Pipeline opponent questions leak risk figures given by TransCanada

TransCanada is standing by projections about the risk of leaks from its proposed crude oil pipeline through South Dakota, despite an accusation from a project opponent that TransCanada officials are manipulating the numbers to their benefit. Curt Hohn, Aberdeen-based general manager of WEB Water Development, sent an e-mail to the media this week in which he questioned statistics used by TransCanada’s environmental adviser, Heidi Tillquist. The Aberdeen American News recently paraphrased Tillquist as saying that “a leak in any mile section of the pipe would occur, on average, once every 9,000 years. The chances of a leak along a 10-mile section are once every 900 years.”

By: Seth Tupper, The Daily Republic