Exxon pipline spills in the Yellowstone River

[sth]

http://billingsgazette.com/news/loc...01-af91-5a59bad85b0c.html?oCampaign=hottopics



So this pipeline busted in the Yellowstone River and spilled 42,000 gallons of oil in the River. Me and about 100.000 other people drink water from this river. So people are upset around here.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

Not trying to be an ass, just to understand. When you say you drink water from the river does that mean you walk down there with buckets and bring it back to the house?

 

[ytsejam]

It certainly looks like you're trying to be an ass. Do you think that 100k people take buckets to the river to get water? Is it your position that since people aren't drinking DIRECTLY from the river they shouldn't be concerned or pissed about oil spilling into their water supply?

 

[R K]

I doubt that's what it means BUT, with the run off of the Snow in the Mtns you probably could drink directly out of the Yellow Stone, and any number of Rivers along the Continental Divide.

 

[sth]

I guess I should have cleared it up better. There is a water treatment plant and all. The public safety people say the water is ok. I'm still using it. The property owners on the river are especially pissed. Billings has three refineries so the city owes a lot of jobs to them. So it is kind of a tricky spot. Governor Schweitzer is demanding that Exxon pays for the clean up all of it. I totally agree with that.

 

[LordKOTL]

Most water treatment plants try to intake water from the middle of the water column. Assuming that the river isn't flowing fast enough to mix the water column enough that oil suspends itself below the surface, or the water level isn't low enough that the intake is now at surface level, there shouldn't be much, if any worries.



Oil is actually pretty easy to separate from water--it is anything the dissolves in it that you have to be worried about.

 

[sth]

I guess a woman who lives next to the river had to go to the hospital yesterday after breathing in oil fumes. She got released quickly but I guess breathing it in could be hazardous.

 

[LordKOTL]

Considering that it's crude oil, yeah, there's significant volitile components/hydrocarbons that would make the fumes hazardous. But luckily most, if not all components of crude oil won't mix wth water.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

majesty I knew I could count on you. Yes, my point was going to be that 42,000 gallons isn't shit compared to the total volume in the river (an olympic swimming pool holds between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons depending on the depth), that the oil doesn't mix with the water just as KOTL suggests, and that the ground and/or treatment facilities remove the bad things from the water before you drink it. So, I wanted to make sure that sth wasn't talking about drinking water directly from the river before pointing all these things out. Where the **** does oil come from in the first place folks? The ground. It also seeps upward and into rivers, lakes and oceans on a regular basis.



When are we going to stop viewing everything having to do with oil companies as evil?



P.S. Sth, yes, they should pay for the cleaning, and I'm not trying to suggest that this isn't a problem or an issue, just saying it isn't the end of the world (or your town).

 

[ytsejam]

Jax,



Did I say anything about oil companies being evil?

You seem to take the concerns of locals (and others) over their river being polluted by an oil spill and make it into a rant about how everyone says "big oil is evil!".



You also seem to have a fixation on my handle. (going back to O-[shit] Boards even)

Yes, Jax, Ytsejam is indeed "majesty" spelled backwards. Do you attribute some sort of "royal" or " elitist" qualities to me for my handle? You seem to have some issue with it, unless you just like to show how brilliant you are at reading backwards.

Now back to WHY I am "ytsejam"

The progressive/metal band, Dream Theater was originally named "Majesty". After a polite letter from lawyers of another band named "Majesty", they chose the name "Dream Theater". "Ytsejam" is an instrumental track from their debut album that is very bad ass. Perhaps Dream Theater's version of "YYZ" (only better)



Now get the **** over it and say ytsejam or jam like any other normal person. It's been 5 fucking years or so.



I also suspected you would defend corporate entities over the regular people that actually LIVE in the places where oil and such is being dumped on.



And to amend my original post:

I am now not so sure if you were just looking like an ass (trying to or not).

Perhaps you are just actually an ass.









http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEo2GUM4SFI



From 8-21-93. They've only gotten better since.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

I actually have no problem with your name at all, I just type majesty because I'm fucking lazy and don't want to try to figure out how to spell it backwards. Simple as that.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

Secondly, and to the point of the thread, yes, I am saying that a small amount of oil like that is nothing to be worried about. Sue me.

 

[MassHavoc]

Secondly, and to the point of the thread, yes, I am saying that a small amount of oil like that is nothing to be worried about. Sue me.

While I am not arguing with the basic principle of your argument and probably agree with you, I still don't agree that you could call it "a small amount of oil" as any amount of oil is too much, and 64000 gallons or whatever it was, will never be a small amount no matter how much water it is in.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

In the grand scope of "spills" yeah, it is a small amount. How many gallons do you think are washed away from a Wal-Mart parking lot each time it rains? Not in the thousands for sure, but it is a substantial amount, and it isn't even from a pipeline or drilling "spill." Again, when considering an olympic pool, this pipe bursting sent less than 1/10th of a pool-full. Also the fact that it is a river, and not a stationary body of water means that it was dispersed quite quickly and scattered downstream. But really I'm just splitting hairs cause like you said, it isn't a good thing either way.