A steward of our environment

Over the past three decades, LOOP has safely and successfully received, stored and delivered more than eleven billion barrels of crude oil to U.S. refineries while protecting the natural environment of southern Louisiana.

LOOP recognizes its obligation to protect the environment in its operations. As a steward of the environment, LOOP uses a real-time leak detection system that continuously monitors the integrity of its pipelines. LOOP operates a computer based leak detection system capable of identifying the size and location of any leak in terms of leak rate, barrels lost and the leak location along its pipeline. Armed with this information in real-time, LOOP can rapidly respond to a leak event and minimize the environmental impact by isolating the source of the leak and dispatching repair and clean-up crews.

Once a week, divers check the integrity of the special hoses used to transport oil from the offloading tankers to LOOP’s pipeline system. Regular maintenance and visual inspections are also conducted on the LOOP pipeline. This includes weekly flights over the pipeline and visual inspections within the pipeline using robotic systems with remote video monitoring capabilities. In addition to these inspections, LOOP utilizes a sophisticated line surveillance system to continuously monitor pipeline integrity 24-hours a day.

There have been no major oil spills at LOOP since operation began in 1981. The company’s employees and management take pride in LOOP’s environmental record and strive to sustain and protect our environment.

To protect against possible incidents:

• LOOP has a fleet of sophisticated vessels that patrol the Port area and support the marine operations. The largest of these vessels, the LOOP Responder, is a 7,000- horsepower tractor tug capable of assisting any supertanker if it loses power or steering while entering the LOOP restricted safety zone.
• LOOP owns an array of oil recovery and remediation equipment capable of responding to an incident or oil spillage.
• LOOP maintains and updates an Emergency Response Plan to accommodate changing realities and adopt new technologies.
• To reinforce readiness and instill good operating practices, LOOP tests its Emergency Plan during annual “spill drills” that simulate potential incidents.
• LOOP works closely with local, state and federal officials during annual drills and throughout the year to integrate resources and plan responses to theoretical accidents.
• Since beginning operation more than 30 years ago, LOOP has responsibly handled billions of barrels of crude oil through the LOOP Deepwater Port. Our oil spill record has been exemplary in terms of minimal spill volumes. On average, less than 0.00000014 barrel of oil have spilled per million barrels of oil transported.
• As a requirement of our state license to operate, we perform extensive environmental monitoring to ensure that our operations do not impact the environment. LOOP also maintains an erosion monitoring and mitigation program on the beach at its pipeline crossing and right of way.