Kevin Hardy

kmhardy@dmreg.com

© COPYRIGHT 2017, DES MOINES REGISTER AND TRIBUNE COMPANY

The company whose pipeline dumped more than 46,000 gallons of diesel on northern Iowa farmland in January has had more spills than any other pipeline operator in the state over the past 16 years, according to a Des Moines Register analysis.

Magellan Midstream Partners pipelines leaked 27 times in Iowa between 2000 and 2016, spewing tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous products, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources data. Magellan's spills are nearly double the 14 of Enterprise Products Offering, the second most frequent offender.

Magellan reported its 28th spill Jan. 25 near Hanlontown, Ia., where a rupture dumped thousands of gallons of diesel onto snow-covered crop fields.

The spill immediately stoked foes of the Dakota Access pipeline, whose builders plan to start pumping oil through the 1,172-mile line within weeks. Once completed, it will carry more than a half a million barrels of oil each day from the Bakken formation in North Dakota to a distribution hub in Patoka, Ill., crossing 18 Iowa counties along the route.

Dakota Access opponents say accidents involving Magellan and other operators demonstrate the risks associated with the Dakota Access pipeline, the largest ever to cross Iowa.

"There have been so many spills that we feel a spill from this pipeline is almost inevitable," said Wally Taylor, the legal chair of Iowa's chapter of the Sierra Club.

But industry experts argue that the failings of older pipelines can't predict the performance of newer lines.

The spills data show that from 2010 to 2016, Iowa authorities were notified of 79 pipeline breaches from more than 25 pipeline operators in the state, including Magellan. Those incidents resulted in anhydrous ammonia, propane, natural gas and diesel fuel spilled onto Iowa land and into its waterways.

The exact amount of the hazardous materials spilled is impossible to calculate because of different units of measurement depending on the spilled material, DNR officials said. In addition, initial reports often are revised by investigators, but those changes are not always reflected in the DNR database.

Magellan, based in Tulsa, Okla., said the 12-inch diesel pipeline that ruptured near Hanlontown was built in the early 1950s. It is aging, like much of Iowa's 12,775-mile network of oil, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, said Adam Boughton, an environmental specialist with Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

"Most of the pipelines here in Iowa are going to be older pipelines, probably put in in the '70s, '80s and '90s," he said. "We haven’t had any real significant pipeline construction in a few years."

Since then, pipeline construction and monitoring have greatly improved, said Tom Seng, an applied assistant professor of energy business and assistant director of the School of Energy at The University of Tulsa.

Seng said the technology embedded in the Dakota Access project looks nothing like that of a 50-year-old pipeline.

"We’re talking about new pipes. The new pipelines are literally that — brand new steel, brand new monitoring systems," Seng said. "I don’t foresee any kind of leak happening with that pipeline."

Magellan's record in Iowa

On Jan. 25, Magellan initially reported a pipeline rupture and spill of nearly 140,000 gallons of diesel, which would have been the nation's largest diesel spill since 2010.

The spill resulted in the dispatch of more than 70 Magellan employees, local emergency responders, state and federal regulators and cleanup contractors. Crews quickly vacuumed up diesel and hauled out contaminated soil.

Magellan replaced the failed section of the pipeline and had it back in operation three days later. It also significantly revised downward the size of the spill, to 46,830 gallons.

Magellan has promised to reimburse state and local agencies for their response efforts. Worth County auditor Jacki Backhaus said she would present supervisors with her calculations of the response costs on Monday.

Magellan said the cause of the spill is still unknown, and the incident remains under investigation by federal authorities.

In addition to the most recent spill in Worth County, DNR data show that over the last 16 years Magellan has documented 27 pipeline spills, 18 spills at pipeline facilities and two while performing pipeline maintenance.

Magellan is Iowa's largest pipeline operator, overseeing 932 miles of refined petroleum pipeline, 363 miles of highly volatile liquid pipelines and 222 miles of anhydrous ammonia lines, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Iowa's second and third biggest operators are Enterprise Products Operating LLC, with 750 miles of highly volatile liquid pipelines, and Nustar Pipeline Operating Partnership, which oversees 440 miles of highly volatile liquid lines.

Magellan spokesman Bruce Heine said the company complies with all federal and state laws and regulations surrounding pipelines. The vast majority of releases are contained within Magellan properties, Heine said, and do not pose a threat to the public.

"It is a top priority for Magellan to maintain and operate our assets in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner," he said in a statement to the Register.

Pipeline spills often are caused by third parties, such as a farmer or contractor digging near a line. But DNR data show several recent spills in Iowa attributed to issues with Magellan's pipelines:

In 2013, a Magellan propane pipeline spilled 250 barrels of propane in Jasper County after a contractor noticed an anomaly on the 8-inch pipe.

In 2010, 4,830 gallons of fuel oil No. 2 spilled from a Dickinson County pipeline because a valve ruptured from corrosion, regulators say.

In 2003, a failed gasket resulted in 1,650 gallons of diesel pouring from a 10-inch Magellan pipeline onto Pottawatomie County soil.

Magellan's national record

Magellan's problems don't end in Iowa.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which regulates interstate pipelines, would not comment on the company's record.

But officials pointed to data that show Magellan's companies were involved in nearly 300 pipeline incidents from 2006 to 2016. Administration records show those incidents caused more than $62 million in property damage, with a collective 25,389 barrels of hazardous liquids lost.

By comparison, Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company behind the Dakota Access pipeline, was involved in 33 pipeline incidents over that time span. Federal data show those incidents caused nearly $10 million in property damage and resulted in nearly 10,000 barrels of hazardous liquids spilled.

Magellan operates 12,273 miles of hazardous liquid and gas pipelines nationwide, data show, while Energy Transfer Partners oversees 10,821 miles of pipelines.

Magellan's website says it operates the largest pipeline system in the country, carrying refined products and liquefied petroleum gas. Its 9,700 miles of refined pipeline crisscross 15 states in middle America.

Magellan also oversees an 1,100-mile ammonia pipeline system and 2,200 miles of crude oil pipelines and storage facilities, which collectively hold about 26 million barrels.

See the full map from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In 2010, Magellan paid a $46,200 civil penalty for federal Clean Water Act violations related to a 5,000-gallon oil spill at its pipeline terminal in Milford, and an unrelated issue involving a May 2009 emergency response drill at its bulk oil storage facility near Wichita, Kan.

The company made headlines last year when a leak in its anhydrous ammonia pipeline killed a 59-year-old Nebraska farmer who was investigating the fumes.

And in January of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Magellan over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act related to gasoline, diesel and jet fuel spills in Texas, Nebraska and Kansas.

In its agreement with the federal government, Magellan agreed to pay a $2 million civil penalty and $16 million in injunctive relief toward cleanup, training and other improvement efforts, according to an EPA news release.

Magellan's spokesman said the company has designed integrity management plans for each of its pipelines, taking into account the unique materials, construction methods and characteristics of each line.

The company uses an inspection tool called a "smart pig" on "the vast majority of its pipeline system — significantly more than what is required by regulations," Heine said.

"The age of a pipeline by itself does not pose a risk," Heine said. "Instead, the issues we carefully monitor regardless of the age of the pipeline include potential corrosion, damage from third-party excavation damage and welding failures.

See the full map from the Iowa Utilities Board.

'It's unbelievable the difference in quality now.'

David Barnett, a special representative with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, said new pipelines are "much safer" than those built decades ago.

Most leaky pipelines were built before 1973, when federal regulations began tightening construction measures, he said, adding that those pipelines don't compare to ones built with modern safety measures.

Since the 1970s, builders have added special coating to pipelines. They've eliminated less reliable hydrogen from the welding process and implemented hydrostatic testing to judge the acceptable operating pressure level for each line, Barnett said.

And waterways are better protected with horizontal directional drilling. Now, rather than burying the pipe directly under a river or creek bed, pipelines are buried as much as 90 feet under the waterline.

Many pipelines now incorporate pipeline pigs that run up and down an operating line to clean it and test for possible weaknesses.

"I know what's out there. I know what we used to do," Barnett said. "And it's unbelievable, the difference in quality now."

He acknowledges environmental critics' arguments that regulation of existing pipelines has traditionally lagged behind the scrutiny surrounding newly proposed lines.

"But I'll be honest with you: The spills we've had in Kalamazoo, Mich., and other places were eye-openers to our industry," Barnett said.

In 2010, a portion of an Enbridge pipeline ruptured and leaked oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The EPA estimated more than 1 million gallons of oil poured out, and the multiyear cleanup tab topped $1 billion.

In recent years, the administration has pushed operators to retrofit older lines with updated technology. Barnett serves on that agency's oil and hazardous liquid advisory committee.

"And believe it or not, we've got some companies out there that always step up and push for the right thing," he said, "because they're tired of their industry getting a bad rap."

Barnett said he wouldn't support Dakota Access if he didn't think it was safe. A 41-year veteran of pipeline welding, he represents the union welders who pieced together Dakota Access.

If it does leak, which he believes is unlikely, Barnett thinks modern monitoring systems will keep spills to a minimum. Technology allows operators to remotely shut down portions of a pipeline any time they detect a loss in pressure.

"I can't say there's not going to be a spill," he said. "I would be crazy to say that. But I really don't think there's going to be a spill."

Are pipelines safer?

Pipeline proponents often point to research that shows the lines are a safer method of transporting energy than railroads or trucks.

While there are many instances of rail and road spills in the DNR's database, it includes reported spills of as little as 1 gallon, Boughton says.

"You are comparing apples to oranges a little bit, but the way I like to think about it is there are fewer pipeline releases than there are train derailments and truck accidents," he said. "But the pipeline spills tend to be bigger."

Loren Scott, a consultant and professor emeritus of economics at Louisiana State University, said looking at pipeline spill data can be misleading. Regulators require even minuscule spills to be counted.

Oftentimes, remediation efforts recover a large share of the oil that's spilled. While spills are often high profile, they remain relatively rare, he said.

Scott studied the safety record of Louisiana's 4,300 miles of regulated pipelines from 1986 to 2016.

"At least 15 billion barrels of oil flowed through those pipelines during that 30-year time frame," Scott said. "We had 85,000 barrels spilled. … That's nothing."

He supports the Dakota Access project but said he has no formal ties to the project.

"I personally would prefer to have a pipeline transferring oil through what is basically rural areas of our state, versus a 100-car tanker train coming through the middle of Baton Rouge — a major metropolitan area," Scott said. "I just think it's obvious that it's safer."

'I would be surprised if it doesn't break'

Environmentalists don't buy such arguments.

"A nuclear power plant could argue we produce so much energy over so many years, and we've only had one meltdown," said Ed Fallon, director of Bold Iowa and a longtime pipeline opponent. "It's an energy structure that comes with a very, very high risk. One spill, one meltdown, one explosion — that's all it takes to cause great problems."

Conversely, he said news reports never detail catastrophes from wind or solar energy projects. Fallon worries that Dakota Access contractors, working to make up for regulatory delays, might have done sub-par work as they sought to complete the controversial project on time.

"What corners did they cut to get it done so fast? We saw them working at incredible speed," Fallon said.

Fallon has little confidence in the pipeline's safety.

"It's impossible to say what's going to happen," Fallon said. "But let's put it this way: I will be surprised if it doesn't break in Iowa."

Wally Taylor, with the Sierra Club, doesn't agree with arguments that distinguish between older and newer pipelines because, he said, even new ones leak, and he has little faith in state and federal regulators monitoring pipeline performance.

"All of these pipeline spills that occurred in the last few years occurred in spite of the federal agency," he said. "So I don’t have much confidence that the federal agency is doing its job."

Iowa pipelines by the numbers

Natural gas transmission lines: 8,341 miles

8,341 miles Refined petroleum products pipelines: 1,813.2 miles

1,813.2 miles Highly volatile liquids (like propane and ethane): 2,199.6 miles

2,199.6 miles Crude oil pipelines: 421.8 miles

Source: Iowa Utilities Board

Dakota Access safety measures

Dakota Access pipeline builder Energy Transfer Partners says its 1,172-mile pipeline will meet and often exceed federal safety regulations.

"Most importantly, safety is the company’s top priority — safety of our people and our assets, the safety of all those who live and work in the communities through which we pass, and the safety of the environment," Energy Transfer spokeswoman Lisa Dillinger said in a statement.

Sensors along the pipe will automatically track pressure, temperature, density and flow. Operators will monitor the pipeline’s performance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Dillinger said. Valves will automatically close when problems are sensed.

During construction, crews examined 100 percent of pipeline welds through what the industry calls non-destructive testing, "which is well above the 10 percent required by federal regulation," she said. That includes visual and X-ray inspections.

The project is buried deeper than required, officials said, and the company exceeded regulations regarding pipeline materials. Energy Transfer crews inspected pipe mills for quality as pipe was being manufactured.

The entire length of the pipeline will be inspected internally with a tool known as a caliper pig, and crews will use hydrostatic testing to ensure the pipe can maintain its integrity up to 125 percent of its maximum operating pressure.

Federal regulations require 26 inspections per year, but Dillinger says the company will perform routine ground and aerial leak inspections every 10 days. Energy Transfer will also post signs along the pipeline route with warnings about digging in those areas.