By Liz Hampton
HOUSTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Sunoco Logistics, thefuture operator of the oil pipeline delayed this month afterNative American protests in North Dakota, spills crude moreoften than any of its competitors with more than 200 leaks since2010, according to a Reuters analysis of government data.
The lands of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sit a half milesouth of the proposed route of the Dakota Access pipeline. Thetribe fears the line could destroy sacred sites duringconstruction and that a future oil spill might pollute itsdrinking water.
A tribal protest over the $3.7 billion project drew broadsupport from other Native American tribes, domestic andinternational environmental groups and Hollywood celebrities.
In response to the tribe's objections, the U.S. governmentearlier this month called for a temporary halt to constructionalong a section of the 1,100 mile line in North Dakota near theMissouri River.
While environmental concerns are at the heart of theStanding Rock Sioux protest, there is no reference to thefrequency of leaks by Sunoco or its parent Energy TransferPartners in a legal complaint filed by the tribe, norhas Sunoco's spill record informed the public debate on theline.
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II toldReuters the tribe was aware of the safety record of EnergyTransfer, but declined to elaborate.
Sunoco Logistics is one of the largest pipeline operators inthe United States. Energy Transfer is constructing the DakotaAccess pipeline to pump crude produced at North Dakota's Bakkenshale fields to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Once completed, it willhand over the pipeline's operation to Sunoco.
Sunoco acknowledged the data and told Reuters it had takenmeasures to reduce its spill rate.
"Since the current leadership team took over in 2012, SunocoPipeline has enhanced and improved our integrity managementprogram," Sunoco spokesman Jeffrey Shields told Reuters byemail.
This significantly cut the amount of barrels lost duringincidents, he said.
The U.S. Department of Justice did not make any reference tothe company's spill rate when it decided to stall the project.It highlighted the need for reform in the way companies buildinginfrastructure consult with Native American tribes.
Spokespeople for the Departments of Justice and theInterior, and the Army Corps declined to comment to Reuters onwhether they were aware of Energy Transfer's leak statisticswhen they jointly decided to halt construction of the line.
HIGH SPILL RATE
Reuters analyzed data that companies are obliged to discloseto the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration(PHMSA) when they suffer spills and found that Sunoco leakedcrude from onshore pipelines at least 203 times over the lastsix years.
PHMSA data became more detailed in 2010. In its examination,Reuters tallied leaks in the past six years along dedicatedonshore crude oil lines and excluded systems that carry naturalgas and refined products. The Sunoco data include two of itspipeline units, the West Texas Gulf and Mid-Valley Pipeline.
That made it the operator with the highest number of crudeleak incidents, ahead of at least 190 recorded by EnterpriseProducts Partners and 167 by Plains All AmericanPipeline, according to the spill data reported to PHMSA,which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Enterprise said it has comprehensive safety and integrityprograms in place and that many spills happened at itsterminals.
Sunoco and Enterprise both said most leaks take place withincompany facilities and are therefore contained.
Plains All American did not respond to a request forcomment.
Sunoco's spill rate shows protestors may have reason to beconcerned about potential leaks.
The main option that was considered for routing the lineaway from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation waspreviously discarded because it would involve crossing morewater-sensitive areas north of the capital Bismarck, accordingto the project's environmental assessment.
To be sure, most pipeline spills are small and pipelines arewidely seen as a safer way to move fuel than alternatives suchas rail.
Sunoco and its units leaked a total of 3,406 net barrels ofcrude in all the leaks over the last six years, only a fractionof the more than 3 million barrels lost in the largest spill inU.S. history, BP Plc's Macondo well disaster in 2010.
Sunoco said it found that crude lines not in constant usewere a significant source of leaks, so it had shut or repairedsome of those arteries.
In 2015, 71 percent of pipeline incidents were containedwithin the operator's facility, according to a report by theAssociation of Oil Pipe Lines, a trade group.
While total pipeline incidents have increased by 31 percentin the last five years, large spills of 500 barrels or more aredown by 32 percent over the same time, the report said.
Sunoco accounted for about 8 percent of the more than 2,600reported liquids pipeline leaks in the past six years in theUnited States.
SAFETY OVERHAUL
The company has made previous efforts to improve safety, aformer Sunoco employee who declined to be identified said. Itoverhauled safety culture after a spill in 2000, and did soagain another in 2005 that dumped some 6,000 barrels of crudeinto the Kentucky River from its Mid-Valley Pipeline.
Sunoco acknowledged that some of its pipeline equipmentdates back to the 1950s.
A 2014 corrective measure regulators issued for Sunoco'sMid-Valley Pipeline cited "some history of internal corrosionfailures" as a potential factor in a leak that sent crude into aLouisiana bayou near an area used for drinking water.
Crude spills on Sunoco's lines in 2009 and 2011 drew arebuke from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in asettlement announced this year.
The EPA said the settlement aimed to "improve the safety ofSunoco's practices and to enhance its oil spill preparedness andresponse."
In September, Sunoco received another corrective measure forits newly constructed Permian Express II line in Texas, whichleaked 800 barrels of oil earlier this month. The company isalready contesting a proposed $1.3 million fine from regulatorsfor violations related to welding on that line.
(Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing By TerryWade, Simon Webb and Edward Tobin)
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