Canada’s Line 7 Pipeline Shut Down in Response to Public Vandalism

Public opposition can be an incredibly powerful thing, as Canadian based energy delivery company Enbridge Inc. recently found out. In the wake of a public act of vandalism, the company was forced to shut down its Line 7 crude oil pipeline for around three hours. The halt was caused by oil sands protesters taking matters into their own hands and tampering with a valve station. This restricted flow through the pipeline, and posed as a serious safety and spill risk.

Protestors plug Line 7 flow

Every day the Line 7 oil pipeline transports around 150,000 barrels of oil. The crude flows from Sarnia, Ontario, all the way to Westover. When Enbridge Inc. discovered the leak it immediately shut down operations in order to allow maintenance engineers to inspect the valve station. Three hours later Line 7 was back up and running, with company representatives asserting that there was no serious impact on client deliveries.

Enbridge Inc. on public radar

Unfortunately for Enbridge Inc. this isn’t the first time it’s been forced to shut down a pipeline due to public protest. A similar situation occurred in December when an environmental group tampered with equipment in a bid to bring the company’s oil flow to a grinding halt.

So who was responsible for the damage? Soon after the news broke a user called “no pipelines” claimed accountability for the sabotage on the Reddit Anarchist News site. The anonymous user confirmed that the attack was a protest against the flow of oil sands and other products through Ontario’s pipelines.

Environmentalists protest against the oil and gas industry for all kinds of reasons. Mercury emissions is just one of the concerns that has eco-warriors up in arms. For more information on the topic, ‘Unconsidered Mercury Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry’ offers readers a rundown of the dangers it poses within the sector. As a highly toxic element mercury can have a brutal effect on the neurologic, gastrointestinal and renal organ systems. Not to mention a devastating impact on the natural environment. The article looks at the existence of mercury in almost all oil and gas reservoirs, principally in the elemental (metallic) form. It then goes on to explore the risks, with the biggest danger to on-site workers arising during plant shutdowns or service/maintenance work. This is due to the fact that mercury accumulates into the internal surfaces of processing equipment, and is then released after depressurisation of the system.

Image via Flickr Creative Commons. Photo credits: US Geological Survey