Ho-Hum: Just Another Little Old Pipe Line Explosion… what’s for dinner?

At least one person killed by gas line explosion near San Francisco airport. Sadly, this is nothing new. Here is an “incomplete” list of pipeline accidents in the United States since 1965:

* 1965: Gas transmission pipeline, north of Natchitoches, Louisiana, belonging to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company explodes from stress corrosion cracking, killing 17 people. This accident lead to then President Lyndon B. Johnson to call for the formation of a national pipeline safety agency. (March 4, 1965)
* 1968: Ruptured LPG pipeline, near Yutan, Nebraska. Repair crews responded to a pipeline rupture, thought vapors were dispersed, but ignited a vapor cloud by driving into it. Five repairmen were killed. (December 5, 1968)
* 1969: Low pressure natural gas distribution system, Gary, Indiana. (June 3, 1969)
* 1969: High pressure natural gas pipeline. A 14-inch (360 mm) natural gas pipeline running at 789 psi near Houston, Texas ruptures, causing a massive fire. Construction work downstream of the accident lead to a pressure build up that caused the rupture. September 9, 1969.
* 1970: Colonial Pipeline Company, petroleum products pipeline, Jacksonville, Maryland, (September 3, 1970.
* 1970: 1970 Propane vapour cloud explosion in Port Hudson, Phillips Pipeline Company propane gas explosion, Franklin County, Missouri. Leak lead to propane cloud explosion with a force of several tons of TNT. (December 9, 1970)
* 1972: Rupture of propane pipeline, near Butler, Alabama. A road grader in use hit a high pressure propane pipeline. A short time after the line was ruptured, a car drove into the vapor cloud, igniting it, and killing four people. (June 20, 1972)
* 1973: Natural gas liquids pipeline rupture. Austin, Texas A natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline ruptured due to an improper weld. Six people killed. (February 22, 1973)
* 1975: Natural gas liquids pipeline rupture. An NGL pipeline ruptured due to previous mechanical damage at Devers, Texas. 4 killed in vapor cloud fire. (May 12, 1975)
* 1975: LPG pipeline rupture. An LPG pipeline ruptured near Romulus, Michigan, due to previous mechanical damage to the pipeline and over pressurization from operator error at a storage facility. Nine people were injured in the vapor cloud fire. (August 2, 1975)
* 1976 LPG pipeline rupture. An LPG pipeline ruptured near Whitharral, Texas, leading to vapor cloud fire that killed five and destroyed two homes. Electrical resistance weld (ERW) failure is suspected for the failure. (February 25, 1976)
* 1976 Petroleum products pipeline. A front loader hit an eight inch petroleum products pipeline in Los Angeles, California during a road widening project along Venice Boulevard. 9 were killed, and serious property damage occurred.(June 16, 1976)
* 1976 Natural gas pipeline rupture. A road grader hit a 20-inch (510 mm) gas transmission pipeline near Cartwright, Louisiana. Six killed in the following fire. (August 9, 1976)
* 1977 LPG pipeline rupture. A LPG pipeline ruptured near Ruff Creek, Pennsylvania from stress corrosion cracking. The resulting propane vapor cloud ignited when a truck driven into the cloud stalled, then created a spark when it was restarted. (July 20, 1977)
* 1978 LPG pipeline rupture and fire. An LPG pipeline at Donnellson, Iowa ruptured from past mechanical damage and improper lowering for road improvements. The vapor cloud ignited several minutes after the rupture. Three people were killed. (August 4, 1978)
* 1978 A gas pipeline in Brookside Village, Texas ruptured and exploded, killing five people, and injuring 43 others. Seven mobile homes were also destroyed, (October 24, 1978)
* 1979 Natural gas pipeline rupture. An anchor handling boat, PETE TIDE II, damages an unmarked gas pipeline with a grappling hook offshore from New Orleans, Louisiana. A fire followed, and the two of the crew were missing and presumed dead. (July 15, 1979)
* 1980 A pipeline carrying naptha ruptured under a street in Long Beach, California, causing a fire that destroyed one home and damaged several others. Two people were injured. Lack of communication of pipeline valve setups, and pressure relief valves set to open at too high a pressure were identified by the NTSB as causes of the accident. (December 1, 1980)
* 1981 A 12-inch-diameter (300 mm) pipeline near Ackerly, TX, was hit by a rathole drill, releasing an ethane-propane mix. There was then an explosion & fire that killed4 people. (September 27, 1981)
* 1983 An 8-inch (200 mm) LPG pipeline was hit by a rotating auger used for planting trees near West Odessa, TX. After several minutes, the escaping LPG ignited, killing 5 people & injuring 5 others. (March 15, 1983)
* 1984 An 8-inch (200 mm) NGL pipeline near Hurst, TX, was hit by a front loader, and the escaping gases ignited, causing burns to the equipment operator. (February 28, 1984)
* 1985 A 30-inch-diameter (760 mm) gas pipeline weakened by atmospheric corrosion ruptured near Beaumont, KY. 5 people were killed, and 3 injured. (April 27, 1985)
* 1986 A 30-inch-diameter (760 mm) gas pipeline ruptures due to corrosion near Lancaster, KY. 3 people had serious burns, and 5 others had lesser injuries. (February 21, 1986)
* 1986 A backhoe snags a gas distribution line in Fort Worth, TX, causing a break that leaked gas into a unoccupied building. Later, that building exploded, injuring 22 people, destroying the unoccupied building, & damaging 40 other buildings. 57 automobiles in the unoccupied building were damaged or destroyed. (March 12, 1986)
* 1986 Petroleum products pipeline rupture at Mounds View, Minnesota. Gasoline at 1,434 psi sprayed a residential area around 4:20 am local time, then ignited. Two were killed, and many homes damaged or destroyed. Confusion by the pipeline company lead to a delay in shutting down the pipeline. Electrical resistance welded (ERW) seam failure caused the rupture. (July 8, 1986)
* 1989 Petroleum products pipeline failure after the San Bernardino train disaster, California. Damage from derailment cleanup caused petroleum products pipelines to rupture, spraying homes with gasoline. Three killed in following fire.
* 1989 New York City Con Edison Steam Pipe explosion, rupture 3 are killed in the 3rd ave- Grammercy Park area.
* 1990 Propane pipeline rupture and fire, North Blenheim, New York, March 13, 1990. Stress from previous work done on a pipeline causes rupture, vapor cloud moved downhill into a town. 2 killed and numerous buildings destroyed when the cloud ignited.
* 1993 On Sunday, March 28 at 8:48, a pressurized 36-inch-diameter (910 mm) petroleum product pipeline owned and operated by Colonial Pipeline Company ruptured near Hemdon, Virginia. The rupture created a geyser which sprayed diesel fuel over 75 feet into the air, coating overhead powerlines and adjacent trees, and misting adjacent Virginia Electric Power Company buildings. The diesel fuel spewed from the rupture into an adjacent storm water management pond and flowed overland and through a network of storm sewer pipes before reaching Sugarland Run Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.[4]
* 1994 Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion and Fire Previous damage cause a natural gas transmission pipeline to rupture at Edison, New Jersey on March 23, 1994.
* 1996 Butane Pipeline rupture and fire, near Lively, Texas, August 24, 1996. 2 killed after driving into an unseen butane cloud. Leak was caused by external corrosion.
* 1997 Pipeline Rupture and Fire, Indianapolis, Indiana, July 21, 1997.
* 1998 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire, South Riding, Virginia, July 7, 1998.
* 1998 Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture and Subsequent Explosion, St. Cloud, Minnesota, December 11, 1998.
* 1999 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire at a gas pressure station, Wytheville, Virginia, destroying a home and motorcycle store.[5] (January 3, 1999)
* 1999 Natural Gas Service Line and Rupture and Subsequent Explosion and Fire, Bridgeport, Alabama, January 22, 1999
* 1999 A pipeline in a Bellingham, Washington park leaked gasoline, vapor from the leak exploded and killed 2 10 year old boys and an 18 year old man on June 10, 1999. Issues causing the rupture were found to be previous pipe damage by excavation, incorrectly set up pressure relief valve, unexpected remote valve closure, and new software tests on the live controlling computer.
* 2000 Hazardous Liquid Pipe Failure and Leak, Explorer Pipeline Company, Greenville, Texas, March 9, 2000.
* 2000 Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture and Fire Near Carlsbad, New Mexico This Explosion Killed 12 Members Of The Same Family. Cause was due to severe internal corrosion of the pipeline. (August 19, 2000)
* 2000 Rupture of Piney Point Oil Pipeline and Release of Fuel Oil Near Chalk Point, Maryland, April 7, 2000.
* 2002 Rupture of Enbridge Pipeline and Release of Crude Oil near Cohasset, Minnesota, On July 4, 2002 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near Cohasset, in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (~250,000 gallons) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for 1 day and created a smoke plume about 1 mile high and 5 miles long.[6]
* 2003 Excavation Damage to Natural Gas Distribution Line Resulting in Explosion and Fire, Wilmington, Delaware, July 2, 2003.
* 2004 On November 21, 2004, a 14-inch-diameter (360 mm) petroleum multiproduct pipeline sprung a leak that was transporting gasoline at the time of the release. The pipeline, owned and operated by the California-Nevada Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Kinder-Morgan Energy Partners, is the main source of petroleum fuel products for Las Vegas, NV. An 80 foot geyser was discovered on the morning of November 22, 2004, after numerous complaints of a strong gasoline odor on Interstate 15 in northern San Bernardino County, CA.
* 2007 On January 1, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin failed, resulting in a spill of ~50,000 gallons of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[7] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~126,000 gallons of crude. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet deep and was reported to have contaminated the local water table.[8]
* 2007 2007 New York City steam explosion, on July 18, 2007
* 2007 A 12-inch (300 mm) propane pipeline explodes, killing two and injuring five others near Carmichael, AL on November 1, 2007. The NTSB determined the probable cause was likely ERW seam failure. Inadequate education of residents near the pipeline about how to respond to a pipeline accident was also cited as a factor in the deaths.
* 2008 Natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on February 5, near Hartsville, TN Believed to have been caused by a tornado hitting the facility.
* 2008 A gasoline release from a petroleum pipeline occurred on November 25, 2008 at a retail mall in Murrysville, PA. Officials said the release occurred from the six-inch line at about 9:30 a.m. while a Sunoco Logistics crew was working on a ball valve. .
* 2009 A rupture of pipeline near Cygnet, Ohio, owned by Philadelphia-based Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, resulted in one of the largest oil spills in Wood County history. Feb. 18, 2009.
* 2009 Natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on May 5, 2009 near Rockville, IN in Parke County about 24 miles north of Terre haute, IN. PHMSA indicated the possibility of external corrosion in its Corrective Action Order (CAO) to the pipeline company. Pictures have been released around the area showing the damage caused. 49 homes were evacuated in a one-mile area of the explosion. No injuries reported.
* 2009 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6707144.html reference: Bushland, Texas — Two people hurt when a natural gas pipeline exploded in the Texas Panhandle. The explosion early Thursday 5 November left a hole about 30 yards by 20 yards and close to 15 feet deep. The blast shook homes, melted window blinds and shot flames hundreds of feet into the air. The home nearest the blast — about 100 yards away- was destroyed. Bushland is about 15 miles west of Amarillo.
* 2009 A new 42-inch (1,100 mm) gas transmission pipeline near Philo, Ohio fails on the second day of operation. There was no fire, but evacuations resulted. (November 14, 2009)
* 2010 On Monday, July 26, the pipeline company, Enbridge Energy Partners LLP (Enbridge), reported that a 30-inch (760 mm) pipeline belonging to Enbridge burst in Marshall, Michigan. The company estimates over 800,000 gallons of crude oil leaked into Talmadge Creek, a waterway that feeds the Kalamazoo River.[9] [10] [11]
* 2010 On Thursday, September 9, a high pressure gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, CA. It destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 homes. One person died and many were injured. 10 acres burned total. [12]

SOURCE: Wikipedia

In addition to the above list, there seems to be many more pipeline accidents out there: Just do a You Tube search for “Gas Pipeline Explosions” and you will find other examples of pipe line accidents. I am sure there are also other good sources out there.

The point is: these explosions happen frequently, are often deadly and always destructive. They are a function of material failure, corrosion, human error, and random misfortune.   It could just as easily happen here in NEPA. Why not? We seem to be good at making the national news for all the wrong reasons.

How Natural Gas Drilling has Changed My Eating Habits by Molly M.

Following is a guest post from Molly M.  All are invited to submit:

I travelled to Dimock, PA, several weeks ago to see for myself what was going on at my neighbors to the north.  I was astounded to see gas drilling pads in many farm pastures.  On several sites, cows were being pastured and fed adjacent to the pads. I had read about cows being quarantined in Tioga County after they were suspected of drinking polluted flowback water.  In Washington County cows died after exposure to drilling fluids.  At Dunkard Creek, where all aquatic life died from an algae bloom caused by drilling, beef cows were photographed standing in orange-tainted water.  I have decided not to eat beef any more.  Every time I look at a steak, I see those cows standing next to a drill site.

My new discoveries opened my eyes to other concerns.  How about the farmers who were present at the farmers’ markets? Had they leased their lands?  If I knew for sure they had, I bypassed their stands.  I am also boycotting a restaurant next to a drill pad in Fairmount Township.

I began searching for alternative food sources and discovered the joys of shopping at the Lands at Hillside.  The folks who bought this wonderful farm from the old coal barons opted not to lease these lands.  Hooray!  Now I buy hormone-free milk, free range eggs, Hillside Gold butter, fresh ice cream, and other goodies.  Life is good, and my tummy agrees.

Gas Stock I – the trek

Photo courtesy of Mark Cour

It was a day well spent.  A day in the sun among old and new friends.  Gas Stock was a gathering which spanned generations, politics, communities, and states.  It was a  campfire around which we joined as one.  Thank  you to NEPA Citizens in Action!

I was part of a small group which hiked from the Susquehanna in Wilkes-Barre to the Fair Grounds in Lehman.  Here is what the Times Leader reported about our trek:

Don Williams, of Montgomery County, set out from Wilkes-Barre’s Nesbitt Park at 6:30 a.m. and walked more than 10 miles to the fairgrounds together with his daughters, Lisa and Lauren Williams, and two local bloggers, Mark Cour and Herb Baldwin.“I’ve attended several of these meetings where the gas industry people basically said, if you drove here and you don’t support what we’re doing, you’re a hypocrite. I remembered that,” Williams said. “That’s why I did it, being able to say I had the lowest carbon footprint here today.”

Actually there was six of us. The person omitted in the Times Leader quote is blogger Hannah Abelbeck.  Sending us off was yet another blogger, John, and his sister Sandy. They showed up at dawn to wish us well and record the riverside ceremony. Afterward, we started out, four bloggers and two sane people.

(“By the time we got to Gas Stock, we were half a dozen strong…”) (apologies to Joni Mitchell).

Our march paralleled in reverse the route of  Toby’s Creek as it moves from the back mountains down to the valley, tumbling fresh water into the Susquehanna and eventually the Chesapeake.

We started our journey atop concrete and asphalt, alongside traffic and amid big plastic signs and display windows. We left the streets in Luzerne and strode along an old railroad bed turned recreational trail. It parallels the highway which was once but a creek side foot path. Now the sound of  traffic permeates the air.

We eventually emerged from the woods onto route 309 in Dallas. It was pedestrian unfriendly from there to the fairground. We stopped by Lisa Baker’s office but no one was there. We took some pictures and left tri-folds of information in the doorjamb. Lisa continues to believe this corporate invasion can be “managed”.

How do you manage billions of  gallons of toxic slurry left inside the shattered rock? How do you manage the diminishing water supply?  How do you tell the regional water cycle it will have to do with billions of gallons less?  How do you insure the infrastructure of wells are maintained and incident free for the next thousand years?  How do you manage a hodgepodge of corporations, companies, and contractors from myriad states and countries whose only goal is the maximization of profit?

The picture above is one taken at Baker’s office.  You will notice the Pennsylvania State Flag is upside down. This was not a mistake. Don did it, as a sign of distress.  Penn’s Woods is in serious jeopardy.

( There is, however, one mistake in the photo: See if you can find it in less than five seconds.)

Meanwhile, to be continued…

That would be American

“The world’s whole petroleum resource is estimated at a million terawatts, which happens to be equal to the amount of solar energy that reaches the earth every day.” 

above quote from The Independent Home by Michael Potts

Just as the world is moving forward with sustainable and alternative energy sources and management, we are allowing our piece of it to be raped and plundered by Big Gas.

Just as the United States consumers are buying more and more locally, we allow our farmland to become an industrial zone.

We are willing to let a small minority of our fellow citizens pollute the resources one hundred percent of us use. What is sane or democratic about that? We all share this halo of air and water.

Our aim should be to make each home energy independent.  No monthly bills.  That is what we can leave our children.  That would be American.

There will be thousands of gas wells drilled over the next two decades using slick water horizontal hydrofracking – the Back Mountain as Industrial Zone

Gas Drilling Will Bring You:
Lower Property Values
Higher Taxes
Polluted and Unusable Water Sources
Toxic Waste (heavy metals, carcinogens, brine and radioactive materials)
Open Waste Pits
Undisclosed Chemicals
Endocrine Disruptors
Carcinogens Left Underground
Air Pollution
Depleted Water Habitat
Noise Pollution
Eminent Domain
Loss of Farmland
Loss of Tourism
Disrupted Wildlife Habitat
Higher Crime Rate
Increased Drug Use
Choking Truck Traffic
Broken Roads
Increased Accidents
Lower Quality of Life (why do you love this place?)
Earth Shaking
Fractured Bedrock Below (where 10 to 30 tons of chemicals per well, liberated radioactivity, brine, and heavy metals are left underground to slowly migrate toward your family’s water supply)

Educate yourself and take action to stop this now! The first well is drilling this August. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda you see on television and billboards. 1.5% percent of the county households will benefit, 98.5% will suffer.

NOTE – Add on top of this: mismanagement, acts of nature, maximization of profit, and out of state corporations. Then mix in weakened laws and a depleted DEP. And put it all in the context of rapid expansion. Isn’t this a case for MORATORIUM!?

Dick Cheney’s Picture Book of Energy – Page 1

Obviously, the Sun is NOT a good source of energy.

Visit The Frack Country Blues.com

The Frack Country Blues.com

Shared Destiny –

EnCana “leased” your community –

This map published in the Times Leader on Thursday, May 6, demonstrates how ubiquitous and widespread EnCana’s fracturing plans are.  At the County Zoning Board hearing on Tuesday night, I asked the EnCana representatives how many wells are planned  if the exploratory ones are productive.    Wendy Wiedenbeck  of EnCana said they have no idea because all this activity is strictly “exploratory” and that is their sole plan at this point.  She would not discuss any possible numbers.

So, let me get this straight, they commit to leasing over 25,000 acres without a vague notion of  possible scenarios?  They commit at least $25 million without any production projections? I don’t believe it.  Looks to me like hundreds of wells.  Looks to me like a major industrial footprint. Looks to me like a at least a billion gallons of toxic water left underground to slowly traverse the fractured shale,  seeking a point of inexorable egress.

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The Back Mountain feeds the valley its water –

The Citizen’s Voice reports:

the Huntsville reservoir is the source of water for approximately 30,000 people in Dallas, Kingston Township, Swoyersville, West Wyoming and Wyoming. The Ceasetown reservoir is the source for approximately 70,000 people in the areas of Ashley, Courtdale, Conyngham Township, Edwardsville, Hanover Township, Hunlock Township, Larksville, Nanticoke, Newport Township, Plymouth Borough, Plymouth Township, Pringle, Salem Township, Shickshinny and portions of Wilkes-Barre City.

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Guest Opinion on County Zoning Hearing

My thoughts and my sentiments are that the citizens are in a war here, a war to protect our water supply and the very air that we breathe, but are so out-powered and out-numbered by the huge money of the gas industry, who can buy our politicians and spread their propaganda faster than a wildfire. Incidentally, if and when one of these gas wells blows up, their is potential for a wildfire, not to mention the toxic chemicals it will spew into the air for a hundred miles or so.

The Zoning Hearing for the approval to give the go-ahead to EnCana to drill their well in Lake Township was a slam dunk before the hearing even began. The citizens had no chance at all, and I was convinced of this when I saw the extremely affectionate exchanges between the members of our Zoning Board and the representatives of EnCana at the table before the hearing began. EnCana sends in what appear to be ordinary citizens just like you and I. It would be far easier to enter into strong debate with the big shots in their fancy suits. These people all live in either Wyoming or Colorado so why would they care about our water & air quality. They are highly paid employees of the gas industry. While the citizens were strongly warned not to discuss water issues, EnCana proceeded to show their propaganda power point presentation and talk a whole lot about water! After all, isn’t water one of the most important issues in gas drilling operations? Millions of gallons of water are required for the fracking process of each individual well. Toxic chemicals are added to it before it gets put into the ground, and toxic chemicals remain in the portion of it that comes back up. The gas industry will put huge demands on our water supply and they have the potential to contaminate what water remains. Our small, rural communities are not ready for the gas industry. We are not trained or prepared to handle a gas well fire! In fact, we simply are not trained for any of this, and neither is DEP! Should we have the heavy rains we experienced in June of 2006 which destroyed roads and bridges, not to mention the near collapse of the Huntsville Dam, the plastic liner in the gas company “pit” will not keep it from over-flowing or the sides blowing out, and the toxic ingredients of the pits contaminating nearby creeks, streams, lakes, and yes, our aquifers!

As I take a look out over Harveys Lake and watch the trees slowly move to the breeze, and smell the clean air that is coming through my windows, I wonder what this scene will be in a few years, after the gas industry has bought out everyone, taken the gas and their money, and gone back to Colorado?

God help us all.

Michell’e T. Boice

time to join the fight

It is late and it has been a long greasy night. We took a gut blow at a packed County Zoning Board hearing.

It was to be expected. The Oil and Gas Act limited zoning board power to allow “optimal development of the oil and gas resources” of Penn’s Woods. The state took control of our communities.

The overall system is complex and segmented, it favors the ones who can afford to lawyer up. If the Zoning Board did anything outside of their tight little paradigm, EnCana could shoot a barrage of suits from the mother ship at a county already near financial ruin. Or, at least, that is how many think it would play out.

I feel so bad for those who live closest to the drilling site. I am told, there are 300 families living contiguous to the property. I want them to know, we will continue to fight for their rights. But also, they must join in.