The Meraux pipeline spilled 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel a few hundred feet from the Mississippi River last week from rupture at known but unrepaired corrosion damage, E&E reports. PBF Energy Inc. officials knew of the corrosion damage in the 42-year-old pipeline more than a year ago, but did not repair the 22 feet by 2 feet section of pipe so corroded it was only one-third of its original thickness. That the pipeline wasn’t fixed is “maddening,” Pipeline Safety Trust executive director Bill Caram to E&E. “Now we have over 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled, a mere few hundred feet from our treasured Mississippi River.” (E&E $)
