Dear Editor,

Your latest diatribe about Enbridge [Environment gets white-washed, Oct. 16 Odd Thoughts, TIMES] shows a remarkable lack of knowledge of current pipeline regulations, construction methods, and line pipe specifications, let alone the federal government’s regulations and controls of the construction.

The line in the U.S. that leaked was an older line, monitored, yes, but not up to today’s requirements.

The cleanup costs are moot; the people and equipment required for cleanup of any spill are compensated far and away for any sum of money you, I, and your readers could comprehend.

Take Katrina, for example: some workers billed in excess of 100 hours a week and rates over $150 per hour. Costs soar.

Oh! And by the way, the line did not leak tarry sand, as any trace of sand would eat through a pipeline long before it made the US border. Facts. Just the facts, Mr. Groeneveld.

Line pipe specifications have increased exponentially. The metallurgy is constantly being upgraded to overcome any possibility of stress cracks or outright breaks.

An in-depth review of API 5L might enlighten you to the various types of pipe available, as required for the applicable situations.

One comment that is very accurate: Enbridge will not build the line. They are a transmission company; the construction will be contracted out to one, maybe two world-class pipeline contractors, Canadian or not.

Enbridge will also contract experienced inspectors to monitor the work, along with various organizations that have a real interest in the line.

I would suggest you obtain a pipeline map of British Columbia and review how many of these older lines have had a cataclysmic disaster, in particular, the larger and older lines

As to environmental damage, I see a sewer line broke in our area and killed off some fish. Do I panic and say it’s a disaster waiting to happen? Let’s ban sewers and return to outhouses? No, I just want the latest sewer technology employed in the future.

If we continue to live and endorse the “what if’s,” we might as well stay at home and die. The future lies in progress.

Terry Brenan, Aldergrove