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TransCanada Haulers Illegally Dumped Dirt in Two Spots, Lacked Bed Liners

Remember the contaminated dirt TransCanada discovered its contractors had deliberately dumped alongside the road on their way back to the Keystone pipeline spill site in Marshall County? SET Environmental, the Illinois company in charge of the cleanup, says in a February 12 report to our Department of Environment and Natural Resources that it actually happened twice:

Map of two sites of unauthorized dumping of oil-contaminated soil, SET Environmental to DENR, 2018.02.12.
Map of two sites of illegal dumping of oil-contaminated soil, SET Environmental to DENR, 2018.02.12.
5 cubic yards of contaminated soil dumped near 415th St.
5 cubic yards of contaminated soil dumped near 415th St.
One of several small piles of contaminated soil (about 100 pounds in total) found on 416th Ave.
One of several small piles of contaminated soil (about 100 pounds in total) found on 416th Ave.
SET Environmental to DENR, Incident Prevention Analysis Report, 2018.01.13.
SET Environmental to DENR, Incident Prevention Analysis Report, 2018.01.13.

SET Environmental says part of the problem that day (in addition to lazy-ass drivers who are no longer on the project) was that it was so windy that crews were unable to install the usual lining on the dump truck beds that keeps soil from from freezing to the metal.

A January 9 e-mail from DENR environmental manager Kim McIntosh indicates that SET and TransCanada were “very un-happy” about this illegal dumping:

Kim McIntosh, DENR, e-mail on illegal dumping at TransCanada Amherst spill site, 2018.01.09.
Kim McIntosh, DENR, e-mail on illegal dumping at TransCanada Amherst spill site, 2018.01.09.

SET Environmental says the two illegal dump sites have been cleaned up.

3 Comments

  1. jerry 2018-02-23 09:08

    The inspectors should do the job they have been paid to do. The weather conditions should render the project inclement as the wind is blowing to hard to put a bed liner in, then the trucking should be halted until the weather clears enough for that to be installed. The inspectors should be told that the objective of a clean up is not to move the mess down the road.

  2. mike from iowa 2018-02-23 15:50

    A January 9 e-mail from DENR environmental manager Kim McIntosh indicates that SET and TransCanada were “very un-happy” about this illegal dumping:

    Unhappy they got caught, most likely. Somehow, the idea of Canadian korp feeling bad about spills in the United States tickles my funny bone. Good thing it wasn’t dil-bit. Anybody know if Trash-Can is paying the 9 cents per gallon on piped crude oil?

  3. mike from iowa 2018-02-23 15:51

    I meant 9 cents per barrel, cleanup fund tax on crude oil.

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