Environmentalists sabotage US pipelines

A group of radical environmentalists was able to temporarily shut down five major oil pipelines hundreds of miles apart, including the TransCanada Keystone pipeline, on Tuesday.

Between four and nine activists were arrested in several states, according to different media reports, for tampering with the safety valves of the pipes, which carry crude from Canada into the US.

No oil spills resulted and no damage was done to the pipelines by the activists, who claimed in interviews with world media that they had spent months studying how to turn off the pipes safely.

The group, which calls itself Climate Direct Action, said it was protesting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, a separate USD 3.7-billion pipeline project designed to carry oil from North Dakota to the US Gulf Coast.

The group has come under criticism from experts and industry officials. “Closing valves on major pipelines can have unexpected consequences, endangering people and the environment,” Carl Weimer, executive director at the industry watchdog Pipeline Safety Trust, told Deutsche Welle.