Thursday, May 5, 2016 10:48 am
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A natural gas pipeline is being refitted to carry light sweet crude oil from the North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to Texas. Houston based Energy Transfer is refitting a 30" pipeline for the change over. The pipeline will go through northwestern McCracken then through all four Mississippi River Counties: Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton Counties.
Pipelines carrying this kind of oil have exploded several times in the past few years. Bakken oil has been blamed for rail explosions.
"It's the type of oil at the heart of America's energy boom. It's the oil that makes North Dakota one of the priciest places to live in the country. It's the oil that exploded in July after a 72-car freight train derailed in Canada, killing 47 people.
And now, Bakken shale crude oil is also the most explosive compared to oil from 86 other locations worldwide, according to an analysis released Sunday by the Wall Street Journal." ThinkProgress: Some of the Most Dangerous Crude Oil in the World Fueling North Dakota's Energy Boom
WKMS reports that McCracken's Emergency Management Director Jerome Mansfield and his agency is getting the word out about the risks of the pipeline and dealing with emergencies that can result from breaching the line.
The pipeline is scheduled to be operational by October, 2016.