The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency now that Enbridge has had at least 27 spills of drilling fluid during the construction of the controversial Line 3 pipeline.
Photo: Jim Mone (AP)
Unless you’re living in Huntersville, North Carolina, you may be blissfully unaware that the U.S.’s biggest gasoline spill since 1997 happened this past summer. The slowly-unfolding, little-reported-on saga in the state involves a company controlled by special interests like the Koch brothers and Shell, and a pipeline that has been transporting dirty energy for decades. And the crisis of the Colonial pipeline points to one of the next big issues for American fossil fuel infrastructure: what to do about dangerous, aging pipelines as we move to clean energy.
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In August, two teenagers riding ATVs around in a nature preserve outside of Huntersville, a suburb north of Charlotte, noticed gasoline gurgling out of the ground and told the town fire department. (State lawmakers say Colonial at first told them a different story, initially claiming that they’d shut down the pipeline after noticing a pressure drop at another point in the line.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) first reported the news on Sunday after it obtained an apparent briefing note from Biden’s transition team. On the list of executive actions meant for Biden’s first day in office Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit reportedly shows up.
As the outlet notes, Biden indicated months ago that he planned on canceling the pipeline, though supporters of the project had been hoping he would change his mind. The project crosses over the U.S.-Canada border and has the support of the Canadian government.
ADVERTISEMENT The Government of Canada continues to support the Keystone XL project and the benefits that it will bring to both Canada and the United States, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said in a statement.