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36-566: The first portion of the pipeline was built over the course of 150 days in 1950 by a 1,500-man labor force. It crossed approximately 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) from Redwater, Alberta , through Saskatchewan , Manitoba , North Dakota , and Minnesota , to the Great Lakes seaport of Superior, Wisconsin . At the same time, four oil tankers were constructed to carry the crude from Superior to oil refineries in Sarnia, Ontario . Oil first entered

72-582: A community of its size such as: A nine-hole golf course with grass greens is located within Redwater, a multi use recreational facility Pembina place, an outdoor swimming pool, the sand hills natural area which is home to some of the best ATV trails in central Alberta, a public library, and the world's largest oil derrick. The town is home to the Redwater Health Centre . Redwater has a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, ambulance services and

108-547: A dilbit spill more difficult than a conventional oil spill , particularly if dredging is considered too ecologically damaging. During the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill , the heavier components combined with silt and sank to the bottom of the water column , making cleanup difficult. Cleanup of the spill was still underway three years after the event, and officials at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Fishery Division stated that it will "be many more years before

144-467: A fertilizer plant Agrium Inc , a chemical production plant Evonik Industries , a petrochemical plant Pembina, a pipeline storage and shipping facility Access Pipeline INC and the Shell Scotford upgrader and refinery . These industries have spawned an array of offshoot businesses such as shipping, oilfield services, heavy equipment and other support services. Redwater boasts many attractions for

180-405: A marsh near Cohasset, Minnesota due to a rupture of Line 4 running from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada , and Superior, Wisconsin . Emergency responders enacted a controlled burn at 4:45pm the next day to prevent the oil from penetrating into any waterways. The cost of remediating the accident was reported around $ 5.6 million. On November 28, 2007, a large fire erupted during pipeline repair work at

216-521: A volunteer fire department . Schools in Redwater include Ochre Park School and Redwater School; providing instruction for kindergarten through grade 4, and for grades 5 through 12 respectively. The Review is a local weekly newspaper that serves Redwater. Dilbit Dilbit ( dil uted bit umen) is a bitumen diluted with one or more lighter petroleum products, typically natural-gas condensates such as naphtha . Diluting bitumen makes it much easier to transport, for example in pipelines . Per

252-472: Is a reference to the nearby Redwater River , an ochre-coloured tributary that drains into the North Saskatchewan River . The survey of the Redwater area was registered on September 7, 1906. The original post office, established in 1907 at a location to the east of present-day Redwater, was moved in 1919 to the current town site when Redwater was established as a hamlet . On December 31, 1949 it

288-566: Is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta , Canada that is surrounded by Sturgeon County . It is located on Highway 38 , approximately 52 km (32 mi) north of Edmonton . Its population was 2,053 in the 2016 census , while the town's municipal census conducted in 2012 counted a population of 2,116. In the early 1900s, the area where Redwater stands was settled first by Ukrainian settlers, and followed by English and French settlers. The name Redwater

324-556: Is an active area of research , and much remains unknown. In coastal marine ecosystems , such as those found in British Columbia, Canada , dilbit floats on the surface because it is too light to sink , unless it is significantly weathered. Weathering breaks down the lighter components. Dilbit is harmful to a wide range of marine animals, including sea otters , baleen whales , fish embryos, and juvenile salmon . The effects of dilbit on freshwater ecosystems have come into focus in

360-616: Is directly linked to the pipeline. Another point in Lockport, Illinois connects two pipelines to Patoka, Illinois , plus a longer link to Cushing, Oklahoma . A relatively short 56-kilometre (35 mi) link from Stockbridge, Michigan connects to two refineries in the Toledo, Ohio area. The Mainline system, conventionally divided into the US and Canadian mainlines, consists of 1900 miles of pipeline that run from central Alberta to southern Ontario via

396-466: Is now also transported by rail. The most common diluent used to dilute bitumen is natural gas condensate (NGC), especially the naphtha component. Due to insufficient quantity of natural gas condensate in Alberta, bitumen shippers also use refined naptha and synthetic crude oil (SCO) as diluent, and import a considerable amount from the U.S. Although SCO requires a higher volume percentage to achieve

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432-469: Is too viscous and dense to be transported by pipeline. To create a fluid capable of transportation by pipeline, bitumen must be mixed with a fluid that has much lower viscosity and will keep bitumen from precipitating out of the mixture. By 1985, Alberta Energy Company was operating dual pipelines to transport diluent from Edmonton to the Cold Lake oil sands and dilbit from Cold Lake to Edmonton. Dilbit

468-659: Is typically synthetic crude and accordingly the blend is called synbit . Bitumen and heavy oils are often produced from remote deposits such as the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta , Canada and the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela . Before 1980, most produced bitumen was transported by truck, but trucking is seasonally restricted and relatively inefficient and expensive compared to pipeline transport . However, bitumen in its undiluted state

504-461: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , the Town of Redwater had a population of 2,115 living in 910 of its 1,000 total private dwellings, a change of 3% from its 2016 population of 2,053. With a land area of 19.93 km (7.70 sq mi), it had a population density of 106.1/km (274.9/sq mi) in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada,

540-739: The Kalamazoo River . Despite alarms at Edmonton headquarters it took eighteen hours and a report from a Michigan utilities employee before the pipeline company acted to halt the flow finally. Enbridge reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency for a total of $ 177 million in response to the spill, along with an additional spill in Romeoville, Illinois later that year. This settlement included $ 110 million in spill prevention, $ 62 million in Clean Water Act violations, and $ 5.4 million in cleanup costs. In addition,

576-741: The Keystone Pipeline . In 1991, Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline spilled 1.7 million gallons of oil in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and the Prairie River , a tributary of the Mississippi River . It was the largest inland spill of oil in U.S. history. Deliberations over construction of a new Line 3 pipeline have drawn resistance from climate justice organizers and Native communities in Minnesota. On July 4, 2002, 252,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into

612-604: The Sturgeon River which travels roughly east-south-east about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the town and flows into the North Saskatchewan River . To the east and south-east, there are vast areas of sandy soil known locally as sand hills, some of which support a thriving silica sand and gravel industry. These differing zones support two major types of forest; coniferous , including Jack Pine , Scots Pine , White Spruce , Black Spruce , and some Balsam Fir ; broadleaf trees including Birch , Poplar and Aspen . In

648-633: The 2010 Enbridge spill of oil sands crude in Michigan that spills of diluted bitumen (dilbit) may require different response actions or equipment from response actions for conventional oil spills. These spills can also have different impacts than spills of conventional oil. ... We recommend that the Final EIS more clearly acknowledge that in the event of a spill to water, it is possible that large portions of dilbit will sink and that submerged oil significantly changes spill response and impacts. We also recommend that

684-499: The Alberta Oil Sands Bitumen Valuation Methodology, "Dilbit Blends" means "Blends made from heavy crudes and/or bitumens and a diluent , usually natural-gas condensate, for the purpose of meeting pipeline viscosity and density specifications, where the density of the diluent included in the blend is less than 800 kg/m ." If the diluent density is greater than or equal to 800 kg/m , the diluent

720-711: The Clearbrook Junction. This fire, described by a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as a "big fire, not an explosion", killed two workers and caused a $ 4 per barrel spike in oil prices the following day. The 34-inch (860 mm) pipeline carries crude from Saskatchewan to the Chicago area. On July 26, 2010, 840,000 gallons of dilbit crude oil leaked from the pipeline in Calhoun County, Michigan , spilling into Talmadge Creek that flows into

756-658: The Final EIS include means to address the additional risks of releases that may be greater for spills of dilbit than other crudes. For example, in the Enbridge spill, the local health department issued voluntary evacuation notices based on the level of benzene measured in the air." Pipelines are a major source of dilbit transportation and of revenue in Canada and the United States . The effects of dilbit spills on freshwater ecosystems

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792-567: The NWR Sturgeon Refinery, built, owned and operated by NWRP, under a multi-year agreement with the Alberta provincial government, which has provided multi-billion dollar loans for the operation as well as a 30-year commitment to supplying the refinery with bitumen feed. On their website, NWRP estimated that the economic value of the Sturgeon Refinery to Alberta is about $ CDN90 billion over 30 years". Other notable operations include

828-411: The Town of Redwater recorded a population of 2,053 living in 862 of its 946 total private dwellings, a 7.2% change from its 2011 population of 1,915. With a land area of 20.03 km (7.73 sq mi), it had a population density of 102.5/km (265.5/sq mi) in 2016. The Town of Redwater's 2012 municipal census counted a population of 2,116. The census also counted 921 total dwellings within

864-675: The agency can measure the full impact on fish and other animals' reproductive cycles." However, studies show that dilbit does not increase the risk of corrosion occurring within a pipeline or otherwise increase the risk of a release occurring. In 2013, opening on the Keystone XL pipeline proposal, the EPA recommended to the State Department that pipelines that carry dilbit (such as the proposed Keystone XL) should no longer be treated just like pipelines that carry any other oil. "We have learned from

900-474: The bitumen and diluent, pipeline specifications, operating conditions, and refinery requirements. Froth treatment which removes heavy constituents rather than adding lighter ones is another method. Diluent can be removed from dilbit by distillation and reused. Alternatively, the entire dilbit can be refined. Dilbit and synbit are typically processed by refineries as heavy or medium crudes, respectively. Since dilbit contains hydrocarbons at extreme ends of

936-570: The company was fined $ 3.7 million by the United States Department of Transportation due to 24 violations in pipeline safety regulation. By 2014, the cost of cleanup to the company totaled to $ 1.21 billion. In 2018, a tugboat dropped its anchor on the pipeline near the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, denting the pipe and causing 600 gallons (2,270 liters) of mineral oil to leak from two electric cables. Redwater, Alberta Redwater

972-543: The late 2010s, particularly by researchers at the Experimental Lakes Area and Queen’s University , both in Ontario, Canada . Environmental factors such as temperature and light change dilbit’s physical properties , so whole-lake ecosystem experiments are crucial in understanding the potential effects of dilbit leaks and spills. Oil spills were simulated in limnocorrals, which are effectively giant test tubes in

1008-871: The northern US. The system can carry up to 2.5 million barrels of oil per day. Lines 1 through 4 connect Edmonton to Superior, Wisconsin . From there, Line 5 runs through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and across the straits of Mackinac to cross back into Canada at the St. Clair River . Line 6 runs south through Wisconsin and Illinois to the terminal in Griffith, Indiana , which serves BP Whiting and other Chicago-area clients, and then continues on through northwest Indiana and southern Michigan to rejoin Line 5 at Sarnia, Ontario . The Mainline system comprises Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 61, 62, 64, and 67. Pipelines that connect to

1044-444: The pipe on August 25, 1950, and the first tanker, Imperial Leduc , was launched on November 4. Other tankers that followed were, Imperial Redwater , Imperial Woodbend , and B.A. Peerless . Because the lakes froze in the winter, preventing tanker traffic, the decision was soon made to expand the pipeline all the way to Sarnia. In May 1953, contracts were awarded and construction began. At 2,840 kilometres (1,760 mi), it became

1080-925: The pipeline system, and the actual pipes range in diameter from 12 to 48 inches (300 to 1,220 mm). One major junction point is in Clearbrook, Minnesota where the pipeline connects to the Minnesota Pipeline , which carries crude to the Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota . The North Dakota Pipeline Company system of pipeline also has a connection in Clearbrook, linking the Mandan Refinery in Mandan, North Dakota . The Murphy Oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin ,

1116-693: The same viscosity, at least one study found that SCO provides better blend stability than NGC. Shippers dilute bitumen before shipment in order to meet viscosity and density requirements found in common carrier pipeline tariff rules. A National Energy Board study assumed a standard dilbit containing 33% condensate (resulting in product with "21.5 °API and sulphur content of 3.3 percent") and synbit containing 50% SCO. By selecting different diluent types and blend ratios, bitumen shippers attempt to lower component costs, increase blend value, and maintain pipeline transportability. The blend ratio may consist of 25 to 55% diluent by volume, depending on characteristics of

Enbridge Pipeline System - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-510: The system, but are not part of it, include Line 9 (Montreal to Sarnia), Line 17 ( Stockbridge to Toledo ), and Line 55 ( Flanagan to Cushing ). As of 2013 there were expansion plans for the pipeline system which would, if permitted and fully built, provide the capacity to transport an amount of dilbit from the Athabasca oil sands into the United States and the Gulf Coast equal to that of

1188-537: The town, 77 more than the 844 counted by Statistics Canada in 2011. In addition to the farming industry that surrounds the town, numerous large industrial operations are located in the nearby Alberta's Industrial Heartland to the south. The largest industrial operation is the North West Redwater Partnership's (NWRP) Sturgeon Refinery , an 80,000 bbl/d (13,000 m /d) crude oil upgrader located near Redwater. The Sturgeon Refinery, also known as

1224-515: The viscosity range, it can be more difficult to process than typical crude oil. The Kalamazoo River oil spill was a major spill from a ruptured Enbridge dilbit pipeline in 2010. Cleanup took five years. The EPA ordered Enbridge to dredge the heavy bitumen out of hundreds of acres of Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River . Unlike conventional crude , unstabilized dilbit floats briefly in water but heavier components sink as light components evaporate . The remaining bitumen can make cleaning up

1260-459: The world's longest pipeline. A major upgrade was undertaken in the 1990s to replace old pipe and expand the system. Today, there are two routes that oil can take between Superior and Sarnia. A northern route passes through the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan before crossing into Ontario , while the southern route circles south of Lake Michigan through Illinois and Indiana before reaching Michigan. There are 59 pumping stations in

1296-409: Was incorporated as a village , becoming a town a year later on December 31, 1950. Originally, Redwater was primarily a farming community. The 1948 discovery of oil in the area transformed the hamlet of about 160 people into a town of 1,306 by 1951. Redwater is surrounded by wide, flat expanses of some of the best farming soil in Alberta. Some of the major geographical features in the area are

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