There have been thousands of spills from oil and gas pipelines in the U.S. over the past decade. When the Keystone XL, or any big transmission line, spills, it gets attention from the federal government and the public.

But in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, thousands of miles of smaller pipelines are being built, connecting drilling well pads to the larger energy distribution system.

As The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant (@AFrontJulie) reports, these lines have far less oversight and could be having big impacts on smaller streams, and the wildlife that lives there.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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