via Ronni Monroe, of Wisconsin Tar Sands Action Coalition. Intended for a Sierra Club press conference which was not held. Lots of tar sands basics to bring everyone up to speed on the Enbridge Line capacity doubling. This line passes thru Vesper, only about 20 miles outside Wisconsin Rapids then thru the west edge of the Central Sands region. -bg ................................... Hi, my name is Ronni Monroe I am the administrator of Wisconsin Tar Sands Action Coalition and a member of the WISE Alliance. I am a retired registered nurse, with background in community health. I have also been a first responder. I am here because Dane County’s actions tonight affect all of Wisconsin. I am here today hoping to observe Democracy in action. I am here to watch the Dane County board protect the citizens of eastern Dane County and also the citizens all along the pipeline. After all, your action here today will affect all of us in Wisconsin. I am here to witness the Dane County Board members be heroes, and put their citizen’s welfare above their fears of corporate threats and retaliation. I have come here to speak for the people who live along the pipeline in eastern Dane and northwestern Jefferson County. I live outside of the lovely community of Lake Mills, in Jefferson County, where the pipeline runs thru a marsh, to the west of a housing development of some 300+ homes and under the Glacial Drumlin bike trail. The line runs as close as a quarter of a mile to some of the homes. Some of the farms and rural residential homes are within yards of the pipeline. The home I raised my children in, the home where my memories still dwell in its walls, sits about 200 yards from the pipeline. When I lived there, we had one 24 inch pipeline. Since 1993, after we moved away, 3 additional pipelines were put in, including the 42 inch behemouth Line 61. It’s devastating to see my rural neighborhood change like this.I also consider the people of Waterloo and Marshall to be my neighbors and I care about them as well. That is what good citizens do, care about each other. In Marshall, a subdivision rests very close to the proposed pumping station. And the town itself is not more than a half mile away. To the east, lies Waterloo, also threatened by the pipeline as it slices its way down to Lake Mills and finally to Fort Atkinson where it cuts across the Rock River at Lake Koshkonong. Enbridge has plans for a 2 million gallon berm around the pumping station to contain dilbit if there is a spill. A two million gallon berm sounds like a lot of protection, but it would be like putting a finger in the dike. It would hold for an hour and then the content would spill over and run downhill. Given Enbridge’s chaotic response in Marshall Michigan, where it took 18 hours to stop the leak a berm should not give any one a sense of safety. The Marshall MI pipe had one sixth the flow of Line 61. While they can contain the fluids, with an open air retention pond, or berm. They can not contain volatile gases. This causes me a lot of concern for the welfare of the residents of Marshall and Medina and downwind. Upon a spill or leak the first thing nearby residents would notice is the smell of rotten eggs. That is the smell of hydrogen sulfide gas, a component of the dilbit in the pipes. It dissipates immediately upon release and travels with the prevailing winds. The smell would be nauseating, and then shortly, it would disable the olfactory system, rendering the victims unable to smell, leaving them unaware of the danger. If they remain in the area, because they can’t smell it after a few minutes, it can be fatal. The Enbridge facility on Hwy 18 near Cambridge has a sign warning ‘Hydrogen Sulfide Gas’ Danger! Do not Enter. It must not be a minor problem for them. They also use windsocks to gauge prevailing winds so their workers know which way to run in case of a dispersal. A huge open air pond contains these fluids concentrating the off gassing causing greater concentrations in the area near the pond and downwind. In the spill on the Kalamazoo River in Marshall MI, 150 homes were permanently left unfit to dwell in. In Mayflower Arkansas, a town famous for its blue gill and and bass fishing, a pipeline owned by Exxon spilled 7000 barrels of tar sand oil contaminating 22 homes, and sickening dozens with nausea, vomiting, headaches, asthma. Residents say that when it rains, their lake smells like crude. Can you imagine a spill from a pipe carrying 1.2 million barrels per day? I can’t wrap my mind around that kind of math. Dilbit, which is what Enbridge calls crude oil, is a proprietary formula, which contains benzene, a known human carcinogen. Benzene is also teratogenic, it can cause birth defects if a pregnant woman is exposed. It is notorious for causing bone marrow failure. It alsocauses aplastic anemia, leukemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Women who inhale benzene have menstrual abnormalities and a decrease in the size of their ovaries. It is directly linked to birth defects of spina bifida and anencephaly (a child born only with a brain stem.) Men exposed have sperm with chromosomal abnormalities. Dilbit contains natural gas condensates such as naptha, a highly volatile and carcinogenic compound. Symptoms of acute exposure are dizziness and narcosis with loss of consciousness. Target organs are eyes, skin, respiratory system, CNS liver and kidney. It can cause encephalopathy or brain shrinkage. In addition Dilbit contains other toxic chemicals such as hexane, toulene and xylene. If a spill occurs outside of this berm, which is highly possible, water sources for hundreds of homes and dozens of farms could be forever contaminated. In Marshall MI, 35 miles of the Kalamazoo River were affected. The EPA Recently ordered Enbridge to continue dredging after they proclaimed the area clean. Four years later, the area has not been restored. Imagine the effect from a pipeline carrying 6 times more tar sands oil. Canada has also paid a price for this dirty oil. Tar sand have taken a huge toll on the Athabascan native people of Canada who suffer from leukemia, lymphoma, lupus, rare cancers and respiratory ailments at a much higher rate than typical. All from exposure to tar sands related chemicals. There has been an utter lack of public health oversight. We KNOW these chemicals are dangerous, yet our public officials turn a blind eye. Adding to the danger, of Line 61, is the additional 20 inch pipeline flowing north, containing strictly diluent, comprised of most of the chemicals just mentioned. I asked myself who would I hold responsible if a spill should occur in my community, or that of my neighbors in Marshall and Waterloo? Of course, Enbridge is responsible, but, they have but one goal, to transport this toxic product as cheaply as possible keeping profits to maximum. That is business. Keep in mind this is the largest tar sands pipeline in the world, a venture never before attempted. I don’t expect morality, or a sense of ethics from Enbridge. I do expect morals and ethics from the Dane County Board. I expect that the elected officials will represent their constituents. I expect that the Dane County officials will be heroes and not politicians. I hope they hear the voices of their people, and vote to deny the conditional use permit in Medina pending a full Environmental Impact Study, which has yet to be done. I hope they join Walworth and Jefferson in asking for a full EIS. I hope they vote to require that Enbridge fully insure for losses. It is the responsible thing to do. I want to believe in the leaders we elect, and that they can not be purchased or intimidated. I am hoping that the Dane County board is composed of individuals with courage and conviction, because that is what it will take to protect the citizens they represent and the citizens of all 16 counties along this pipeline. The survival of our democracy has come down to tonight, and the people on the Dane County Board. Enbridge isn’t asking our permission for anything. It’s telling you, and Wisconsin and the Federal government what it wants done. I am convinced that the Dane County board has the caliber of character to defy Enbridge and to serve the people. At least, I hope they do. If they do not act tonight to safeguard our people, who do they represent?
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 22:13:41 +0000
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