Avoiding Bad Publicity

It is hard to overestimate the economic costs of oil and gas pipeline leakages. Over the past three decades, pipeline accidents in USA damaged property which costed nearly $7 billion, killed over 500 people and injured thousands (Adegboye, 2019). However, as costly as these incidents were financially to the companies involved, avoiding bad publicity must be counted as being the top priority of any pipeline operator. The best way to avoid bad publicity, of course, is to prioritize  public water pollution avoidance. Automatic hydrocarbon leak spill detection systems such as those produced by LEAKWISE has increasingly become an inseparable part of public water pollution avoidance strategies. Even when hydrocarbon leaks do occur, the proper employment of these devices reduces bad publicity and ameliorates pollution penalties.

avoiding pollution penalties

The law in many states places no upper limit on the liability of operators of offshore petroleum facilities in terms of the clean-up and remedial costs resulting from oil spills. Oil companies are required to have adequate insurance coverage for the expenses and liabilities that may arise from oil spills, regardless of how high they reach.

Given this legal environment, showing good faith attempts to do everything possible to detect and avoid oil spills is essential for any such operator. Although, there are not, as yet, environmental pollution regulations specifically requiring operators of petroleum and gas facilities and transport ships to employ automatic hydrocarbon leak detector systems, permit provision, oversight, and the liability caps of operators are all influenced by the extent precautions are taken to comply with environmental protection and prevent and detect hydrocarbon leaks.

desalination intake protection

As water tables drop, and as their salinity and contaminant concentration rises, many coastal regions are turning towards desalinization as a way to ensure secure water supply for their populations.

In Israel, for example, nearly 50% of the nation’s potable water is supplied via state of the art desalination plants. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine Israel maintaining its dense population and relatively high quality of life without these plants.

However, surface water monitoring of the sea water undergoing desalinization is required for water supply desalination intake protection and potable water pollution avoidance. Such surface water monitoring must be automatic, sensitive to rapid changes brought about by wind and current, and persistent over time in order to prevent the entry of an unacceptably high level of contaminants into the tap water of the urban consumer.

Leakwise Brochure

Oil-on-Water Detection and Monitoring Systems Leakwise is a global leader in oil-on-water detection systems, with over 6,000 systems installed in 50 countries. The Leakwise product

Read More »

Oil Spill Monitoring

When safety measures fail and oil spills occur, the clock begins ticking. The longer it takes to detect, more environmental damage is causes. The more

Read More »