Enbridge
Origins
ENBRIDGE is an oil transport company that was first established in 1949 by Imperial Oil as an Interprovincial Pipeline Company (IPL) with its first Headquarters established in Toronto, Canada, and currently located in Calgary, CA. ENBRIDGE has had a long history of pipeline expansions all over North America and has been considered the largest transporter of crude oil and tar sands in both Canada and the United States. It transports around 28% of the crude oil produced in both nations, extending approximately 17,809 miles (28,661 Kilometers), delivering more than 4 billion barrels of crude oil a year.
Investors and Partners
Pipeline system
Their crude oil and natural gas system extends 9,299 miles (14,96 km) in the United States and 8,510 miles (13,696 km) in Canada. The equivalent to 30% of crude oil produced in North America, 65% of U.S.-bound Canadian exports, and a total of 40% of U.S. Crude oil imports.[1] [2]
Mainline system
Line 1
Opened in 1950 with its beginning point in Edmonton, Alberta, and ending in Superior, Wisconsin, approximately 1,098 miles with a capacity to transport around 230,000 barrels per day. It transports light synthetics, gas liquids, and refined products.
Line 4
(Fond du Lac Line)
Started operating in 2002 and transports an estimated 796,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil throughout its 1,100 miles in length. Extending from Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin.
Line 5
Originates in Superior, Wisconsin, and wraps up in Sarnia, Ontario, traveling through the Upper and Lower Peninsulas in The State of Michigan in the U.S., then to the southeast of the Rapid River; its capable of carrying up to 540,000 barrels of synthetic crude, natural gas, liquids, sweet, and light sour crude oil per day. Line 5 started operating in 1953 and extends to 645 miles in length.
Once the line reaches the northern shore of Lake Michigan, it divides into two separate lines that reunite at the southern side of the Straits of Mackinac. The line is as well connected with Line 6 and Line 7 at the east across the St. Clair River to Ontario with line 6 and then in the Sarnia-area transfers to Line 7.[3]
There was a purpose replacement project in February 2020 to expand Line 5 to 0.5 km and it's set to begin in the year 2024.[4]
Line 6
Started operating in 1969, Line 6 consists of two separate pipelines with Line 6A starting in Superior, Wisconsin, and wrapping up in Griffith, Indiana then connecting to Line 6B in Griffith and ending in Sarnia, Ontario. The lines combined transport an estimated 667,000 barrels per day, along its 465 miles.
Line 6B Reconstruction
Following the The Dilbit Disaster in the Kalamazoo River in July 2010. Enbridge spent over $2.63 billion to replace Line 6B, currently known as Line 78 and doubled its capacity to 500,000 barrels per day.
Line 7
Extending 120 miles (193 km), Line 7 started operating in 1957 with its route starting in Sarnia, Ontario, and wrapping up in Westover, Canada. It had the original capacity to carry around 140,000 barrels per day. In 2013, The Canadian National Energy Board extended its capacity by 40,000 barrels (180,000 in total).
The approval of the expansion for this 57-year-old pipeline came with great concerns from the public due to the fact, it got its approval without any public hearings and just three years after the incident with line 6B that filled the Kalamazoo Rover with the equivalent of 20,000 barrels of crude oil, considered one of the worst in-land spills in history. [5]
Line 78A and 78B
78A connects to line 6 in the intersection with Griffith/Hartsdale and Stockbridge and it's 264 miles long (425 Km). Once in Stockbridge, it divides into two and connects Line 7 in Sarnia with Line 78B. 78B is about 109 miles long (175 Km) and transports light, medium, and heavy crude.
Line 10
With its starting point in North Westover, Ontario, and wrapping up in West Seneca, New York. Line 10 started operating in 1962, it's about 143 km long and transports 74,000 barrels daily.
Westover Segment Replacement
The Canadian National Energy Board approved in January 2017, Enbridge's $219-million project to replace 32 km of the existing 12-inch-diameter pipeline with 35km of 20-inch-diameter pipe in southern Ontario with the intention of boosting its capacity to 74,200 barrels per day and connecting the Westover Terminal to their Nanticoke Junction Facility in rural Hamilton. [6]
Opposition
The approval of the replacement came with opposition from environmental groups concerned about potential spills but the main concerns came from Indigenous people and tribes, especially from Todd Williams and Wayne Hill, two Haudenosaunee men who spent months trying to disrupt the pipeline operation.[7]
Line 11
Enbridge line 11 started operating in 1971 with its starting point located at Enbridge's Westover Station, near Hamilton, Ontario; ending in Nanticoke, Ontario. It is 47 miles (76 km) in length and transports around 117,000 barrels per day.
Replacement
In October 2014, Enbridge started working on the replacement of 3.2 km of the existing 508mm downstream of the Westover Station in the new ROW for line 11. The replacement was completed on June 30, 2015, with the replaced segment decommissioned on March 1, 2015.[8]
Enviromental Litigations
Enbridge pipelines have stretched from the Great Lake to the Mississippi River and come with a history of controversial environmental litigation cases initiated both by indigenous-led groups, whose land sovereignty has constantly been undermined by the company with even the targeting and labeling of The Tribal Nations as a threat [9] and locally concerned activists and residents who have also been vocal about their biggest concerns, among those; the spills across waterways when pipes rupture, the destruction of rich marshlands, and the greenhouse gas emissions from burning the crude oil the pipelines carry.
Line 3
Despite the fact that Enbridge was responsible for the 1991 largest inland oil spill in the U.S. [10] with Line 3. Enbridge claims a 99.9999979% of safety delivery record. which extends from Hardisty, Alberta in Canada to Superior, Wisconsin in the United State (1,031 miles - 1,659 km) currently with a proposed reroute which has from the beginning raised concerns about its safety; quoting environmental groups, tribal nations and community members in Minnesota;
”The pipeline violates treaties with the Ojibwe people that establish their right to hunt, fish, and gather along the proposed route. If rerouted, the line would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of tar sands crude oil - considered one of the dirtiest oil in the world and therefore equivalent to 50 coal plants worth of pollution to the atmosphere"
The accident with Line 3, puts into question the safety measures taken by Enbridge, in spite of the fact they claim a 99.9999979% safety success rate as stated on the company's website [11]. It was later discovered Enbridge had enough data stating the structural anomalies; which are about 1 in every 10 feet, placing line 3 in a deterioration state.
- ↑ https://www.enbridge.com/about-us/liquids-pipelines
- ↑ https://www.enbridge.com/~/media/Enb/Documents/Factsheets/FS_ENB_Mainline_system.pdf
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140331082341/http://www.enbridgeus.com/WorkArea/downloadasset/15468/2012_Q1%20System%20Configuration.aspx
- ↑ https://widnr.widen.net/s/pmjdl6pbpd/el5_drafteis_dec2021_vol1-deis
- ↑ https://www.vice.com/en/article/4w57kp/enbridges-line-7-pipeline-has-been-approved-to-up-its-capacity-by-40000-barrel
- ↑ https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/applications-hearings/view-applications-projects/line-10-westover/index.htmlf
- ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/enbridge-1.4139477
- ↑ https://docs2.cer-rec.gc.ca/ll-eng/llisapi.dll/fetch/2000/90464/90552/92263/2671190/2882977/2908611/2883130/A74506-28_Appendix_4.21_-_Presentation_Hamilton_Conservation_Authority_-_A4W2T0.pdf?nodeid=2882577&vernum=-2
- ↑ https://theintercept.com/2022/01/23/enbridge-pipeline-line-3-tracking-indigenous-protesters/
- ↑ https://www.stopline3.org/news/2017/3/6/appy-anniversary-the-largest-inland-oil-spill-in-us-history-happened-today-in-minnesota
- ↑ https://www.enbridge.com/about-us/liquids-pipelines