In Canada and the United States, there have been multiple crude oil pipeline proposals, each of which have become hotly debated due to public concerns over potential impacts to the environment, including risks to groundwater resources, should an accidental leak occur. This research, published in this Hydrogeology Journal paper (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10040-026-03019-0), considers how a transmission or gathering pipeline leak of diluted bitumen occurring above the water table may impact groundwater quality. Results were compared with previous and related experiments considering a leak occurring at the water table. Bench-scale laboratory experiments were conducted using tanks designed to simulate groundwater flow within a geological porous medium, allowing oils to be injected and effluent samples collected down gradient of the spill location. Using the same experimental approach, our research is now extending to leakage from other sources (i.e. storage tanks) and to other products such as renewable diesel.
