Does the CO2 pipeline leak in Mississippi for Canada?

On the early evening on February 2, 2020. Debrae Burns drove with his brother and cousin along the motorway 3 outside the town of Satartia, Miss, when they saw a nearby explosion.

“We were coming back from a fishing trip and we actually saw a mushroom cloud. Just like an explosion, but without fire. It was just a big cloud of white in the air,” he said.

He doubted that he came from a nearby pipeline that passes through the hills above the Satortia. What he did not know was that instead of oil or natural gas, a compressed and liquefied carbon dioxide went through the pipes.

The surrounding area is immediately flooded with suffocated gas, which can be deadly in concentrated quantities because it squeezes oxygen. Burns called his mother on an explosion on the phone. A few seconds later, the car engine was torn; Burns, his brother and relative, all separated.

“My phone was still on. She called my name: Debrae, Debrae, Debrae. And I just stopped talking.”

No one after that pipeline explosion died in Mississippi, but the first answers and residents say they should have known more about the risks to better prepare for possible emergencies.

With large Canadian energy companies that are advocated to the construction of the CO2 pipeline in Alberti, CBC went to a Sattarta to learn first -hand about possible risks when the CO2 pipeline passes through the community.

Why CO2 pipeline?

Carbon dioxide can be transported through a pipeline for many reasons. In the case of a pipeline in Mississippi, it is a procedure called an improved oil recovery, where the pumping CO2 into oil wells can help pull more oil.

In Canada, the consortium of the largest energy companies in the country called the Federation of Pathways proposes a huge pipeline of carbon dioxide, which he says would reduce the show from oil production in Alberti.

She would catch carbon dioxide emissions from more than 20 oil oil facilities in northern Alberti and transported 400 kilometers away from the pipeline that would be stored under the underground accumulation that occurs in the natural area in the cold lake area. CO2 would then be held underground, with the aim of preventing emissions to enter the atmosphere.

The Alliance was the first to propose a 2022 project, but it has The agreements have not yet been completed with federal and provincial governments about incentives and how it will be paid.

Taking and storage of carbon (CCS) is considered to be partly a solution to achieve net-fold emissions globally, according to International Energy Agencyand is a A key part of the companies plans to reduce emissions for a third from the 2019 level to 2030.

The critics, however, compared CCS with red herring in climate struggle.

The column of the opinion of the New York Times of 2022 Called “every dollar” spent on CCS “waste” How it allows for the continuation of gas and oil production “, masculing as climate change solutions” instead of moving into a cleaner energy sources.

Residents living nearby where the proposed pipeline would be buried said Narwhal last fall They had concerns about potential leaks or cracks, how it could affect water, agricultural land and indigenous contracts.

What happened in Mississippi

Satartia, Miss, is a small village not far from Delta Mississippi with about 50 inhabitants, main streets, shops, one bedroom town hall and extinguished houses. One local said he was so straight on the Delta, you can watch the dog flee for three days.

On the night of the explosion, some residents were out there as they cooked crabs. Hugh (Bubba) Martin, a military veteran who lives in a Satarrtia, has not heard that the pipeline has burned over the music and burners who cook crabs. But then he discovered the smell of rotting eggs that fill the air.

Soon everyone fought to stay aware.

“You were awake, but nothing was registered. Just disoriented. Your brain didn’t work. I mean, everyone tried to scatter. Everyone was going through. The vehicles wouldn’t run,” he said.

Local emergency services are soon flooded 911 calls that describe the smell of gas, people passing and cars taking place on the roads.

CO2 is odorless and colorless, but the locals said CBC in believed that the scent came from hydrogen sulfide or sour gas, which may have been mixed with CO2.

Jack Willingham, Director of Emergency Management in Yazoo County, where Satartia was located, said the first respondents did not know what the problem was at least the first 30 minutes. He said he was not even aware that the CO2 pipeline was passing through his county.

“At that certain time [there] There was not much communication between us and the pipeline operator who prepared us with what was happening, “he said.

Creepy scene

Carbon dioxide is not dangerous in small doses. People exhale him every time we inhaled. But in higher concentrations and in cold, cloudy weather, CO2 will not always disperse in the atmosphere. Instead, it will sit in an invisible cloud on the ground, displacing oxygen, making it harder or even impossible to breathe. It also suffocates internal combustion engines, which means that many vehicles will not be started.

This made it difficult for rescue operations in the sattia, as the first answers fought to the ride to run. Some had to enter the city on foot, carrying air masks and tanks to breathe.

Jerry Briggs, a firefighter and the EMS coordinator from the neighboring Warren district, said Satartia resembled a ghost city when his team arrived. Most of the residents escaped, but the respondents still had to look for someone left behind.

“8:00 on Saturday night. Lights turned on; TV -vi involved. Cars there; nobody [inside]. We found fire illuminated. No one around them, “he said.

Highway driving looking for victims, Briggs and team found that most of the dead cars were empty. But one had three people: Debrae Burns, his brother and relative, all unconscious.

Initially, Briggs thought they were dead, but soon he realized that they were still breathing. Firefighters’ All-Terin Utility Vehicle was too little, so the team clumsily piling up three unconscious men at the top of the equipment and spare air tanks of the rear.

“In the south we would say we filled them like Jelena, you know, after a deer hunt,” Briggs said. “I know it sounds terrible but retrospective, they probably wouldn’t survive.”

Firefighters drove them safe, and the trio took the Paramedics to the hospital in nearby Vicksburg.

“When they found us, according to what I understand, we foamed in our mouths, barely breathed,” Burns said. He recalled that they told him that if they had laid five more minutes before they found them, they would not have survived.

After and questions

Forty -five people demanded medical attention at the hospital, and more than 200 people were evacuated from the Satartia area. Everyone was officially recovered. But while he can’t prove a relationship, Burns believes he lives with an exposure effect and about three hours he believes he has spent the unconscious.

“I suffer from memory loss. You know, I have problems with focusing. I don’t have too many people. You know, I’m pretty distance from many things,” he said.

Willingham says the explosion probably happened because part of the clay soil in Yazoo’s district “is more prone to more of the normal dirt in the area,” and the heavy rain that year has done things more unstable.

If it had happened an hour or two hours later, the whole community would be dead.– Hugh (Bubba) Martin

In their explosion investigation, the findings of US pipelines and dangerous materials for the safety of materials have suggested probable violations of federal safety regulations and proposed a hearing. Instead, Denbury, a pipeline operator at the time, agreed to pay a fine of just under $ 3 million.

ExxonMobil, who bought Denbury 2023, said he “strengthened his infrastructure and increased his standards to prevent future incidents” and “working closely with local first answers to ensure a well -coordinated response to any incident.”

In a statement to the CBC, Pathways Alliance said his proposed project would be built “in a stable corridor primarily after existing rights on rights, unlike the CO2 pipeline in Mississippi, which was built in an area prone to the rink.”

He also said that he would have a “multi -layered safety system” that includes real -time pressure monitoring, seismic recording and discovering leaks by computer systems and human operators.

Willingham says the public should be aware of whether the CO2 pipeline is installed in their area, no matter where they live, so the first subjects have better information to save lives while protecting their own.

“Have you ever learned what to do once in your life if there is an incident CO2 in your area? Why don’t we educate our people about what to do?” he said.

“I’m not anti-pipe-line, I’m not a pro-validity. I’m just public security.”

Martin says things could be catastrophic if the explosions occurred after people were already in bed.

“If it had happened an hour or two hours later, the whole community would be dead.”