Pneumatic Systems with Fusable Plugs

In accordance with USGS orders issued in 1970, all offshore wells on federal property must be equipped with pneumatic systems having fusable plugs. All valves open during production are held open by pneumatic pressure in a control line that passes over critical regions on the platform. If a fire occurs, some of the fusable plugs in the system become hot and melt, releasing pneumatic pressure, closing the valves, and shutting down the well. Although fire extinguishing is a crucial safety requirement, it sometimes causes the well to leak more and pollute the sea, while the entire effluent might burn if the fire is not extinguished. Keeping effluent burning is not usually desirable. But major pollution from the Amoco spill of 1972 was avoided because the effluent burned.

SPILL PREVENTION FOR PIPELINES

The first American oil pipeline was installed in 1865, and today more than 200,000 miles of pipe link a half million oil wells with 250 refineries and thousands of distribution terminals across the country (). Some of these pipelines are under the sea, and when they rupture, they pollute the sea. An analysis of oil spills in the United States () shows pipeline spills as the second largest source of ocean pollution in coastal waters. There were 1,436 pipeline breaks, with a total spillage of 897,685 gallons in 1971. A breakdown of all pipeline spills in the Georges Bank study () shows that approximately 90 percent of the offshore pipeline spills and 97 percent of the oil spilled comes from pipelines leading to wells less than three miles offshore. The pipelines near the shore generally serve the oldest platforms, which are not on federal lands. Most pipeline spillage is the result of failure of the older pipelines. Turner () has written that pipe corrosion is the principal cause of pollution from pipelines. Corrosion results from material outside the pipeline, and not from the oil inside the pipeline.