A  leaky pipeline is getting the blame for the surging price and intense  pain at the pump for those of us in the Cornfield and across the  Midwest. I must say, however, that the price is now dropping in Indiana.  It went from $3.89 Monday to $3.79 at the Cornfield's one and only  station.

According to an article in US News & World Report,  the Enbrdge Pipeline is rife with leaks. Most of us in the Midwest saw  gas cost rise 30 to 60 cents over the last couple of weeks.

The  article notes that drivers in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin  prominently as well as Kentucky and Ohio (also called the Great Lakes  Region) are subject to some of the most volatile pricing in the nation.

It  was on July 27, that the Enbridge Pipeline sprung a leak that lost some  1,200 gallons of crude oil in rural Wisconsin. It was around the same  time that those of us in the Cornfield began shouting each time we drove  by a gas station.

Then  you have to add problems with the BP refinery right here within the  Cornfield area at the Whiting, Indiana plant. The refinery couldn't  produce what was needed.

It  is now being reported that National Safety Transportation Board along  with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have  implemented what they call a "pipeline safety effort". The effort  actually began in 2011, but doesn't seem to have helped much with the  recent spike.

Then  again perhaps we should have been expecting the pipeline troubles and  other issues since there was the spill back in 2010 into the Kalamazoo  River from the Enbridge Pipeline.

Here's what the NTSB had to report:

"Pervasive  organizational failures by a pipeline operator along with weak federal  regulations led to a pipeline rupture and subsequent oil spill in 2010.

"This  investigation identified a complete breakdown of safety at  Enbridge.Their employees performed like Keystone Kops and failed to  recognize their pipeline had ruptured and continued to pump crude into  the environment. Despite multiple alarms and a loss of pressure in the  pipeline, for more than 17 hours and through three shifts they failed to  follow their own shutdown procedures," said National Transportation  Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman.

From  the Cornfield, with the drought and the economy going nowhere, we  really don't need those responsible for making sure we have fuel in our  vehicles acting ast the NTSB said as "Keystone Kops".

http://usnews.com/opinion/blogs/on-energy/2012/08/08/pipeline-company-responsible-for-leaks-and-high-gas-prices