In effort to raise awareness about the human and environmental cost to oil pipeline spills and rally opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a group called The Center for Biological Diversity put together this time lapse video documenting every significant oil pipeline spill in the US since 1986.

Here's how they describe the video:

This time-lapse video shows pipeline incidents from 1986 to 2013, relying on publicly available data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Only incidents classified as "significant" by the agency are shown in the video. "Significant" incidents include those in which someone was hospitalized or killed, damages amounted to more than $50,000, more than 5 barrels of highly volatile substances or 50 barrels of other liquid were released, or where the liquid exploded or burned.

According to the data, since 1986 there have been nearly 8,000 incidents (nearly 300 per year on average), resulting in more than 500 deaths (red dots on the video), more than 2,300 injuries (yellow dots on the video), and nearly $7 billion in damage. Since 1986 pipeline accidents have spilled an average of 76,000 barrels per year or more than 3 million gallons. This is equivalent to 200 barrels every day.



Learn more at NoKeystone.org and Center for Biological Diversity.