October 2015, Vol. 242, No. 10
Editor's Notebook
Far More than Money at Stake
How do you measure the cost of a pipeline spill? The answer: you can’t. That’s what the upper management of Plains All-American Pipeline is learning these days. It’s been a bad year for the Houston-based outfit that, through a series of acquisitions, has quickly become one of the nation’s largest independent midstream operators with over 18,000 miles of oil products pipelines. The company is still reeling from the results of a disastrous May 19 spill along the scenic coast of Santa Barbara, CA when a corroded 24-inch pipeline leaked over 120,000 gallons of crude. Though most of the mess has been cleaned up, the fallout of the spill will linger for years, not to me
Comments