Professor Michael Wara weighs in on the pipeline rupture in Santa Barbara, CA, and how the company who owns the pipeline may not have "fully understood" the risk of what they were acquiring in this Los Angeles Times' article. 

Nearly two decades ago, Plains All American Pipeline embarked on a buying spree across the United States and Canada, acquiring thousands of miles of aging pipeline.

The purchases turned Plains into one of North America's biggest energy pipeline companies. But it also left the firm with a patchwork of pipes, some in need of crucial maintenance.

...

"They bought a bunch of companies with assets of varying quality," said Michael Wara, a geochemist and an associate professor of law at Stanford University who specializes in energy and environmental law. "When you do that, you may not always fully understand what you're acquiring, and that creates risk."