Moving Fuel

Petroleum based or corn-based ethanol, it moves by pipeline, highway, or water. And to do it safely is hard, pains-taking work. “Mess up, and we go to jail,” said a captain recently. Below, Nicole Leigh Reinauer approaches Shooters Island.

According the Lisa Margonelli, 194 million drivers burn a collective 36, 000 gallons per hour. That’s only driving and gasoline.  It doesn’t include home heating or other industrial use. Below, Eileen M. Roehrig westbound under the Brooklyn Bridge. More interesting statistics in the second paragraph of Prof. Greenwood’s article here.

According to Margonelli in the Times, moving fuel by water involves half the spillage of pipelines and almost a third that of highway transport. Here’s how Margonelli puts it: “From 1980 to 2003, for every billion ton-miles of petroleum and petroleum products, pipelines spilled 27 gallons of oil, trucks spilled 37 and barges spilled 15, according to Environmental Research Consulting.” Unidentified tug and barge wait dispatch in Gravesend Bay anchorage.

Below, Franklin Reinauer westbound under Manhattan Bridge.

Below assist tug Janice Ann Reinauer approaches tanker Clipper Kylie offloading into a fuel lighter. Foto taken Christmas Day 2007.

This happens every day on the six boro.