OTTAWA – TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline would have a 15 per cent chance per year of rupturing, according to a new report by the Council of Canadians, Quantifying Risk: Calculating the probability of an Energy East pipeline rupture. The figure is based on the safety record of TransCanada over the last six years, a period that saw the company’s pipelines rupture eight times.
“TransCanada has had more pipeline ruptures than any other company in Canada and it should be judged on that record,” says Mark Calzavara, an organizer with the Council of Canadians. “If Energy East is approved, it will only be a matter of time before it ruptures.”
In its application to the National Energy Board, TransCanada estimates the risk of rupture to be significantly less because it bases its calculations on industry averages rather than its own record.
The report calculates that up to 30 million litres of crude could spill from a rupture and that leaks as large as 2.6 million litres per day would not be detected by TransCanada’s monitoring centre.
“Energy East is all risk and no reward for Canadians. Allowing it to proceed will increase our climate emissions by 32 million tonnes per year – the equivalent of adding 7 million cars to our roads. We have to stop building dirty energy infrastructure to protect our water and our climate,” adds Calzavara.
The proposed Energy East pipeline would transport crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta to an export terminal in New Brunswick. TransCanada plans to convert a 3000-kilometre portion of an up to 40-year-old natural gas pipeline from Alberta through Ontario. It plans to build new pipeline for the remaining 1600 kilometres.
The report can be read here: http://canadians.org/energyeast-15percent
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For information, please contact:
Mark Calzavara, Council of Canadians
416-319-6524 or 416-979-5554
