Enbridge Line 9 Risks

By Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.

Waterloo Ont.N2V 2L2

butterflybluelu@rogers.com

Seisemic Risks & Pipeline Welds

Seismic Risks of Eastern Canadahttp://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/zones/eastcan-eng.php

Earthquakes & Oil Pipes

Pipeline damages from earthquakes can result in compression or wrinkling, joint weld cracking or separation, bending or shear from localized wrinkling and tension. Joints made with oxy-acetelyne welds break 100 times more than those with electric arc welded joints.

Source: USGS, The Shake Out Scenario Supplemental Studyhttp://books.google.ca/books/about/The_ShakeOut_Scenario_Supplemental_Study.html?id=7PU1A6N3ZOAC&redir_esc=y

An earthquake occurs in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone every five days on average.

http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/zones/eastcan-eng.php

Western Quebec Zone earthquakes include:

1732, an earthquake estimated at 5.8 on the Richter scale shook Montreal, causing significant damage.

1935, the area of Temiscaming was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 6.2.

1944, an earthquake of magnitude 5.6, located between Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, N.Y., caused damage evaluated at two million dollars of the time.

1990, an earthquake of magnitude 5 took place near Mont-Laurier, Quebec.

1996 and 1997, two earthquakes of magnitude 4.4 and 4.3

occurred near Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec.

A REVIEW OF NBCC 2005 SEISMIC HAZARD RESULTS FOR CANADA - THE INTERFACE TO THE GROUND AND PROGNOSIS FOR URBAN RISK MITIGATION

John Adams and Stephen HalchukGeological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada,

Problems with Polyethylene “PE” tape

In May 2008, 16 year old Canadian boy named Daniel Burd from Waterloo Collegiate Institute found and isolated two naturally occurring bacterium, Spingomonas and Pseudomonas, that literally eats plastic.

He stored Spingomonas and Pseudomonas at 37 degree Celsius with plastic and in six weeks time, 43% of the plastic was consumed.

http://wiki.duke.edu/download/attachments/10715770/08burdreport.pdf

Spingomonas and Pseudomonas Eat Plastic

Spingomonas and Pseudomonas naturally occurs in Canadian soil and water.

Enbridge pipelines travel across farmlands and waterways. These areas are suitable for Spingomonas and Pseudomonas because the bacterias thrives off nitrates in these locations.

Warmer weather and longer growing seasons associated with climate change may serve to increase the presence of these bacterium in the natural environment.

Example of a PE tape issue; Kalamazoo Michigan Enbridge Oil Spill, 2010

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the probable cause of the pipeline rupture was corrosion fatigue cracks that grew and coalesced from crack and corrosion defects under dis-bonded polyethylene tape coating, producing a substantial crude oil release that went undetected by the control centre for over 17 hours.

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/summary/PAR1201.html

Questions:

Is there any data to either prove or disprove the roll that Spingomonas and Pseudomonas may play in regards to “tenting” issues regarding PE tape which can result in tears leading to corrosion issues?

Is it reasonable to predict the lifespan of the oil pipes or PE tape in the absence of this data?