is being completed. Enbridge expects the line to
resume shipping producers' volumes at full rates within a day or
two. Throughput stalled by the shutdown will be made up over the
next several weeks.
Vacuum trucks have so far recovered more than 80 per cent of the
oil from beneath the ice covering the slough where the leak
occurred. About 3,000 m3 (19,000 barrels) of the oil spilled was
pumped out by this method. Enbridge anticipates picking up most
of the remainder using vacuum trucks and skimmers to capture oil
still floating on the slough's surface. Recovered oil is being
transported to storage tankage at Hardisty. Enbridge is working in
close cooperation with each of the regulatory and environmental
agencies involved to ensure the clean up and remediation is
carried out in compliance with all standards for safety and
environmental protection.
The pipe section that failed is being cut out and taken for
metallurgical analysis to determine the precise cause of the leak.
The spill was not a threat to public safety.
Edmonton-based Enbridge Pipelines Inc., a subsidiary of Enbridge
Inc. of Calgary, operates the world's longest crude oil and
petroleum products pipeline system. The pipeline extends almost
14,000 kilometres, crossing diverse geographic regions in one
territory, five provinces and seven states.