A Brief History
On December 30, 2009, the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha diesel oil pipeline in Shaanxi, China, suffered a rupture and spilled about 40,000 gallons of fuel into the Wei River and on to the Yellow River. An environmental disaster, but at least nobody was killed.
Digging Deeper
Transporting oil, other liquids, and gasses that might be toxic or flammable is dangerous, regardless of the manner of transport. Trains, trucks, ships, and pipelines are susceptible to accidents, natural disasters, and sabotage, and have all suffered disasters. Some notable pipeline disasters include the LaSalle Heights, Quebec natural gas explosion in 1965 that left 28 people dead, 39 injured, and 200 homeless; the San Bruno, California natural gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that killed eight people, shot flames 1000 feet high, and destroyed at least 36 houses; and the sabotage of the Nordstream Russian natural gas pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor in 2022 that may have been attacked by Ukrainian commandos.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Pagano, Angelina. The Keystone XL Pipeline: Environmental Issues. Nova Science, 2014.
Park, Susan, ed. The Politics of 21st Century Environmental Disasters. Routledge, 2023.
The featured image in this article, a satellite pictures by NASA WorldWind of Montreal, is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted“. (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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