Oil pipeline performance review, 1989

A review is presented of the environmental performance of Canadian oil pipelines in spill prevention and control in 1989, with comparisons to 1988. In 1989, in-service length of the systems reporting increased to 34,493 km compared to 33,856 km in 1988. Traffic volume decreased under 1% from 1988 levels to 159 billion m3/km. Failures rose 29.4% from 34 in 1988 to 44 in 1989. Equipment failures accounted for 34.9%, corrosion for 9.3% and operational error for 27.9% of the failures. Repair, damage and clean-up costs were slightly higher than in 1988 at $1,771,000. Total volume spilled was 5,490 m3, high compared to 1,224 m3 in 1988, yet under the 10-year average of 5,605 m3. A total of 3,755 m3 or 63% of the total spill volume was accounted for by spills from defective pipe. The average spill size was 128 m3. One fire and one injury were reported, but no fatalities or explosions. An 11-year statistical summary of oil pipeline performance data is included. 4 figs., 6 tabs