A Koch-owned pipeline spilled 17,000 gallons (400 barrels) of crude oil in the town of Smithville, TX. yesterday. This incident marks the latest in a number of inland oil spills that have ravaged the continent.
Though there were no injuries, the spill has caused a sizeable amount of land and environmental damage. A rural area of about 100X25 yards and two livestock ponds have been contaminated, cutting down the drinking supply of the property’s livestock. The pipeline is owned by the Koch Pipeline Co., which is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
Recently, in North Dakota, a busted pipeline loosed over 20,000 barrels of crude oil over 7.3 acres of land. The spill from the pipeline, which is owned by Tesoro Logistics, went unreported to the public for 11 days. The lack of urgency and compassion exuded by the state government aroused anger and discontent.
“It shows an attitude of our current state government and what they think of the public,” said Dakota Resource Council director, Don Morrison. “There is a pattern in the state government to not involve the public.”
Aside from that incident, the “second-leading oil-producing state in the country,” it was later indicated that 300 pipeline spills have gone unreported. However, the pipeline incidence are barely half of the 750 “oil field incidents” that have occurred since January 2012.
The spill in Texas has been contained by SWS Environmental, and the location of and the reason for the burst pipeline has not been confirmed.
The Koch Pipeline Co. “had no estimated time for repairs. Neither Koch nor the Texas Railroad Commission had a public statement about the incident.”
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.