Tar Sands Secrets Exposed

by David Lincoln and Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Over a year ago, our organization, Green Fields Renewal (http://greenfieldsrenewal.com/)
set out to expose the oil industry abuses by the Koch Brothers, Exxon and others resulting
in Tar Sands spills (past, present and future) and major health impacts. We were
determined to help people subjected to spills visualize their probable toxic exposures and
inform the public about their future health risks of exposure. Here is how we approached
the problem.
STRATEGY:
1. Distributed entertaining and sarcastic original content based on startling new facts
and satirical analogies which were spread throughout the mainstream media.
2. Created an original blog series of user friendly, evidenced-based content from deeply-
buried, overlooked or misunderstood, publicly accessible sources.
3. Created and modified technical diagrams and figures to display highlights of easily
understood graphics and visuals.
4. Created new environmental models and maps showing specific impacts of tar sands
on communities from verifiable software.
5. Extracted relevant numbers and data from lengthy technical reports and tables with
confirmed unit conversions and used them to support irrefutable arguments.
6. Provided precise references and quotes from linked government and industry
documents used in articles.

Accomplishments
First to publish toxic air pollution models for Tar Sands spills in Mayflower, AR, Kalamazoo River
MI, Potential KXL break in Cushing, OK and possible South Pegasus Pipeline spill in Beaumont.
TX.
First to publish historical satellite imagery to map actual position of KXL pipeline and growth of
neighborhoods in relation to pipeline expansion.
Acquired first post-spill satellite image at Mayflower showing impacts 4 months after Tar Sands
spill.
Published Personal Emergency Guide for Toxic Events - a community emergency response
handbook of steps to take in the event of a chemical spill, leak, flood, explosion, earthquake or
other neighborhood disasters.
Accumulated over 10,000 pages of oil industry technical reports on Tar Sands in Canada and the
US.


Blog Highlights - The Friday Night Specials (http://kochtruths.blogspot.com/ )

No 1. Revealed that Mayflower Tar Sands originate as the worst Tar Sands for your health of all the
major Tar Sands deposits in the world forming the dirtiest oil on earth.
#2 Discovered that Mayflower Tar Sands must add the highest levels of poisonous Benzene and Toluene
in order to remain liquid for transport and delivery.
#3 Disclosed how the recycling of Condensate used for diluent goes from Texas to Canada and back
again and drives the marginal economic model for the entire North American Tar Sands industry.
#4 Showed how every Tar Sands spill is in two phases; first a toxic gas phase which makes people
immediately ill and then a poisonous liquid stage which can lead to chronic illnesses (including cancer).
#5 Interpreted the analysis of the Tar Sands Oil sampled at Mayflower compared to Tar Sands sampled
in the pipeline and at the Canadian source.
#6 Explained why the initial toxic exposures in the first hour after a Tar Sands spill cause acute
symptoms but the levels of gasses measured by agencies 3 hours later are minor.
#7 First to Model the real time exposure to toxic gases from two critical places in Mayflower and
showed the Threat Zones and safe distances for residents.
*8 First to show models of Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill with levels of toxic Benzene exposure in the
first hour and changes during the next 5 days.
#9 First to model a Kalamazoo-sized Tar Sands spill at a critical junction of the KXL pipeline in Cushing,
OK a disaster in the making.
#10 First to model a Mayflower-sized Tar Sands spill in a neighborhood on the South Pegasus pipeline
one week before the pipeline reopened.
The Friday Night Specials

No. 1 - Just Like Molasses
No. 2 The Witches of Enbridge
No. 3 & No. 4 - The Koch Game and Meet the Tar Sands Crudes
No. 5 - The Koch's Secret Sauce
No. 6 - One Hour - Changing lives in Mayflower, Arkansas
No. 7 How Close is Too Close?
No. 8 - Why the Kochs Don't Warn the Sheeple!
No. 9 - Playing Chicken in Tornado Alley - Cushing, Oklahoma
No. 10 - (Urgent) Charles and David are panting for Pegasus, reopening Tuesday, July 1st.





Friday, April 25, 2014
New Feature - Digging Up Koch Secrets

It is Friday Night, and from now on this is the time another tiny chink falls from the wall the
Kochs have built between themselves and reality. Confession is good for the soul - if you have
one.

There are many things the Kochs do not want you to know about them. Some of these touch on
their business practices, some on their unique and ongoing attempts to rent to buy America's
political system. And then there's their personal lives....




The Kochs Share Their Little Secrets on Tar Sands
No. 1 - Just Like Molasses
(In the Continuing Series}

Remember when we told you Tar Sands have the viscosity of molasses?



We Lied.



This protester found out the Hard Way (Excuse the pun)

So, how do we shove it through those Pipes?


No. 2 The Witches of Enbridge




And now, a few sobering facts


According to PHMSA, the oil must be heated to move it to the surface, making it more toxic.

Then, it must be combined with even more toxic solvents to keep it from turning solid in the
pipeline. The principal solvents used are Benzene and Toluene.

Benzene is a known carcinogen.
Toluene is a potent neurotoxin.

With up to 5% volatile solvents together with deadly hydrogen sulfide and increased heavy
metals, these poison pipelines are one of the most dangerous hydrocarbon transport
mechanisms known in America.

Wabasca Tar Sands are a thousand times more resistant to flow than molasses when the
Bitumen is in the reservoir (5 million cp).

In the Wabasca Field area, the bitumen is a solid asphaltic substance (see bitumen photo below)
composed of organic matter and Asphaltenes which by definition are soluble in both toxic
benzene and toluene.
i



iUniversity of Alberta 2014, What are Asphaltenes in Petroleum, Oil Sands and Heavy Oil?




Refined Bitumen







Source: PHMSA 2012
i



iPHMSA July 23, 2012 Transportation Research Board Study of Pipeline Transportation of
Diluted Bitumen
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) national Academy of Science
Briefing
Daugherty, Linda, Alan Mayberry, Jeff Gilliam
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/dilbit/Daughertyetal072312.pdf

Friday, May 2, 2014
Friday Night Special No. 3 & 4 - The Koch Game and Meet the Tar Sands
Crudes
No. 3 - What the Brothers Koch, and their Oily Friends don't want you to see
12,000 documents.

The 12,000 were subpoenaed and copies were delivered to the U.S. Attorney General's Office,
and the State of Arkansas Attorney General's Office about a month after the spill. No one has
mentioned them since.

What was received? No one knows. Could it have been 1916 phone books? David Koch's Little
Black Book? Rex Tillerson's dirty laundry? No one knows what was handed over because the
Attorney Generals have not even published the titles of the documents. Why is that?

Not having the titles of the documents makes it really tough to request them.

But we have 10,000 documents which were processed through a procedure which we call The
Koch Game.




These are documents found in places entirely unrelated to the apparent subject matter. We
found them in individual company reports to investors and shareholders, in data about sales
and assets, in legal proceedings from other spills.

They appear to have been 'misfiled,' if you know what we mean. As we have gone through these
we are turning the juiciest into cartoons. End of Koch Shell Game.


No. 4 - Meet the Tar Sands Crudes


The Tar Sands Crudes are the raw material which are processed to make the products used in
your car as gasoline and in so very many other ways. Because we are running out of relatively
clean crude oil supplies today Big Oil has turned to Tar Sands Crudes as raw material.

But while oil companies have always externalized their costs, forcing ordinary people to pay for
their spills and toxic accidents, the Crudes exact costs which make the earlier raw material look
like a rose-scented bubble-bath.

These are Tar Sands Crudes, the raunchiest, dirtiest substances imaginable.
Just to get Tar Sands Crude to move through the pipes means diluting it because it has the
consistency of something between tar and molasses. The diluent is not healthy for living things
and some of them cause cancer or are neurotoxins.

These things are ugly, nasty things which smell to high heaven and certainly deserve the name,
'crude.'

To make this more understandable we have given these Tar Sands Crudes names to inject a little
personality and provide personas which give you a sense of what they are about.

Introducing - The Tar Sands Crudes and their sponsor, Charles Koch.



WABASCA HEAVY DILBIT SYNTHETIC & CAL KOCH


All Tar Sands Crudes are not created equal. Some are far more toxic and dangerous than
others. Meet the baddest Tar Sands Crude of them all - WABASCA HEAVY. And as you read his
profile you will see just how heavy he is.







Friday, May 16, 2014
FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL No. 5 The Koch's Secret Sauce
The Koch's Secret Sauce The Profit is in the Poisons
(Sort of like those special spices in your Indian food!)



Of course, it is not likely Charles himself was hunkered down in the secret laboratory under his
mansion in Wichita, Kansas. But he certainly knew the formula.


Koch Truths and Green Fields Renewal will now reveal the actual content of the ugly substance
which bubbled out of the broken pipe in Mayflower a little over a year ago. Notice, this
information has been carefully sequestered by ExxonMobil.

Believe us, they have their reasons for this.

This sample of Wabasca Heavy was taken at the Suspected Source, (the pump station about 20
miles upstream from the Pegasus pipeline rupture). From there, it was sent by the USCG for
analysis in Canada in June 2013, a few months after the Mayflower disaster. This is typical of
what was in the pipe just before it ruptured.




Gas Chromatogram of Mayflower Suspected Source - These are the fingerprints, what
ExxonMobil has worked so hard to hide from the public and their victims.

Source: EPA/ ESTS

Above we see a hybrid Dilbit mixture, with virtually identical distribution of heavy hydrocarbon
molecules (on the right) as we saw in the Wabasca Heavy sample in Part 1.

But this Secret Sauce has special additions. These new additions include the toxic BTEXs like
benzene, a potent carcinogen, and toluene, a neurotoxin.

And the concentration levels were very, very high in the Secret Sauce.


Would having known about this made a difference in treating the victims? Absolutely.

But then the evidence would also have been presented in court, an eventuality to be avoided at
all costs, especially if those costs can be externalized to small children and other victims.

Sunday, May 25, 2014
No. 6 - One Hour - Changing lives in Mayflower, Arkansas

We've been studying the Exxon Spill of Mayflower for months now and have compiled 10,000
documents which tell the story below. Here are the facts:


The critical period for maximum exposure during the Exxon Spill, March 31, 2013 in Mayflower,
Arkansas was short.

However, maximum exposure is not necessary for the effects to be life altering, causing
permanent damage to people, especially children, which will not be visible for years.

Exxon refused to turn over information, stalling during the time the impact of those impacted
should have begun treatment. This is their standard strategy, learned from the Koch Brothers to
maximize their profits by minimizing their costs.

We have the composition of what came out of the broken pipe, and we have used it, beginning
with the material below.

One Hour


Benzene, highly cancer causing, Toluene, toxic to the nervous system, especially in children, and
Hydrogen Sulfide, very poisonous, corrosive, flammable, and explosive, surged out of the broken
pipe with explosive speed, filling the air and rapidly moving out into the entire community.
The damage was being done to everyone before any warning took place. People reported they
were not told to leave the area.

MAXIMUM EXPOSURE IN FIRST HOUR
Significantly, there were NO monitors during this time.


PPM Parts Per Million This does not sound like a lot, but it is, like a
poison, it does not take much to disable and kill.

Total Spill = 210,000 gals of dilbit, a highly toxic substance itself, only able to
move through the pipe because Benzene and Toluene were added.

BENZENE
1% of Condensate
4000 ppm to 25 yds.
800 ppm to 75 yds.
50 ppm to 300 yds. = approx. odor threshold
If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe.
i







TOLUENE Acute Symptoms
ii


2% of Condensate

4500 ppm to 30 yds.

Narcosis, impairment of reaction time and coordination

1200 ppm to 75 yds.
Weakness, Anorexia, staggering gate, nausea, nervousness, momentary loss of memory,
significant reduction in reaction time
200 ppm to 200 yds.
Mild throat and eye irritation, prolonged eye-to-hand reaction time, some impaired
cognitive function, mild headache, dizziness, sensation of intoxication, fatigue, general
confusion and moderate insomnia





Hydrogen Sulfide ACUTE
EXPOSURES

4% of Dilbit
50 ppm to 500 yds.
Maximum level of 50 ppm allowed for 10 minutes maximum duration if no
other measurable exposure occurs.
Mild conjunctivitis, respiratory tract irritation in 30-60 minutes

25 ppm to 750 yds.
Strong, unpleasant odor, but not intolerable.
OSHA has established an acceptable ceiling concentration of 20 ppm for
hydrogen sulfide in the workplace.

8- 10 pm to 2 miles
Easily detected, moderate odor
Beginning eye irritation.
Permissible Exposure Level, 8 hours

NIOSH has set a maximum Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) ceiling
value of 10 ppm for 10 minutes maximum duration.





Since these chemicals are heavier than air they also fill depressions and holes in the ground,
waiting like stalking predators for victims.



Everyone in Mayflower could smell the Exxon Spill
Everyone was at risk
But Rex Tillerson, the Kochs and President Obama
do not think
Exxon Mobile
should be responsible for the damage still being done to
the folks of Mayflower.


Where were those who should have taken immediate
action?

Was any action taken to ensure the well-being of the
people of Mayflower?

The Answer is - NO


Charles Koch was in Wichita, Kansas
- 429 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas
See a larger picture of Charles' home.

Charles has built out a huge operation which uses deceit, lies, and stalling to optimize his profits
instead of doing business responsibly.



David Koch was in New York City, or may be his posh place in
Southampton, NY
- 1,248 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas
See a larger picture of David's home in Southampton.

David never opposed his brother as Koch Industries built out a huge operation using deceit, lies,
and stalling to optimize his profits instead of doing business responsibly. But today he
complains about the negative press.



Rex Tillerson was in Bartonville, Texas
- 363 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas
See a larger picture of Rex's Home.

Rex is responsible for the corporation he heads. He failed to ensure safety and followed the
Koch Method for evading the consequences of causing harm to others.




Barack Obama was in Washington DC
- 1,028 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas.
See a larger picture of the house where Obama resides.

And Obama enjoys his time in office, looking forward to a lucrative retirement, paid for by Koch
and his friends.




We have more coming.



i
Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services 2013 Benzene
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/benzene.htm


ii

International Programme on Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria 52: Toluene, 1986.

Thursday, June 5, 2014
No 7 Friday Night Special How Close is Too Close?


If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe.
i


Last week we shared with you the facts about what chemicals gushed into the pristine air of
Mayflower, Arkansas on March 29, 2013. This was one of the things you were not supposed to
find out.

Remember what we told you about Benzene, which is highly carcinogenic, Toluene, a
neurotoxin, and Hydrogen Sulfide, which is a potent poison, being the chemicals of choice used
to force the Tar Sands through those pipes?

Now you know exposure to these for any length of time causes the victim to become sensitized to
any and all future exposure. Smelling it AT ALL is too close.

And knowing full well what kind of chemicals were in those pipes Rex Tillerson and men like the
Kochs withhold this information because What We Don't Know Can't Hurt Them! It only hurts
us.

Here is the Time Line for those first hours after the spill began.




And here are the kind of maps which the ALOHA system could have delivered to residents and
HazMat units within minutes of the time the spill began.

Original Spill



HYDROGEN SULFIDE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH




H2S ALOHA MODEL MARPLOT



TOLUENE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH


TOLUENE THREAT ZONES MARPLOT



BENZENE THREAT ZONES GOOGLE EARTH



BENZENE THREATS MARPLOT




H2S Threat Zones 2 East Ditch



H2S Closeup East Ditch2



Toluene 2 East Ditch



Benzene 2 East Ditch



BENZENE 2 EAST DITCH


ALOHA MAYFLOWER CALCs


Est. size of spill at 5,000 barrels = 210,000 gallons of Dilbit

Measured 4.1 % H2S



Measured 1.84 % of Dilbit is BTEX (April 14, 2013)







Est. 35% of Dilbit is Condensate

Measure 4.85% of 35% Condensate is BTEX ( Nov. 1, 2013)

1% of Cond is Benzene


Est. 35% of Dilbit is Condensate
Measure 4.85% of 35% Condensate is BTEX (Nov1. 1, 2013)

2% of Cond is Toluene

1% of Cond is Benzene


And now we have the answer to the question of why folks like the Kochs and Tex Tillerson don't
want us to know what those pipes contain.









i
Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services 2013 Benzene http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/benzene.htm

Monday, June 16, 2014
No. 8 - Friday Night Special - Why the Kochs Don't Warn the Sheeple!
The First Hour

When the 'Koch Method' is used:


( Don't Warn the Sheeple!!!)

Two Toxic Events - Why Lying Pays for Big Oil


In the first hour after a Toxic Event begins a torrent of toxins and poisons rush out of
the broken pipe, dispersing into the local area. This conforms to a pattern which can be
calculated.

Benzene, Toluene and Hydrogen Sulfide share these attributes, as we demonstrated in
No. 7 Friday Night Special, last week. These highly volatile and toxic chemicals impact
both air and water and all living things they contact. This happens immediately both
through breathing in Benzene and through contact with water, which has also been
exposed.

In No. 8 we are focusing on how fast and widely Benzene is dispersed to show you what
needs to happen to change the behavior of Big Oil.


Continuing to breathe Benzene, for which we present profiles for two incidents, using
the higher amounts from the Kalamazoo Toxic Event to what took place in Mayflower,
Arkansas you can see why knowing what left those pipes, and how much, matters. The
information must be available not years later, but within minutes.

In a very short space of time breathing Benzene or the other toxic chemicals used by Big
Oil can have permanent impact on people, leaving them with a heightened vulnerability
to later exposure.

But since this is carefully not documented by the companies responsible this provides a
useful exit from accountability for them. We are going to show you how to close the exit.

Clear and reliable models for what will take place have been available for a long
time. Enforcing the use of these in real time is part of the solution.

We produced the models below using open source software freely available through The
Office of Response and Restoration.

Again, why is this this not being used and the information made immediately available
to people at risk along the multitude of pipelines now in place across America?

Because folks like the Kochs know this would nail them big time. Accountability would
cut into their profits. So, let's not hear any more talk about how well free markets work
when those doing business can externalize their costs, forcing the consequences of their
irresponsibility on others using asinine justifications of the 'public good.'

This Libertarian says, Hold the Kochs responsible instead of allowing them to evade
disclosure by using honorable rhetoric as cover for criminally irresponsible behavior."



We produced the simulation below, using the amount of the spill and what would have
taken place if it had occurred in Mayflower, Arkansas to demonstrate what is possible.
After you see this we'll tell you what needs to be done to stop the Big Oil in its tracks and
make them accountable.

The two existing programs, ADIOS, (Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills), which
provides models for how types of oil weather. This means how they undergo physical
and chemical changes, in the marine environment. ALOHA, which you heard about in
No. 7, exist. Used together we calculated the distance and size of the threat zones for
Benzene in the Kalamazoo Spill-size scenario.

This chart shows that the level of Benzene in the air after the Kalamazoo River spill
begins at about 6 ppm, (parts per million). As you can see, most of the impact is felt in
the first hour. We used ADIOS2 for calculating air dispersion and weathering of the type
of Tar Sands spilled, Cold Lake Blend, during that critical period.
Working from a database of more than a thousand different crude oils and refined
products, ADIOS quickly estimates the expected characteristics and behavior of spilled
oil. It was designed for just this use.
Using the ADIOS model together with the previously described ALOHA model the
extent and size of the threat zones for Benzene in the Kalamazoo Spill-sized scenario are
clear.

These programs make models available fast enough to be used in real time, providing
alerts to the areas which are being impacted.

As the graph below shows, the Benzene threat zone extends for more than 1.5 miles
where the initial Benzene concentration in the air could be greater than 50 parts per
million in the first hour.

Below is our simulation using the profile for the Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill in
2010 and the Toxic Event in Mayflower, Arkansas of 2013.
Amount of Benzene Released

Kalamazoo River,
Michigan
July 26, 2010
PPM - Parts Per Million


Mayflower, AR
March 29, 2013




Distance Benzene Spread

Mayflower, AR
March 29, 2013



Kalamazoo River
July 26, 2010





No. 9 - Which will be available in a few days, will show you what can happen when one
of these Toxic Events takes place in a major population center along the KXL pipeline.


The Elephant in the Room question which must be confronted is this.



What action do we, the people, take now?
Spills within these ranges are growing in frequency.
Big Oil has made it clear they take a psychopathic approach to the trauma and
damage done to individuals. They just do not care, not one bit.
Their failure to factor these potential liabilities for doing business for any
company, producing anything, become Standard Operating Procedure.

When it is clear you can only expect irresponsible behavior, you accept this as a fact and
legislate accordingly. The problem must be solved. There must be accountability.

Minimize the Impact of Toxic Events
Healing the Hazards
A Narrative






Wednesday, June 25, 2014
No. 9 - Friday Night Special - Playing Chicken in Tornado Alley - Cushing,
Oklahoma


Taxpayers have been subsidizing exercises for a possible terrorist attack in 2004 with exercises
carried out by the FBI. Why isn't this on the books of such corporations as Koch Industries as a
business expense?

You can ask, but they will never answer.



Speak No Koch See No Koch Hear No Koch


Possible explosions resulting from the very unlikely possibility of a terrorist attack were
calculated by the FBI. This included unexploded bombs, simulated hostage takings analyzed,
handling injuries and looking around the tanks for suspicious persons.

Dozens of companies store about 50 million barrels of U.S. and Canadian oil in Cushing, a town
of about 8,000 people.

"Then somebody said, 'Hey, we're in Tornado Alley." A significant pause followed.

The biggest disasters are natural and you would think people as wealthy as the Kochs would
know this. But then again, they probably do. Wichita, Kansas and Manhattan are a long piece
from Cushing, Oklahoma, Ground Zero for Big Oil. And we really mean, 'Ground Zero.'

The people who live and work there, mostly for the oil companies, have gotten the message.
Houses are on the market as people put distance between themselves and the potential for
becoming so much meat on the grill.

So, what would happen to a community if a Kalamazoo-sized spill (1 million gallons) occurred at
a critical junction of the KXL pipeline which has the capacity to transport 25 million gallons of
oil per day?

Glad you asked. That is a question we are prepared to answer.




Cushing Oklahoma is known as the Pipeline Crossroads of the World with the largest known
tank farm anywhere. First, because the KXL pipeline already runs through it as shown by the
purple line in the Google Earth image above. Second, because over 25 major pipelines intersect
at this point and are shipping in or out oils and other fuels with a constant threat of fire of
explosion. More than 70 percent of the petroleum thats shipped in the United States flows
through the pipes that intersect here. This is best seen in the Bloomberg Illustration below
which shows the pipelines and volumes at the Cushing oil hub.



Oil Pipeline Flows In and Out of Cushing, Oklahoma
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-27/in-the-pipeline

We have modeled the cloud of toxic Benzene which would immediately spread from a potential
pipeline break in the first hour after a large spill from the KXL Pipeline in Cushing, Oklahoma

(See the Aloha Model and colored Benzene threat zones in the Google Earth image below.



Possible Benzene Plume for a large

Tar Sands spill in Cushing Oklahoma
(Got the High School!)

This plume would likely spread for nearly 2 miles blown by the wind and would likely engulf the
local High School and half the city. The yellow confidence or uncertainty lines enclose the region
within which, about 95 percent of the time, the gas cloud is expected to remain.
We have modeled parameters similar to conditions at the Kalamazoo River Tar Sands Spill in
Michigan in 2010. We have also assumed a Cold Lake Blend of Tar Sands since this will be
transported by the KXL pipeline and it was the major component of the Kalamazoo spill.

Chemical Name: BENZENE
Wind: 5 miles/hour from S at 3 meters
THREAT ZONE:
Red : 699 yards --- (4000 ppm = AEGL-3 [60 min])
Orange: 1252 yards --- (800 ppm = AEGL-2 [60 min])
Yellow: 1.8 miles --- (52 ppm = AEGL-1 [60 min])

Model: ALOHA Heavy Gas

Simultaneously, a poisonous plume of Hydrogen Sulfide would spread along the ground
blanketing the town of around 8000 people across more than 6 miles (the limits of the Aloha
model shown below).




H2S Possible Spill Scenario for a large

Tar Sands spill in Cushing Oklahoma


Later, there would be a repeat of the Kalamazoo River spill with the tar sands oil finding a route
to the nearest stream or creek and contaminating the water over 10 miles downstream. The
likely creek spill extent is shown in blue above.



Photo of a Tank Farm Terminal at Cushing, OK
Just imagine living here.


Presumably the first responders are extremely well trained for an oil or tar sands spill, since the
gigantic tank farm consists of more than 300 oil shipping and storage tanks with a capacity to
store about 70 million barrels of hydrocarbons. Some terminals have published their action
plans, so it is surprising that their emergency planning and response models have apparently
not been made public.


Google Earth Image of Cushing Tank Farm

In May 2013, just two weeks before a devastating tornado hit Moore Oklahoma, Cushing
Emergency personnel conducted a drill based on an F-5 Tornado disaster scenario. The drill
revealed that once communications are knocked out, the terminals are basically on their own for
24 to 36 hours until the National Guard can be fully mobilized. According to Cushing Fire Chief
Chris Pixler, At the initial tornado strike, were already out of resources,
http://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2013/06/03/what-would-happen-if-an-f5-tornado-hit-
oklahomas-cushing-oil-hub/
And here is a map which shows which Petroleum Companies use Cushing. All of our favorites,
including Charles and David!


This is not a good situation to be in under the best of circumstances. For such a strategic and
vital industrial complex which handles roughly 10% of the U.S. Crude Oil Inventory, it is
unacceptable. If we can have forward military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, is it too much to
ask to have National Guard troops as ready and prepared to protect our strategic assets and
adjacent neighborhoods as we were to defend Iraqi oil fields and the gold in Fort Knox. Do we
even know if there is enough respiratory equipment available for those who might not be able to
immediately evacuate a large area?
Of course, Cushing itself won't need to worry about breathing for very long.

The only possible solution is to plan for the worst case scenarios with realistic emergency
response models now and begin mobilizing those resources in advance.
Worst case scenarios must include the usual terrorist soft target and fire scenarios, as well as
tornado and earthquake threats, but now must also involve total pipeline and tank failures and
explosions. As we have learned since 2010, pipeline failures involving Tar Sands can be difficult
to detect in time and can be devastating to surrounding communities since the condensate and
diluent spread first. Too often evacuations come too late or are not extensive enough.
Only by involving local community leaders in disaster planning and informing the residents
about the real risks and emergency steps to be taken can we hope to minimize health and safety
impacts.
Steps must be taken. Step over here to read about that.





Bret Schulte in Cushing, Oklahoma For National Geographic News
Published March 8, 2013

A worker monitors a switch directing oil flow at one of Cushing, Oklahoma's terminals. The self-
proclaimed "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" has become a front in the conflict over the Keystone XL
pipeline. [What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]
Saturday, June 28, 2014
No. 10 -Friday Night Special - (Early and Urgent)
Charles and David are panting for Pegasus, reopening
Tuesday, July 1st.


Big Oil had worked hard and doubtless paid a lot of money to ensure the Pegasus Pipe Line is
reopened. Exxon plans to reopen the 210 mile southern leg between Corsicana and Nederland (near
Beaumont, Texas on July 1
st
, 2014. But the question we should be asking as Independence Day
approaches must be Is it safe?
There are many reasons why it is insane to accept the self-evaluation of Big Oil, and especially Charles and
David Koch, on whether or not the Pegasus Pipe Line can be safely operated.

First, there is the issue of honesty. Why would anyone believe the Kochs or their close associates when
the Koch Method, the strategies which brought them all this success, includes ensuring their employees
lie, cheat and steal? Horrifying and incredible as this sounds there is plenty of evidence to back it up.

An article in Bloomberg, titled, Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales, written
by Asjylyn Loder and David Evans, appearing October 3, 2011, included several instances which illustrate
the enormous divide between what Charles, David, and other representatives of Koch say, versus how they
operate within Koch Industries.

The article provided a statement from Phil Dubose, a Koch employee. Dubose, who testified against the
company, saying he and his colleagues were shown by their managers how to steal and cheat -- using
techniques they called the Koch Method.



If they encourage these illegal acts it would be insane to trust anything said, either by them personally, or
by any representative of Koch Industries or their associates.

Second, what we know about the age and fitness of Pegasus.

The Pegasus is over 60 years old. Both the materials of which pipe lines and people are made are subject
to aging. You know, the joints start to give out along with the colon and bladder. Things just start falling
apart and leaking.

I'm going to give you a visual on this so you will see the point. Visuals are really good things because we
get the point so much faster.


Here is the Pegasus Pipe Line when it was first build. Shiny and new, its seams and joints would,
hopefully, withstand the pressure for which it was designed, just like the image below despite the
daunting example of the Keystone Pipe Line which has already experienced leaks.


The young Pegasus Pipe Line
But as time passes, the body ages. Those firm muscles, fast reactions, and stamina, especially stamina,
decline until the smallest incident can leave the former athlete flat on their face or dependent on a cane
for support, lest they break something important, or which they still hope is important.

The Pegasus Pipe Line Today

There is no point denying it, now is there?

The Pegasus Pipe Line is not only past the age to receive Social Security, it is way past its age of retirement
and it has been forced to carry twice the pressure for which it was designed. So it is hardly fair to expect
there not to be....well, incidents. The Pegasus might even need Depends to ensure a reasonable amount of
security.

Now, we will get into the kind of incident, very much like Mayflower, Arkansas, we can expect.


Lets assume a spill about the size of the one which occurred in Mayflower, Arkansas on March 29
th
2013
which hypothetically takes place under the upscale subdivision of Pinewood Estates about 10 miles NW of
Beaumont, Texas.

Pinewood Index Maps


Pegasus South Pipeline (in black) Index Map
Pegasus South leg is about 205 miles long and 20 inches in diameter built in 1954 (60 years old). Along
this route we chose Pinewood Estates because the subdivision was built on top of the pipeline and the pipe
crossing is exposed is exposed nearby at Little Pine Island Bayou.

Section of Pegasus South Line Exposed at Pinewood Estates
These are the type of areas where old pipelines are most likely to break!



Pinewood Regional Map
Ironically, Pinewood Estates is only about 5 miles east of the town of Sour Lake, the oldest surviving town
in Hardin County, famous as the birthplace of Texaco and also home to one of the biggest sinkholes in
Texas. Today, the Sour Lake oilfield is the oldest continuously-producing oil field in the world with
hundreds if not thousands of wells drilled since the early 1900s.

Oil derricks at Sour Lake, circa 1910
It also happens to sit on a large salt dome which makes the whole region somewhat unstable and
susceptible to subsidence. This area is particularly risky after the withdrawal of nearly 100 million barrels
of oil and untold hundreds of millions of barrels of water saltwater produced for operations and
freshwater extracted for drinking.





Pinewood Estates Index Map
As shown above on the index map, Pinewood Estates was a designated census place in the 2010 census
with a population of nearly 1700 people. Virtually none of these homes were built when the Pegasus went
in over 60 years ago. Most were not even there in 2005 (see Google Earth image below).




June 2005 Feb 2013 Most Recent Image Avail

Feb 2013 GoogleEarth Close-up of Pinewood Estates

But they are there now, built right over the Pegasus pipeline (shown in yellow above) because Exxon does
not want anyone to know where it is. Security, you know.


Pinewood Estates Regional Map Showing Site of Possible Break and Existing Leak

See that interesting little yellow outline with "Pinewood Estates," written over it? We're going to see next
what this portends for this very nice neighborhood where people chose to live entirely unaware of what
was flowing beneath their homes.

Drum roll and ominous overtones....


Pinewood Estates Mayflower-sized Spill
The following series of 3 maps show the extent of air pollution plumes in the first hour after a hypothetical
pipeline break after reopening the Pegasus South leg. In addition, the calculated threat zone distances and
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for each substance are shown from the Aloha Emergency
Planning models. The threat zones are shown for the toxic gasses hydrogen sulfide, benzene and toluene
which were modeled based on a Mayflower-sized spill of roughly 200,000 gallons of Wabasca Heavy Tar
Sands Oil. This seems like a reasonable estimate given that the 20 pipe is capable of transporting more
than 3.75 million barrels of Tar Sands per day.

Pinewood H2S Threat Zones

Hydrogen Sulfide Threat Zone

This is a very large threat zone and Hydrogen Sulfide is a poison. This is not the sort of thing your
children should be inhaling, even for a very short time.

This is why we are proposing legislation which takes into account the very limited trust which should be
granted to such corporations as Exxon and Koch Industries.




Benzene Threat Zones








Toluene Threat Zones


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David Lincoln
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
Green Fields Renewal
July 2014