On Monday a drop in pressure was detected along one of Chevron Corp's pipelines which carries diesel and jet fuel between the Salt Lake City refinery and Boise, Idaho. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) had to close the valves and stop all flow through the 29,400 barrel a day pipeline.
It is estimated that a total of between 100 and 150 barrels (4,200 gallons and 6,300 gallons) leaked into the precious wetlands around the Salt Lake just weeks before millions of birds are expected to descend on the area on their journey to nesting sites further north. John Whitehead, the assistant Director of the Utah division of water quality has said that "one of the concerns we have is we have three weeks to clean up before the northern migration.
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More important than risk of fire are the toxic effects on the ecosystem. The diesel is floating right now. That allows the cleanup to happen more easily. But we will be looking at longer term impacts to the wetland area it flows through."
The northern migration occurs each year as millions of birds land in the regions on their way from warm lands to the South of Utah to nesting areas in the north of Utah.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More