Exxon has been using a pipeline to transport Athabasca bitumen without notifying state officials who thought the line was only carrying conventional or "sweet" crude. The presence of bitumen was not initially acknowledged by the company or by federal regulators.
Bitumen contains corrosive chemicals and abrasive particles not found in conventional crude. That means it rots out pipelines just like the one Harper wants to run across remote parts of British Columbia and load aboard supertankers that will ply the treacherous waters of northern B.C.
Exxon now admits that bitumen was in the line but not at the spot where the line ruptured. The oil that spilled was conventional oil from Wyoming.
Snotty nosed meddlers from the Environmental Protection Agency are analyzing the spilled oil. They're looking for benzene, a carcinogen, and hexane, a toxin that damages the human nervous system. Montana officials said they were surprised to learn that the pipeline that is buried in the Yellowstone river is used to transport Athabasca bitumen. You betcha.