Water Quality

Water Quality Improvements

Oil used to be called “black gold.” Today, as important as oil and natural gas are to the economy, we recognize that clean water is equally precious. That’s why the oil and natural gas industry invests billions of dollars annually to protect America’s waterways, to research the environmental effects of crude and refined oil, and to implement the latest technological advances for spill and leak prevention. 

Investment yields favorable trends

• From 1991 to 2000, the number of large spills — defined as 10,000 gallons or more — declined 57 percent. (Because a single major spill can dramatically increase the total volume of oil spilled in a given year, long-range trends generally provide a clearer view of progress made.)
• Between 1996 and 2000, the average amount of oil spilled annually was 26% less than the annual average from 1991 to 1995.

Improved groundwater protection in place

• The volume of oil spilled from pipelines, railroads, and tank trucks has declined 60 percent since 1991.
• Improved clean-up techniques enable up to 75 percent of oil spilled from pipelines to be recovered and used.
• New storage tanks, both above and below ground, are less susceptible to corrosion and overflow, two primary causes of ground water contamination. EPA reporting data on releases from underground storage tanks show reductions of 50 percent between 1999 and 2001.

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