BILLINGS, Mont. – Delays in Exxon Mobil Corp.’s response to a major pipeline break beneath Montana’s Yellowstone River made an oil spill far worse than it otherwise would have been, federal regulators said in a new report. The July 2011 rupture fouled 70 miles of riverbank along the scenic Yellowstone, killing fish and wildlife and prompting a massive, months-long cleanup. The damage could have been significantly reduced if pipeline controllers had acted more quickly, according to Department of Transportation investigators.

This news doesn’t come as a surprise — in fact, it perfectly fits the pattern of botched responses to pipeline accidents previously set by Enbridge, Inc.’s Kalamazoo River calamity and TransCanada’s 6-story tar sands geyser in North Dakota. And as NWF documented in the shocking report “Assault on America,” it really looks like business as usual for an industry whose profits continue to soar despite being the world’s biggest contributors to climate change and habitat destruction. And with thousands of miles of new pipe slated for construction, it’s only going to get worse if Exxon and its buddies get their way.

Disaster response workers clean debris and oil from the Yellowstone River after an Exxon pipeline ruptured, dumping 42,000 gallons of petroleum. (Photo: US Coast Guard)

We’ve come to realize that this stuff happens all the time, in communities across the country. National Wildlife Federation is working hard to stop new tar sands pipelines and get stronger rules in place to make existing pipelines safer. You can help — tell the White House to protect Americans (and America’s wildlife) from spills and the threat of climate change by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, which is not only a dangerous project but will also set precedent for future pipeline decisions. Exxon, Enbridge, and TransCanada have proven beyond a doubt that they can’t handle their own technology. It’s time to say “No More!”

Speak up for people and wildlife! Tell the President to reject Keystone XL!

1. Highlight of the Week: Wrong Pipeline, Wrong Oil
2. Quote: Congressman Steny H. Hoyer
3. Economic Story of the Week: Energy-Saving LEDs , Unstoppable
4. Editorial of the Week: Sizzle Factor for a Restless Climate
5. Bad News for Bears
6. Clean Energy is Blowing in the Wind
7. Bloomberg Boos Pollution
8. Happening this Week

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Highlight of the Week

Wrong Pipeline, Wrong Oil

Tar Sand refinery via Pete Williamson/Flickr

While the Yellowstone River is still being cleaned after a 42,000 gallon ExxonMobil pipeline spill and we learn more about the impacts on wildlife such as bald eagles, the House of Representatives will vote to expedite the next oil disaster.

Introduced by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), H.R. 1938 directs the President to expedite the permitting and make a final decision by this November on TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The constant contamination of America’s lands and waters by tar sands pipelines proves that rushing this pipeline is irresponsible. Critics of the bill say it is legally flawed, would drive up gas prices, and result in more oil disasters. They also say the backers of the bill have greatly exaggerated jobs that might result.

Here are 10 reasons why Congress should not rush Keystone XL:

1. TransCanada’s brand new Keystone tar sands pipeline has spilled 12 times in 12 months.
2. The toxic chemicals that will flow through Keystone XL haven’t been disclosed to emergency first responders.
3. Keystone XL’s spill frequency and worst-case scenario spill have been seriously underestimated.
4. TransCanada is strong-arming American farmers opposed to Keystone XL’s route through the Ogallala Aquifer.
5. Existing pipeline safety standards are failing to protect public health and the environment.
6. Regulators have said that tar sands may cause more “wear and tear” on pipelines.
7. Tar sands were implicated in all the worst pipeline spills in the U.S. and Canada over the last year.
8. Pending legislation in the House and Senate acknowledge that tar sands pipelines may be risky.
9. Michigan’s Kalamazoo River is still contaminated from a tar sands pipeline spill a year ago.
10. Keystone XL’s environmental review has taken so long because it’s been flawed by bias.

Check out the NY Times’ take on the pipeline.

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Quote:

Steny Hoyer, Center for American Progress Action Fund

“I got no message from any voter that I ought to come to Congress and undermine the air, water, land that they survive on, recreate on and rely on for the quality of their lives. Not one constituent, whether they voted for me or against me, said ‘undermine the protections of our land and water and air.’ Not one.”

-Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) during the mini-filibuster against H.R. 2584, a bill that would significantly undermine U.S. environmental protection laws.

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Economic Story of the Week

Energy-Saving LEDs, Unstoppable

US Dept of Energy

Despite House attempts to strip funding for federal lighting efficiency standards, LEDs are driving the lighting market as commercial, industrial and outdoor sectors (96 percent of the world’s lighting energy use) realize massive savings from the growing technology.

According to the CEO of Digital Lumens, Tom Pincine, “The adoption rate of LED is so profound … and is happening at a clip that is surprising even for us in the marketplace.”

Some politicians have been targeting a 2007 energy law that would phase out traditional 100-watt incandescent light bulbs to make America’s light bulbs 25 percent more efficient. The House approved an amendment by voice vote to prohibit the use of funds to implement the federal light bulb standards and then added the measure to an Energy and Water Development appropriations bill for 2012 spending.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) is fighting back by launching a national education campaign with the Ad Council to help consumers save money on their energy bills by promoting sealing leaks in homes and energy efficient products. Click here to watch the advertisements.

More on this story: SolveClimateNews

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Editorial of the Week

Sizzle Factor for a Restless Climate

(NY Times)

Enjoying the heat wave? Yes, it has been a very hot summer after one of the most extreme-weather springs on record. It’s time to face the fact that the weather isn’t what it used to be. For climate geeks like me, the new normals offer a fascinating and disturbing snapshot of a restless climate. The numbers don’t take sides or point fingers. They acknowledge both powerful natural climate fluctuations as well as the steady drumbeat of warming caused by roughly seven billion people trying to live and prosper on a small planet, emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the process. (More…)

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Bad News for Bears

beingmyself/Flickr

The eastern U.S. is suffering through stifling heat and humidity, which have caused 22 deaths already. The U.S. Weather Service says heat is the number one weather-related killer in the country, claiming more lives each year than floods, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes combined.

Had enough? Climate experts warn that our future will be hotter because of carbon pollution causing global warming. But it’s not just us, the heat waves are bad news for bears too.

Polar bears are being forced to swim very long distances because of melting sea ice due to climate change, which can be deadly for their cubs. A new study shows that when mother polar bears had no choice but to swim long distances to reach the safety of sea ice or land, nearly half of their cubs simply didn’t survive! Polar bears are outstanding swimmers, but scientists warn that these long-distance marathon swims — some more than 400 miles and lasting up to 12 days — puts them at risk of drowning, not to mention severe exhaustion if they survive.

More on this story: NY Times, Washington Post, Wildlife Promise

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Clean Energy is Blowing in the Wind

via Slaugner/Flickr

America’s offshore wind resources are immense, and it is time to get serious about bringing this significant, domestic clean energy source ashore. NWF applauds Senators Carper (D-DE) and Snowe (R-ME) for their leadership in building a bipartisan coalition of support for offshore wind energy. The introduction of the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Energy Act, which will provide much-needed incentives for investments in offshore wind projects, demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to advancing job-producing clean energy.NWF has joined more than 120 organizations in calling on the Obama Administration (Letter to Obama 3.7.11, Loan Guarantee Letter 6.10.11) and Congressional leaders to take positive steps to advance offshore wind development in a manner that is protective of our coastal and marine resources. Providing financial incentives such as an investment tax credit is a critical way to support this emerging industry that has the potential to create thousands of jobs while helping revitalize America’s manufacturing and maritime industries.

With great potential to reduce harmful pollution, create thousands of high-quality jobs, and help achieve energy independence, offshore wind energy is a wise investment in America’s future.

More on this story: Wildlife Promise, Clean Energy News

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Bloomberg Boos Pollution

Mayor Bloomberg via 32BJ/Flickr

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently expressed frustration with the national paralysis on setting climate change policies and is supporting the environmental campaign to shut down coal-fired power plants across the United States with a donation of $50 million. The plants produce nearly half the nation’s electricity, but they also pump out pollution that contributes to our warming climate, makes people sick and causes premature deaths.

“If we are going to get serious about reducing our carbon footprint in the United States, we have to get serious about coal,” he said in a statement. “Coal is a self-inflicted public health risk, polluting the air we breathe, adding mercury to our water, and the leading cause of climate disruption.”

More on this story: NPR, NY Times

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Happening this Week

Tuesday, July 26

Hearing on EPA power plant rules, House Oversight and Government Reform, 1:30 PM, 2154 Rayburn

Wednesday, July 27

Hearing on U.S. economic interests in Arctic, Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee, 10:30 AM, 253 Russell Senate Office Building

Thursday, July 28

Hearing on endangered species bills, Natural Resources Committee, 10AM, 1324 Longworth

Hearing on land and water bills, Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks,
9 AM, 366 Dirksen

Hearing on DOE, Fish and Wildlife nominations, Energy and Natural Resources, 10AM, 366 Dirksen

Hearing on long-term budget issues of climate, Appropriations Committee, 2 PM, 138 Dirksen Senate Office Building

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

Bald Eagle (NWF File Photo/John C Moerk)

As the Yellowstone River oil spill cleanup continues in Montana, we’re learning more about its impacts on wildlife. An estimated 42,000 gallons of  crude oil spilled from an Exxon Mobil pipeline under the river on July 1.

Now the Environmental Protection Agency is reporting one of the latest victims is a bald eagle:

Cleanup crews over the weekend found an oiled bald eagle and pockets of black crude trapped by debris piles along the Yellowstone River.

Biologists believe the bald eagle won’t survive the winter unless it’s cleaned, said Karen Nelson with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Crews are working now to trap the bird so it can be treated.

Workers also have found four geese and a cooper’s hawk covered in oil. They’ve trapped one goose and are working to capture the others, Nelson said.

The number of dead wildlife also increased over the weekend. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported finding dead two great horned owls, a wood duck, two ducklings, two fish, a fox, a beaver and a bunting.

Of those animals, one of the owls, the wood duck, the ducklings and the fish were covered in oil. All the animals will be tested to discover the cause of death.

Meanwhile, the Billings Gazette reports fish downstream from the spill are showing signs of stress and even illness:

Flesh samples from the fish will be tested in state labs. But visibly, gills on some of the captured fish aren’t the bright pink they’re supposed to be, and some of the fish have lesions.

Frazer said it’s common for river fish to show certain levels of stress throughout the year because of parasites and other conditions fish naturally carry.

However, in the samples that have been collected, the fish captured above the spill site show far fewer signs of stress than those below, leading Frazer to believe that the spill has had an effect.

Only 20 Critters Harmed in Oil Spill? Misleading, Says NWF Scientist

And as National Wildlife Federation Senior Scientist Dr. Doug Inkley tells Public News Service, the impacts we see may only be the tip of the iceberg:

“We need to observe not only the fish, but the entire food chain. The fish depend on all these little invertebrates – little mayflies, nymphs and things of this type – and those are very susceptible.”

A U.S. Senate subcommittee held a hearing on the Yellowstone spill on Wednesday. Inkley testified earlier before a similar subcommittee hearing in the House, calling for stronger federal safety regulations. He says that’s critically important as the Keystone XL pipeline is considered, which would also cross the Yellowstone, as well as the Missouri River and hundreds of other waterways.

Oil Spills: Tragically Common

While the oil and gas industry likes to paint spills like this as an aberration, the National Wildlife Federation has documented that oil and gas disasters are tragically common. Now the oil industry wants to build a new pipeline cutting right through America’s heartland. The Keystone XL pipeline wouldn’t carry just any oil – it would carry tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

But we still have a chance to protect the people and wildlife along the proposed pipeline route. Please take a moment right now to ask President Obama to say no to tar sands.

www.fueleconomy.gov

As temperatures soar into the 90’s, beach outings, bbq’s, and pool parties are in full swing, but not without a significant cost. Families once again are experiencing pain at the pump caused by high and unpredictable gas prices. Drivers have to devote more and more of their incomes to filling up their cars, putting a strain on already tight budgets.

Our transportation sector is 95 percent dependent on oil which leaves us at the mercy of unpredictable spikes in gas prices and unfriendly or unstable countries who control many of the vast reserves of oil we rely on. As more and more consumers from countries like China and India enter the global marketplace and demand the very same luxuries we as Americans are privileged to, reserves will only be strained further. How will we cope with increasing demand but dwindling reserves? More drilling is NOT the answer.

The people of Montana are learning all too well the consequences of our rush to drill without giving safety considerations a second thought. Hauntingly similar to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the middle of the United States is now subject to another massive oil spill. On June 30^th, an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured and spewed thousands of gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River. The situation is still far from contained and the extent of the damage is still not known.

Cheap oil is tapped out and what is left is in ever more dangerous sites and requires more destructive methods to extract. It is time we take control of our energy future and demand from our leaders REAL solutions to the energy crisis. We have the tools to cut our dependence on oil TODAY. Increased fuel efficiency, electric vehicles and investment in mass transit, not only sever our reliance on oil, but save Americans money and create jobs at home.

Check out NWF’s new resource, “Taking Control: Real Solutions to Rising Gas Prices,” which highlights that:

• Today we spend two-thirds of a trillion dollars a year on oil, half of it sent overseas.
• An electric or plug-in electric hybrid car frees American families from the gas pump altogether and enables them to fuel up at an outlet at home at a cost equivalent to less than $1/gallon.
• Americans overwhelmingly support a 60 mpg fuel economy standard – by a margin of nearly 2 to 1
• Federal investment of $40 billion on public transit and intercity rail would create 3.7 million direct and indirect jobs – 600,000 of those in the manufacturing sector alone.
• Oil companies receive approximately $4 billion a year in federal subsidies – money that could be invested to spur innovation and create American jobs.

The House Appropriations Committee passed its fiscal year 2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill this week which includes a provision that prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from moving forward on the next round of vehicle fuel efficiency standards.

Speak up against this and other attacks on our clean air, clean water and wildlife.

1. Highlight of the Week: House Spending Bill Attacks Endangered Species, Clean Water and Clean Air
2. Quote: Jeremy Symons, senior VP, Conservation & Education, NWF
3. Economic Story of the Week: Light it Up
4. Editorial of the Week: Climate Change and Disaster in Montana
5. Yellowstone River Oil Spill Doesn’t Bode Well for Keystone XL
6. Study: Mountaintop Removal Neighbors Risk Birth Defects
7. BLM Exempts Acres from New Mining Claims, Promotes Solar
8. Happening this Week

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Highlight of the Week

House Spending Bill Attacks Endangered Species, Clean Water and Clean Air

via Norbert Rossing

Leaders of the House Appropriations Committee are working to pass the fiscal year 2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. According to NWF’s Adam Kolton, the bill is “riddled with special interest policy riders, pet provisions and unprecedented cuts to virtually every program that protects the air we breathe, the water we drink and the public lands and wildlife that we cherish.”

Some especially concerning provisions would block the Environmental Protection Agency from curbing dangerous carbon pollution, similar to the attacks we saw in the continuing resolution legislation. Other harmful provisions would endanger the survival of countless species of wildlife, fish and plants by eliminating investments to list endangered species, block regulations of mountaintop-removal coal mining, and endanger public health by allowing coal ash to pollute groundwater.

To learn more about how appropriators are sacrificing public lands, wildlife conservation, and our health in favor of subsidizing Big Oil, click here.

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Quote:

Jeremy Symons

“Clearly, the legislation to rush the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline should be postponed until we know the cause of the Yellowstone River oil spill and deal with pipeline safety issues. Instead, we’re seeing Congress rush to build America’s next great oil disaster.”

-Jeremy Symons, senior VP, Conservation & Education, National Wildlife Federation.

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Economic Story of the Week

Light it Up

via p. Gordon/Flickr

The House is slated to vote on H.R. 2417 this week, a measure to repeal efficiency standards for light bulbs that were enacted in 2007 with strong bipartisan support. The standards require new bulbs to use 25 to 30 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and are likely to encourage more energy-efficient technology.

Contrary to criticisms, the standard is not a ban on incandescent light bulbs (and would not affect consumer freedom), but rather one of many energy efficiency measures that are the cheapest and quickest ways to reduce carbon pollution. The light bulb efficiency standards will reduce pollution that harms our public health and prevent more 100 million tons of carbon pollution per year.

The lighting industry has already made significant investments to develop and produce more efficient bulbs and repealing this standard would create uncertainty and threaten jobs. The New York Times called the measure “daft and destructive” and “utterly without merit.”

Stephen Chu, secretary of Energy, has said that consumer choice will be maintained and households will see savings in their electric bills.

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Editorial of the Week

Climate Change and Disaster in Montana

(Los Angeles Times)

Everyone agrees that the two disasters — the flooding of the Yellowstone River and the oil spill in the riverbed — are connected. According to Exxon officials, the high and fast-moving river has four times its usual flow this year, which has hampered cleanup and prevented their workers from reaching the exact source of the spill….Government and company officials have also speculated that the flooding may even have caused the spill in the first place….

But here is the really uncomfortable question: Did the pipeline cause the flooding? Not this one particular pipeline, of course, but all the pipelines, and all the coal trains, and all the refineries and the power plants they supply? Was the flooding that has made the oil spill so much worse caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels? (More…)

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Yellowstone River Oil Spill Doesn’t Bode Well for Keystone XL

via NWF

Last week hundreds of barrels of crude oil spilled into Montana’s Yellowstone River after an Exxon Mobil pipeline beneath the riverbed ruptured. Officials are still scrambling to protect the health and safety of local communities and wildlife.

While Exxon Mobil had claimed the rupture of its Silvertip oil pipeline had only released oil for 30 minutes, federal documents now show it took 56 minutes to completely close the pipeline. And although Exxon Mobil originally estimated the oil would travel just 10 miles downstream, pools of oil have now been reported 80 miles down the Yellowstone River.

Including the Gulf oil disaster and Michigan’s Kalamazoo River oil spill, the Yellowstone River spill becomes America’s third major oil disaster in just the last 15 months. Now the oil industry wants to build a new pipeline cutting right through America’s heartland. The Keystone XL pipeline wouldn’t carry just any oil – it would carry tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) has introduced legislation (H.R. 1938) to force regulators to rush their decision on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The bill has already cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee and could reach the House floor as soon as this week.

But according to a recent report, the potential frequency and magnitude of oil spills from the tar sands oil project, as well as the consequences of worst-case spills into the Yellowstone, Missouri and Platte Rivers and atop the Ogallala Aquifer, are far worse than the Canadians are letting on. Analysis of the report indicates that, “A worst-case scenario spill from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline into the Platte River in Nebraska would form a plume of oil that could extend more than 450 miles, contaminating drinking water for people as far away as Kansas City, MO and threatening wildlife habitat.”

You can take action and tell the Obama Administration to reject Keystone XL.

More on this story: NY Times, Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Star Journal, Huffington Post

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Study: Mountaintop Removal Neighbors Risk Birth Defects

Mountaintop Removal in Kentucky, iLoveMountains.org

Folks living near mountaintop removal mining operations may be at greater risk for birth defects according to a new study by West Virginia University (WVU) researchers. Co-author Michael Hendryx said, “Research related to infants has found that mothers residing in coal mining areas are more likely to have a low birth weight infant. This study extends that research, showing that mountaintop mining areas are associated with elevated levels of birth defect prevalence rates.”

Mountaintop removal mining is a destructive technique for extracting coal that destroys mountains, forests, wildlife, water and the way of life for people who live near the operation. As the WVU study reveals, the process can also have a terrible impact on babies, the next generation of West Virginians who will see the Mountain State with fewer mountains, greater pollution and potentially more health problems.

H.R. 2018, the Dirty Waters Bill, could make mountaintop removal mining even dirtier by gutting the Clean Water Act. Click here to tell lawmakers to protect our future, our health and our precious natural resources from pollution.

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BLM Exempts Acres from New Mining Claims, Promotes Solar

Desert Solar Panels, via Winam/Flickr

The Bureau of Land Management announced it is setting aside 677,000 acres of lands in the Southwest from future mining claims to promote renewable solar power development.

The temporary two-year segmentation is working to prevent new speculative mining claims from derailing proposed solar farm applications in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

According to BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall they are “trying to facilitate renewable energy generation.” BLM said it is identifying which lands are most suitable for commercial-scale solar development and have limited conflicts with wildlife or other resources and land uses.

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Happening this Week

Tuesday, July 12

Markup of EPA and Interior appropriations bill, Appropriations Committee, 9AM, 2359 Rayburn
Hearing on renewable energy legislation, Energy and Natural Resources, 10 AM, 366 Dirksen
Markup of TRAIN Act and coal ash bill, Pt. 2, House Energy and Commerce, 10AM, 2123 Rayburn

Wednesday, July 13

Markup of bills to accelerate development of renewable energy, oil and gas and minerals, Natural Resources, 10AM, 1324 Longworth

Thursday, July 14

Hearing on regulations and job creation, Energy and Commerce, 9 AM, 2322 Rayburn
Markup of energy bills, Energy and Natural Resources, 10 AM, 366 Dirksen
Hearing on pipeline safety, Transportation and Infrastructure, 10 AM, 2167 Rayburn
Hearing on Appalachian mining permits, Oversight Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, 1:30 PM, 2154 Rayburn

Friday, July 15

Hearing on the American Energy Initiative, Energy and Commerce, 9:30 AM, 2322 Rayburn

Coming Soon…
Wednesday, July 19

Farm Bill Energy Title: Rural Energy for America Program, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 10-11:30 AM & 2 – 3:30 PM, 188 Russell Senate Office Building

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

Absorbent pads placed on oil along Yellowstone River (NWF's David Ellenberger)

Oil spill cleanup efforts continue along the Yellowstone River in Montana. But will they be effective?

ExxonMobil, the company behind the spill, insists that it is pulling out all the stops to mop up the 42,000 gallons of oil that spilled into the river in early July. Company president Gary Pruessing said on Wednesday that ExxonMobil has applied over 70,000 feet of boom and 3,000 absorbent pads to the spill site to absorb the oil, and that this is all being coordinated by 350 emergency personnel down at the river. Boom blocks the oil from certain areas; absorbent pads soak it up. This is pretty standard; BP did the same thing after their disaster, with some additional steps like skimming – surrounding the oil with skimming vessels so pumps can pull it from the water – and burning, where surface oil is towed away from the main slick and set alight to burn it off.

But while an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico presents its own unique hurdles to cleanup efforts – it is the world’s ninth largest body of water, after all – the workers in Montana are dealing with something quite different. The Yellowstone waters are moving quickly: 5 to 7 mph, according to National Wildlife Federation senior scientist Doug Inkley. That has several effects. First, the rushing water is dispersing the oil far away from the spill site so that it is harder for the booms and pads to pick up. Second, steps like skimming and burning aren’t going to be effective because the wide dispersal of the oil means there aren’t any large quantities of crude on the water surface. And finally, the swollen, volatile waters from the flood make it difficult for boats to get out on the river to assess the condition, which hampers efficient cleanup.

“This is a time of peak water flow in the Yellowstone River because its water supply is water from snow runoff, which is occurring at maximum rates now given that it’s July,” Inkley explained. “And if there is any rough water whatsoever, [the booms and pads] are essentially ineffective. They’re not going to get that oil back.”

Oil near a tree felled by a beaver (NWF's David Ellenberger)

The National Wildlife Federation’s David Ellenberger toured an affected ranch along the Yellowstone River on Saturday. He found absorbent pads placed haphazardly in oiled areas – some oiled areas were covered with pads, others had none. In the shallow water left behind by the Yellowstone’s receding floodwaters, he saw hundreds of dead worms.

David also reported plenty of evidence that wildlife are still visiting oiled areas, like fresh deer tracks in the mud. Other areas with signs of wildlife activity, like this tree taken down by beavers, now smell strongly of petrochemicals.

Another rancher found several dead wildlife on his property, including a garter snake, a hawk, and a deer (you can see a not-so-pleasant picture of the remains here). While there were no visible signs of oil, International Bird Rescue personnel collected the remains to test them for any evidence of oil contamination.

The National Wildlife Federation will continue watching for wildlife impacts in the days and weeks ahead. And on Capitol Hill, we’ll be watching the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s hearing on pipeline safety coming up on Thursday.

A pipeline spill could ravage the heartland's agriculture sector and economy while pummeling important wildlife habitat.

Pipelines have been spilling regularly across the U.S., but those spills could be small peanuts compared to a true disaster that might occur from building the proposed and highly controversial tar sludge pipeline known as Keystone XL.

A report released today and spearheaded by a Nebraska academic says the potential frequency and magnitude of oil spills from the tar sands oil project, as well as the consequences of worst-case spills into the Yellowstone, Missouri and Platte Rivers and atop the Ogallala Aquifer, are far worse than the Canadians are letting on to U.S. regulators tasked with approving the dubious project.

According to a news story from the Lincoln Journal Star:

A worst-case scenario spill from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline into the Platte River in Nebraska would  form a plume of oil that could extend more than 450 miles, contaminating drinking water for people as far away as Kansas City, MO and threatening wildlife habitat, according to an independent analysis of the project released Monday.

The study by John Stansbury, a professor of water resources engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also said a worst-case spill in the Sand Hills region of Nebraska could pollute 4.9 billion gallons of groundwater with a plume of contaminants 40 feet thick, 500 feet wide and 15 miles long.

“This plume, and other contaminant plumes from the spill, would pose serious health risks to people using that groundwater for drinking water and irrigation,” Stansbury said in the report.

In comparison to the nasty 42,000 gallon spill by Exxon last week into Montana’s Yellowstone River, a major spill from the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline into the Platte River in Nebraska could leak 5.9 million gallons of toxic, corrosive tar sands oil and spread pollutants such as carcinogenic benzene in excess of federal health standards hundreds of miles downstream, contaminating drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people as far south as Kansas City, MO.

A scene from the recent and deadly Enbridge pipeline disaster. It would be relatively small peanuts compared to a worst-case Keystone XL spill.

Can we trust the oil giants and regulators to do the right thing?  Not really, says the author.

He led an independent analysis of worst-case spill scenarios for four locations along the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. He found that the pipeline’s operator, TransCanada Corp., made significant flawed and inappropriate assumptions about the frequency and severity of expected spills from its pipelines.

Although the federal Clean Water Act requires pipeline builders to analyze and make public worst-case spill scenarios and resulting environmental impacts for their projects before beginning operation, TransCanada has yet to adequately do so for the Keystone XL, and the pipeline could be approved before regulators see the conclusions.

We’re not kidding when we say Keystone XL is the next great oil disaster in waiting, on par with BP’s Gulf spill last year.  But this is a tragedy we can stop. You can help.  TAKE ACTION and tell the Obama Administration to reject Keystone XL.

Oiled pasture on the farm of NWF's Alexis Bonogofsky along Montana's Yellowstone River

We’re now learning oil from last week’s Exxon Mobil pipeline rupture under Montana’s Yellowstone River has traveled much further downstream than the oil giant originally estimated. Reports now say the oil has traveled at least 15 miles down the river. The Billings Gazette reports hundreds of workers are now involved in the cleanup effort:

Monday afternoon, much of the cleanup efforts were concentrated on the Thiel Road area east of Laurel, where gobs of black crude cover much of the riverbank, sticking to the tall grass and low-hanging tree limbs. Swirls of red-brown oil sit in pools of standing river water next to the road.

Dozens of white-clad cleanup crews were there, scooping up sticky oil-covered river debris and placing it in black trash bags. Booms and pads were sitting in the water catching oil as it floated in the current.

A small crew at Mystic Park was on hands and knees wiping oil from clumps of grass where the river had receded.

The sad reality is that much of the oil will be impossible to “clean.” As I learned when I visited Louisiana in April, a full year after the Gulf oil disaster began and despite the work of an army of BP contractors, it’s not hard to find oil still fouling coastal wetlands.

While Exxon Mobil has been eager to talk to the press, they’ve been less forthcoming with Montana residents. The National Wildlife Federation’s Alexis Bonogofsky lives on the Yellowstone River and her farm’s pasture, already flooded by high river water, is now coated in oil. Alexis says that while elected officials were allowed into a news conference on Sunday, she and her husband Mike were shut out. Yesterday, Mike returned to look for answers while Alexis was treated for oil exposure:

After the news conference, Pruessing was confronted by an angry goat farmer and environmental activist who said his wife had been sickened by oil fumes and had to be taken to the emergency room.

“I need to know what we’ve been exposed to. People are sick now,” said Mike Scott, who also works for the Sierra Club. Scott said his wife, Alexis Bonogofsky, was diagnosed Monday with acute hydrocarbon exposure after experiencing dizziness, nausea and trouble breathing.

Bonogofsky, who works for the National Wildlife Federation, had gone to the riverbank with her camera to photograph oil on their property south of Billings.

Alexis is home now, but it’s a reminder of how dangerous oil can be and the risks of approaching it without full protective gear. You can get more updates from Alexis by following @ABonogofsky on Twitter.

Including the Gulf oil disaster and Michigan’s Kalamazoo River oil spill, the Yellowstone River spill becomes America’s third major oil disaster in just the last 15 months. As the National Wildlife Federation has documented, oil and gas disasters are tragically common.

Now the oil industry wants to build a new pipeline crossing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

The Obama administration hasn’t yet given final approval to the pipeline, which means we still have a chance to protect our public water supplies, crop lands, wildlife habitats. Please take a moment right now to ask President Obama to say no to tar sands.

Buffalo calf along Yellowstone River, Sept. 2008 (Flickr's TomMayNC)

We’re just learning about an Exxon Mobil oil spill in Montana’s Yellowstone County. Officials are now scrambling to protect the communities and wildlife that depend on the Yellowstone River:

Hundreds of barrels of crude oil spilled into Montana’s Yellowstone River after an ExxonMobil pipeline beneath the riverbed ruptured, sending a plume 25 miles downstream and forcing temporary evacuations, officials said.

The break near Billings in south-central Montana fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts Saturday to close intakes.

The river has no dams on its way to its confluence with the Missouri River just across the Montana border in North Dakota. It was unclear how far the plume might travel.

Exxon Mobil is currently estimating the gusher at about 42,000 gallons of oil (1,000 barrels). The oil is moving downstream at 5 to 7 miles an hour.

Oil in Montana's Yellowstone River (NWF's Alexis Bonogofsky)

UPDATE: NWF’s Alexis Bonogofsky lives on the Yellowstone River in Montana and passes along this account:

The pipe ruptured Thursday night at around 11:30. I woke up around 7:45 and went outside to do chores (let goats out to graze, feed and water chickens, let horses out etc.). I walked down to our bottom pasture because the River was supposed to flood and I wanted to see if it had come over its banks. Sure enough, there was about 2 feet of water in the pasture. I got this overwhelming smell of hydrocarbons (very distinct smell especially around here because there are 3 refineries). I checked our local paper and saw that a pipeline had ruptured. Even though this had been going on for over 7 hours, and we are right on the River, we received no call, no warning..nothing. I had to find out about it by seeing it in our pastures. Apparently they evacuated people further up stream that were closer to the pipeline.

I spent all day yesterday calling our Montana Department of Environmental Quality who told me to call my local Department of Emergency Services. When I called DES, I got an answering machine that said they were on vacation. I was told repeatedly to call an Exxon hotline where the people that answered knew nothing about cleanup, if the oil is hazardous (which it is) and what was going on. They were just there to “take our information.” I called our County Health Department because they told people that the oil was just an “irritant.” When I talked to the lady there, she told me they were taking their information directly from Exxon and had done NO independent research on the health effects of exposure to crude oil or the chemicals in it.

Oil in Montana's Yellowstone River (NWF's Alexis Bonogofsky)

I saw birds trying to take off that couldn’t because of oil on their wings, I saw a spiny soft shell turtle dive into a glob of oil.

The government is telling us that Exxon is going to take care of everything and that they are doing oversight. I have seen no indication of this. I have called so many people that I know more than our government does about what is going on. We finally got a public relations person from Exxon to call us and he wouldn’t tell us what chemicals are in the oil or if any had been added. He told us to stay away from it and that we shouldn’t document the effects on the property “just to be safe” and yet no health warning has gone out to the public. They also told me “off the record” that I should move my livestock away from where the spill has impacted our farm.

There is a press conference sometime this morning with our DES and EPA and Exxon. We are going to go. Our summer pastures are ruined.

While the oil and gas industry likes to paint spills like this as an aberration, the National Wildlife Federation has documented that oil and gas disasters are tragically common:

According to the report, from 2000 to 2010, the oil and gas industry accounted for hundreds of deaths, explosions, fires, seeps, and spills as well as habitat and wildlife destruction in the United States.  These disasters demonstrate that the BP incident is not merely an accident but an industry pattern that places profit ahead of communities, local economies, and the environment.

Now the oil industry wants to build a new pipeline cutting right through America’s heartland. The Keystone XL pipeline wouldn’t carry just any oil – it would carry tar sands, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

But we still have a chance to protect the people and wildlife along the proposed pipeline route. Please take a moment right now to ask President Obama to say no to tar sands.

UPDATE #2: Tuesday’s post has more information on how far the oil has spread & an update on Alexis.