Pipe lines in and of themselves are not the issue. It's the unmitigated clowns that run and maintain these systems. The present system utilises simple "on-off" technology. The equivalent of having one moron at the input end saying the oil is going in and another at the output end saying the oil is coming out and the use of the word "moron" is intentional.

My suggestion is there should be a basic mandatory fine of $10/liter spilled combined with clean up costs. These fines are to be distributed up the chain from the half wit checking the gauges to the half wits running the company. I imagine one or two of these would change attitudes and leak detection methods immensely.