Amazingly rich Oil companies who pay out billions in dividends make their money by cutting corners and paying off politicians to ignore it especially in America. It's only when pointless disasters like this happen that people realise that they are making a deal with the devil.

It should be mandatory that a cut off valve should be placed every mile or 2 miles so that should a leak happen to the pipeline the oil can be cut off and the leak repaired with minimal damage but in an industry that has a limited lifespan profits are key and installing such safety measures would cut down on those profits so it's cheaper to invest in politicians to turn a blind eye. Gotta love Democracy and free market economies.