The Portland Montreal Pipe Line’s history began during World War II, as oil shipments to Canada were largely disrupted by enemy naval forces. South Portland offered a safe and secure port to unload the oil, and thus the Portland Pipeline was built to transfer oil to the Canadian refineries.
Oil is delivered via tanker ships to one of South Portland, Maine’s marine terminals where it is pumped to a 100-acre (0.40 km2) tank farm, along South Portland’s waterfront. The facility includes 23 oil tanks and a capacity of 3.5 million barrels (560,000 m3) of crude oil. The oil is then pumped through two separate pipelines, one which is 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and another which is 24 inches (61 cm) in diameter.[3] The pipeline extends 236 miles (380 km), 3 feet (0.91 m) beneath the surface and has several pump stations distributed throughout the line. The pipeline crosses into the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, eventually passing underthe St. Lawrence River, extending into Montreal. From South Portland to Montreal, it takes between 36-43 hours for the oil to reach its destination where it is processed in one of two refineries.
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