Spills are more common thanks to aging pipelines
Gasoline pipelines in the U.S. are really old, which means spills and leaks are only going to become more common.
The Colonial Pipeline leak that caused gasoline shortages and a price spike throughout the Southeast spilled at least 250,000 gallons of gasoline. It occurred on a portion of the pipeline that is 53 years old.
The nation's massive network of aging pipelines is becoming more susceptible to corrosion.
About 55% of the 135,000 miles of oil and gasoline pipelines in the U.S. was installed in 1969 or earlier, according to government data. That's before current safety regulations were in effect, Many are still cast iron pipes. Some are as much as a century old.
Pipelines are the safest and most cost effective way to move oil, gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products around a country that is experiencing a energy boom.
Significant incidents are far more common than the general public realizes. Last year there were a record 132 significant spills, or roughly one every three days. There have been 80 in the first eight months of this year. And more than a quarter of those incidents were due to corrosion.
Even the newer pipelines, while safer, aren't as safe as they could be said the Pipeline Safety Trust's Weimer. Some have detection equipment and automatic shutoff valves, but those features aren't required despite decades of discussions about regulations. And most of the equipment now in place can only detect a full blown rupture, not a small but steady leak that can cause problems.
/Source: CNN Money/
Sept. 21, 2016