FOR WEEKS NOW, NATURAL GAS HAS BEEN LEAKING OUT OF A BUSTED
PIPELINE IN THE COOK INLET UP IN ALASKA, AND THANKS TO THE
WEATHER WE HAVE NO IDEA WHEN THE LEAK WILL ACTUALLY BE FIXED.
THIS STORY ISN'T GETTING MUCH ATTENTION NATIONWIDE, BUT I
THINK THESE SORTS OF LEAKS DESERVE FAR MORE ATTENTION THAN
THEY ARE CURRENTLY GETTING SO WE WILL BREAK IT DOWN --
ABOUT THE VOLUME --
THAT SEEMS LIKE A LOT TO BE
JUST EVERY DAY DUMPING INTO THE
OCEAN, BUT THERE ARE SOME BIGGER NUMBERS AT PLAY WE WILL GET INTO
A BIT AND IT MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY THAT LEAK IS STILL GOING ON.
A
LETTER WAS RELEASED AS A RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION, THIS IS
FROM HILCORP, THAT SAYS --
THEY ARE SAYING WE CAN'T FIX IT, WE ALSO CAN'T SHUT IT DOWN.
SO LET'S BREAK DOWN WHAT THEIR ARGUMENT IS, WHY NEITHER OF
THOSE THINGS WOULD WORK --
THEY HIRED A CORPORATION TO DO THE DIVING, THEY SAID THE
LOOSE ICE FLOWING IN THE INLET MAKES IT TOO DANGEROUS, WHICH
COULD THEORETICALLY BE TRUE, IT SEEMS LIKE A DANGEROUS THING TO
DO, AND THE HEAD OF THE ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION GROUP SAYS --
THAT'S INSANE.
BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY, BECAUSE --
WHY WOULD IT BE?
YOU ONLY HAVE PIPELINES TRANSPORTING
NATURAL GAS FOR DECADES, WHY WOULD THERE BE SYSTEMS
TO ASSESS IT?
THAT'S THE BIGGEST ISSUE WHEN IT COMES TO EVERY ONE OF THESE
STORIES HAVING TO DO WITH LEAKS.
THERE IS NO PROPER OVERSIGHT,
THERE IS LACK OF REGULATION -- PEOPLE LIKE US DON'T WANT
REGULATION BECAUSE WE ARE JUST LOOKING TO BE DIFFICULT.
WE ARE
NOT ANTI-BUSINESS, WE ARE JUST ANTI-DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CONSUMERS.
AND THIS IS
ANTI-ENVIRONMENT.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE POLICIES OR REGULATIONS IN
PLACE TO A) ENSURE THAT LEAKS LIKE THIS DON'T HAPPEN OFTEN, OR
AT ALL, AND B)
HAVE SOME SORT OF STRATEGY PUT IN PLACE TO
DEAL WITH THE LEAK IMMEDIATELY AFTER IT TAKES PLACE, THIS
KIND OF STUFF WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN, AND IT DOES.
IT HAPPENS WAY MORE OFTEN THAN WHAT WE SEE IN THE NEWS,
WHICH YOU WILL GET TO AT SOME POINT.
EXACTLY.
NOW --
BUT IT'S NOT JUST HUMANS IN
THIS AREA THAT ARE POTENTIALLY
AT RISK.
THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
SPOKESPERSON SAID --
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AN ENDANGERED SPECIES THAT COULD
THEORETICALLY BE ENDANGERED BY THE ONGOING LEAK.
NOW --
THAT SOUNDS GOOD BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT DOESN'T SEEM TO
BE TRUE --
SO THOSE ENDANGERED WHALES COULD BE HARMED OR DIE BECAUSE
OF THIS LEAK.
WE SAID THEORETICALLY WHY THEY CAN'T FIX
IT, BUT IT SEEMS INTERESTING THAT THEY CAN'T SHUT IT OFF.
I
LOOKED INTO WHY IT IS, AND THEY SAY THEY CAN'T SIMPLY DEACTIVATE
THE PIPELINE BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO KEEP A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF
PRESSURE IN IT, BECAUSE IF THEY DON'T, THEN WATER CAN GET INTO
THE PIPELINE, AND BECAUSE A LONG TIME AGO THE PIPELINE
TRANSPORTED OIL RATHER THAN NATURAL GAS, THE WATER WOULD GET
IN AND THEN SOME OF THE OIL WOULD BE RELEASED.
WE DON'T WANT
THAT, WE CERTAINLY DON'T WANT AN OIL LEAK, BUT YOU ARE TALKING
ABOUT AN ONGOING NATURAL GAS LEAK.
SO IS THAT REALLY THE
REASON?
AND I LOOKED INTO IT, IT IS LEAKING BETWEEN 2 AND 300
FEET OF THE GAS PER DAY, BUT I LOOKED INTO THE AMOUNT THEY
GENERATE, AND IT'S FAR MORE.
AS A PERCENTAGE IT'S NOT LEAKING
THAT MUCH.
SO THEY CAN SAY ALL THEY WANT ABOUT HOW IT'S NOT
SAFE TO SHUT IT DOWN BECAUSE SOME OIL MIGHT GET IN, IT'S SAFE
TO ASSUME THEY HAVE A PROFIT MOTIVE NOT TO SHUT IT DOWN.
NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT THAT.
NOT ONLY DO THEY HAVE A PROFIT MOTIVE, THEY DON'T WANT TO SPEND
THE MINUSCULE AMOUNT OF MONEY NECESSARY TO HAVE SAFEGUARDS IN
PLACE TO PREVENT THIS TYPE OF LEAK FROM HAPPENING OR A WAY OF
DEALING WITH THE LEAK AS SOON AS IT HAPPENS.
ALL IT REALLY HAS TO
DO WITH, IN TERMS OF REGULATION AND WHY THESE TYPES OF
CORPORATIONS AND COMPANIES ARE AGAINST IT, IS THE MONEY IT
REQUIRES.
THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY.
THESE ARE
ENERGY COMPANIES, THESE ARE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES WE ARE TALKING
ABOUT, THESE ARE COMPANIES THAT MAKE A TON OF MONEY AND THEY
CAN'T SPEND THE TINY, TINY FRACTION NECESSARY TO JUST
TAKE CARE OF SITUATIONS OR PREVENT SITUATIONS LIKE
THIS, AND THAT IS THE FRUSTRATING PART.
THEORETICALLY THEY COULD SPEND THE MONEY TO FIX THEM A LITTLE
FASTER, BUT IN TERMS OF PREVENTING, WE HAVE A STUDY, WE
WON'T GET TO IT TODAY, BUT WE'VE SHOWN YOU LEAKS IN NORTH AND
SOUTH DAKOTA AND OTHER STATES, THIS IS NOT A RARE THING.
THESE
SYSTEMS DON'T BREAK DOWN SOMETIMES, THEY BREAK DOWN
INEVITABLY, LIKE CLOCKWORK.
YOU CANNOT AVOID THESE PIPELINES,
THESE COMPLEX SYSTEMS UNDER INCREDIBLY HIGH-PRESSURE
TRANSPORTING LIQUID AND GAS IN SOME CASES DEEP UNDERWATER OR
DEEP UNDERGROUND, THE IDEA THAT WE CAN CONTAIN THEM AND AVOID
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHES THAT CAN RESULT, THAT'S HUMAN
HUBRIS.
THIS SORT OF ENERGY SYSTEM BEING THE CORE OF HOW WE
FUND OUR LIFESTYLE WILL ALWAYS RESULT IN ACCIDENTS LIKE THIS.
AND MAYBE IN THIS CASE WE WILL GET OFF LUCKY AND ONLY SOME
BELUGA WHALES WILL DIE AND ONLY SOME FISH WILL DIE BECAUSE THE
INLET WATCH ORGANIZATION, WHICH IS FILING LAWSUITS OVER THIS,
SAYS A DEAD ZONE IS STARTING TO ACCUMULATE IN THAT AREA WHERE
MARINE LIFE CAN'T EXIST, AND WILL ONLY SPREAD, SINCE WE HAVE
NO IDEA WHEN WE CAN SHUT IT DOWN.
MAYBE THAT IS THE LUCKY
CASE HERE.
BUT WE SEEN OTHER CASES, FAR LARGER DEVASTATION TO
THE GULF, UP IN ALASKA, WE MIGHT SEE IT AT SOME POINT
WITH THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE, THIS STUFF IS INEVITABLE
AND WE HAVE TO CHALLENGE NOT ANY PARTICULAR PIPELINE, WE
HAVE TO CHALLENGE THE ENTIRE PHILOSOPHY OF GENERATING
OUR ENERGY IN THIS WAY.
IT HAS TO BE FAR LARGER THAN OUR CURRENT EFFORTS, UNFORTUNATELY.