Does a CO2 pipeline leak in Mississippi hold lessons for Canada?

In the aboriginal evening of Feb. 22, 2020, DeBrae Burns was driving with his member and relative on Highway 3 extracurricular the municipality of Satartia, Miss., erstwhile they saw a adjacent explosion.

"We were coming backmost from a sportfishing trip, and we really saw the mushroom cloud. Just similar an explosion, but without the fire. It was conscionable a large unreality of achromatic successful the air," helium said.

He suspected  it came from a adjacent pipeline that runs done the hills supra Satartia. What helium didn't cognize was that alternatively of lipid oregon earthy gas, compressed and liquefied carbon dioxide was moving done the pipes. 

The surrounding country was instantly flooded with the suffocating gas, which tin beryllium deadly successful concentrated amounts due to the fact that it displaces oxygen. Burns called his parent connected the telephone astir the explosion. Seconds later, the car's motor was snuffed out; Burns, his member and relative each passed out.

"My telephone was inactive on. She was calling my name: DeBrae, DeBrae, DeBrae. And I conscionable stopped talking."

Nobody died successful the aftermath of that pipeline detonation successful Mississippi, but archetypal responders and residents accidental they should person known much astir the risks to amended hole themselves for imaginable emergencies.

With large Canadian vigor companies advocating for gathering a CO2 pipeline successful Alberta, CBC went to Satartia to larn first-hand astir the imaginable risks erstwhile a CO2 pipeline runs done a community. 

Why a CO2 pipeline?

Carbon dioxide tin beryllium transported done a pipeline for aggregate reasons. In the lawsuit of the pipeline successful Mississippi, it's for a process called enhanced lipid recovery, wherever pumping CO2 into lipid wells tin assistance extract much oil.

In Canada, a consortium of the country's largest vigor companies called the Pathways Alliance is proposing a monolithic c dioxide pipeline that it says would trim emissions from oilsands accumulation successful Alberta.

It would seizure c dioxide emissions from much than 20 oilsands facilities successful bluish Alberta and transport them 400 kilometres distant by pipeline to beryllium stored successful a people occurring underground reservoir successful the Cold Lake area. The CO2 would past beryllium kept underground, with the extremity of preventing the emissions from entering the atmosphere.

The confederation archetypal projected the task successful 2022, but person not yet finalized agreements with national and provincial governments astir incentives and however it would beryllium paid for. 

Carbon seizure and retention (CCS) is considered part of the solution to scope net-zero emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency, and is a key portion of the oilsands companies' plans to chopped emissions by a 3rd from 2019 levels by 2030. 

Critics, however, person likened CCS to a reddish herring successful the clime fight.

A New York Times sentiment file from 2022 called "every dollar" spent connected CCS "a waste" arsenic it enables continued state and lipid accumulation by "masquerading arsenic clime alteration solutions," alternatively of transitioning to cleaner vigor sources. 

Residents that unrecorded adjacent wherever the projected pipeline would beryllium buried told The Narwhal past autumn they had concerns astir imaginable leaks oregon ruptures, however it mightiness impact the water, farmland and Indigenous treaties.

What happened successful Mississippi

Satartia, Miss., is simply a tiny colony not acold from the Mississippi Delta with astir 50 residents, a main street, market store, a one-room municipality hallway and a smattering of houses. One local said it's truthful level connected the delta, you tin ticker a canine tally distant for 3 days.

On the nighttime of the explosion, immoderate residents were extracurricular having a crawfish boil. Hugh (Bubba) Martin, an service seasoned who lives successful Satartia, didn't perceive the pipeline burst implicit the euphony and state burners cooking the crawfish. But past helium detected a odor similar rotten eggs filling the air.

Soon enough, everyone was struggling to enactment conscious.

"You were awake, but it wasn't thing registering. Just disoriented. Your encephalon was not functioning. I mean, everybody tried to disperse. Everybody was passing out. The vehicles would not run," helium said. 

Local exigency services were soon flooded with 911 calls describing the odor of gas, radical passing retired and cars stalling retired connected the roads.

CO2 is odourless and colourless, but locals told CBC they judge the odor came from hydrogen sulfide, oregon sour gas, that whitethorn person been mixed successful with the CO2.

Jack Willingham, exigency absorption manager for Yazoo County wherever Satartia is located, said archetypal responders didn't cognize what the occupation was for astatine slightest the archetypal 30 minutes. He said helium wasn't adjacent alert determination was a CO2 pipeline moving done his county.

"At that peculiar clip [there] was not a batch of connection betwixt america and the pipeline relation preparing america with what's going on," helium said.

An eerie scene

Carbon dioxide isn't unsafe successful debased doses. Humans exhale it each clip we instrumentality a breath. But astatine higher concentrations and successful cool, cloudy weather, CO2 won't ever disperse into the atmosphere. Instead, it volition beryllium successful an invisible unreality connected the ground, displacing oxygen, making it harder oregon adjacent intolerable to breathe. It besides suffocates interior combustion engines, meaning galore vehicles won't run.

That made rescue operations successful Satartia much difficult, arsenic archetypal responders struggled to support their vehicles running. Some had to participate municipality connected foot, wearing aerial masks and tanks to breathe. 

Jerry Briggs, a firefighter and the EMS coordinator from neighbouring Warren County, said Satartia resembled a shade municipality erstwhile his squad arrived. Most residents had fled, but responders inactive had to look for anyone near behind.

"8:00 connected Saturday night. Lights on; TVs on. Cars there; cipher [inside]. We recovered bonfires lit. Nobody astir them," helium said. 

Driving on the highways looking for victims, Briggs and squad recovered astir stalled cars were empty. But 1 had 3 radical successful it: DeBrae Burns, his member and cousin, each unconscious.

At first, Briggs thought they were dead, but soon realized they were inactive breathing. The firefighters' all-terrain inferior conveyance was excessively small, truthful the squad awkwardly piled the 3 unconscious men connected apical of their cogwheel and spare aerial tanks successful the back.

"In the south, we'd accidental we loaded them up similar deer, you know, aft cervid hunting," Briggs said. "I cognize it sounds horrible, but successful retrospect, they astir apt wouldn't person survived."

The firefighters drove them to safety, and the trio were past taken by paramedics to a infirmary successful adjacent Vicksburg.

"When they recovered us, from what I understand, we were foaming astatine the mouth, hardly breathing," Burns said. He recalled being told that if they had laid determination 5 much minutes earlier being found, they wouldn't person survived. 

Aftermath and questions

Forty-five radical required aesculapian attraction astatine infirmary and much than 200 radical were evacuated from the Satartia area. Officially, everyone recovered. But portion helium can't beryllium the link, Burns believes he's surviving with after-effects of the vulnerability and the astir 3 hours helium believes helium spent unconscious.

"I endure from representation loss. You know, I person occupation focusing. I don't beryllium astir excessively galore people. You know, I beauteous overmuch region myself from a batch of things," helium said.

Willingham says the detonation apt happened due to the fact that immoderate of the clay ungraded successful Yazoo County "tends to displacement much than mean ungraded does successful the area," and dense rainfall that twelvemonth made things adjacent much unstable.

In its probe into the explosion, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's findings suggested probable violations of national information regulations and projected a hearing. Instead, Denbury, the pipeline's relation astatine the time, agreed to wage a good of conscionable nether $3 cardinal US.

ExxonMobil, which purchased Denbury successful 2023, said it has "strengthened its infrastructure and elevated its standards to forestall aboriginal incidents," and is moving "closely with section archetypal responders to guarantee a good coordinated effect to immoderate incident."

In a connection to CBC, Pathways Alliance said its projected task would beryllium built "in a unchangeable corridor chiefly pursuing existing rights-of-ways, dissimilar the CO2 pipeline incidental successful Mississippi which was built successful an country prone to landslides."

It besides said it would person "a multi-layered information system" that includes real-time unit monitoring, seismic imaging and leak detection by some machine systems and quality operators.

Willingham says the nationalist should beryllium made alert if a CO2 pipeline is installed successful their country nary substance wherever they live, truthful archetypal responders person amended accusation to prevention lives portion besides protecting their own.

"Have you ever, erstwhile successful your beingness been taught what to bash if there's a CO2 incidental successful your area? Why are we not educating our radical connected what to do?" helium said. 

"I'm not anti-pipeline, I'm not pro pipeline. I'm conscionable pro nationalist safety."

Martin says things could person been catastrophic if the explosions happened aft radical were already successful bed.

"If it would person happened an hr oregon 2 hours later, this full assemblage would person been dead."