MD Spill Latest In Series Of Major Oil Pipeline Spills This Year

Citizen groups and government officials from 15 states today called for reform of the nation’s pipeline safety law during the first National Pipeline Safety Reform Conference in Washington, DC. The call came in the wake of a Potomac Electric Power Co. (PEPCO) pipeline leak in Maryland this weekend that spilled over 100,000 gallons of fuel into the Patuxent River and surrounding wetlands.

“Pipeline ruptures like the one in Maryland are not isolated incidents,” said Lois Epstein, an Environmental Defense engineer. “The Maryland spill follows several major oil pipeline ruptures this year that have had enormous environmental consequences: 500,000 gallons of crude spilled in KY in January, which may migrate underground to the Kentucky River; 200,000 gallons of crude spilled into the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge near Philadelphia in February; and 600,000 gallons of gasoline containing MTBE spilled into a lake supplying nearly one-third of Dallas’ drinking water in March.”

Speakers at the Pipeline Safety Reform conference include the parents of two ten-year-old boys killed by a pipeline explosion in Bellingham, WA, last June, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Jack Metcalf (R-WA), sponsors of legislation (S. 2004 and H.R. 3558) to strengthen pipeline safety and environmental protection.

“Oil pipelines are highly under-regulated according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and current law prohibits states from exceeding federal requirements for interstate pipelines,” said Epstein. “Industry knows how to prevent and detect pipeline leaks, and many pipeline companies are doing just that. The law needs to ensure that all pipeline companies are taking these measures to protect public safety and the environment.”

Several oil pipeline releases occur each week, and approximately 62 million gallons were spilled in the 1990s.