http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/11/3279631/explosion-chevron-gas/
Category Archives: Safety
Methane pipeline blew up onto Florida Turnpike next to high school
Five years ago a natural gas pipeline blew up between the Florida Turnpike
and I-95, flying a 104-foot piece of 18-inch pipe through the air,
shutting down both roads, and fortunately missing a high school.
NTSB determined it was the fault of the pipeline operator,
Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC (FGT).
FGT was
written up by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
in
NTSB/PAB-13/01 of 13 August 2013
for “Damage/Clean-up Cost: $606,360” in this 4 May 2009 incident
near Palm City, Florida:
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was environmentally assisted cracking under a disbonded polyethylene coating that remained undetected by the integrity management program. Contributing to the accident was Florida Gas Transmission Company’s failure to include the pipe section that ruptured in the integrity management program. Contributing to the prolonged gas release was the pipeline controller’s inability to detect the rupture because of SCADA system limitations and the configuration of the pipeline.
So NTSB said it was FGT’s fault.
And Florida and Martin County taxpayers had to pay for Continue reading Methane pipeline blew up onto Florida Turnpike next to high school
Watch Osceola County Commission live at 1:30 PM today
If you can’t get to Kissimmee today, you can watch it live
on the Osceola County Commission’s website.
And if you can’t get to that one, the pipelines are coming up at four other county commission meetings in Georgia and Florida from today through next week.
In addition to
local landowner Monica Martin,
she says
the local Thai temple will also speak,
Wat Florida Dhammaram,
TheravÄda Buddhist Temple.
And that’s not all:
- Noon today, Monday, 10 February 2014, Colquitt County Commission on Sabal Trail pipeline at their Work Session.
- 5PM tomorrow, Tuesday, 11 February 2014, Lowndes County Commission Meeting and Protest at their Regular Session.
- 7PM tomorrow, Tuesday, 11 February 2014, Colquitt County Commission on Sabal Trail pipeline at their Regular Session.
- 5PM Thursday, 20 February 2014, 3 minutes a question at Gilchrist County Commission at their Regular Session.
Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines, because of water, safety, health, fracking, property values, and other issues, and even county commissions in all three directly affected states (Lee County, Alabama started way back in May 2014) are having to respond to citizen concerns about unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and property-taking methane pipelines. Let’s go straight to solar and wind power!
-jsq
Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines
FPL and Spectra could lose, because many organizations and individuals don’t want dirty methane pipelines when we can go straight to conservation, efficiency, and solar and wind power.
Kevin Spear wrote for the Orlando Sentinel
19 January 2014
Pipeline to bring natural gas to state,
Florida Power & Light Co. is on the cusp of getting the pipeline it has long wanted to carry natural gas from elsewhere in the nation to Central and South Florida to run the utility’s power plants.
But the proposed $3.6 billion project, which FPL hopes to start using in 2017, has drawn mixed responses from even groups that are usually allies.
Among them, Audubon Florida lauds natural gas as cleaner than coal when burned by power plants, while Sierra Club Florida opposes the line as likely to ensure that the state becomes further addicted to the fuel at the expense of developing solar power.
Other negative reactions include:
- Contention by many environmentalists that the use of natural gas on the whole — from drilling to consuming — is as damaging to the environment as the use of coal.
Concerns that the route of the proposed pipeline is potentially harmful to Florida wetlands and aquifers.
- Criticism from some environmental groups that Continue reading Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines
The outreach programs to date have been ineffectual –Carol Singletary
Filed with FERC 12 December 2013:
November 18, 2013
4871 Gary Lane
Valdosta, GA 31601P. Martin Teague
Associate General Counsel
Sabal Trail Transmissions, LLC
2701 North Rocky Point Dr.
Suite 1050
Tampa, FL 33607Dear Mr. Teague,
I would like to thank you for the time you spent with me this morning regarding my concerns about the proposed natural gas pipeline FERC docket filing PF14-1.
The information that I am requesting is as follows:
Continue reading The outreach programs to date have been ineffectual –Carol Singletary
I adamantly oppose this proposed pipeline –Thomas Lovett to FERC
Filed with FERC 1 December 2013:
Thomas Lovett, Quitman, GA.
December 1, 2013
Thomas D. Lovett
250 Monument Church Road
Quitman, GA 31643Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20426Re: FERC Docket No. PF-14-1
Dear FERC,
As a Brooks County, Georgia landowner who would be directly affected by Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC’s proposed pipeline, I adamantly oppose this proposed pipeline, for the reasons stated below.
The 36-inch pipeline/easement would cut a path approximately 5,480 feet long and 100 feet wide across our family farm, located at 250 Monument Church Road, Quitman, Georgia, 31643. Our family farm has been continuously owned by my family for more than 100 years. I live on the farm with my wife and two boys.
The pipeline, if allowed, would be approximately 680 feet directly behind our residence. It would be approximately 790 feet from nearby Morning Star Church Continue reading I adamantly oppose this proposed pipeline –Thomas Lovett to FERC
Easement completely destroys any further use of this property –David C. Watkins, III to FERC
Filed with FERC 16 November 2013:
David C. Watkins, III, Valdosta, GA.
I am submitting my opposition to this pipeline. I own 2.09 acres of land in Lowndes County Ga. that was passed down from my Grandfather to my Father who then passed it down to me. We built our home on the north end of this lot and there is enough land left below the existing SONAT pipeline to build another home for our grandchildren or possibly a rental home for future supplemental income. There is already a septic tank and water supply line there for future use. Granting Sabal Trail/ Spectra an easement completely destroys any further use of this property. I am not interested in receiving fair market value for this strip of land because it will be a minimal amount but will not allow me to put any structure on this property.
Also I am very concerned about potential safety hazards. They do not have a good safety record. Also the first interaction that I had with them I was misled or lied to. I received a form requesting permission to come on my property for surveying. I called the contact number on the form to ask if they would be using the existing SONAT easement and was told “Absolutely”. Assuming that this was true I signed the form and sent it back in. Later I am told by the surveyors that they cannot share easements. On Monday 11/18/2013 I will be sending a form VIA registered mail that they are not to enter my property again.
I just do not understand why if they cannot use the existing easement why not go another route instead of taking property from the same property owners twice.
Respectfully Yours,
D.C. Watkins III
How to comment with FERC.
-jsq
How does this pipeline benefit the public by taking land from the public?
Received Sunday on Stranded fossil fuel assets. -jsq
Governmental eminent domain powers have been growing for more than 115 years, to the point where courts have upheld the taking of property from one private owner for the purpose of transferring it to another, as long as it benefits the public. The Natural Gas Act delegates eminent domain powers to the pipeline companies, subject to court approval. However there’s no mechanism in place to dispute the taking. Things to consider:
- How does this benefit the public by taking land from the public?
- Is there an irrefutable study that shows this act of taking of private land is justifiable by needs other than capitalistic greed?
- Also, what about the mineral rights of the property?
- How many “pipes” or infrastructures can the Pipeline Company sell or lease access to other entities without any future benefits paid to the original land owners?
- Are all Continue reading How does this pipeline benefit the public by taking land from the public?
The Big Picture
A followup to discussions in Moultrie, GA, 27 January 2014.
From: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:29:54 -0500
cc: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.org>
To: John Peconom <john.peconom@ferc.gov>
Subject: Re: Contact and the Big PictureHowdy, and it was good to meet you in Moultrie.
I look forward to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission taking into account the whole big picture, and not just believing assertions by applicant companies without critical review.
Thanks for sending me this boilerplate, which I see appears in many FERC documents:
Any state or local permits issued with respect to the jurisdictional facilities authorized herein must be consistent with the conditions of this certificate. The Commission encourages cooperation between interstate pipelines and local authorities. However, this does not mean that state and local agencies, through application of state or local laws, may prohibit or unreasonably delay the construction of facilities approved by this Commission.There was no source cited in the boilerplate, does it refer to this? Continue reading The Big Picture
Yet another fireball…..
CBC News 25 Jan 2014,
Natural gas pipeline explodes near Otterburne, Man.:
Thousands without heat south of Winnipeg as arctic blast moves in
A natural gas pipeline explosion near Otterburne, Man., 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg, has left thousands without heat as temperatures drop to -20 C, or -34 C with the wind chill.
A fire is out after burning for more than 12 hours at the site of a natural gas pipeline explosion near Otterburne, Man., about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg. But officials say there are now natural gas outages affecting as many as 4,000 people in nearby communities, where temperatures dipped to near -20 C overnight.
The Rural Municipality of Hanover declared a state of local emergency Saturday afternoon in a release that said the outage was expected to last 24 to 72 hours.
The trouble began early Saturday when RCMP responded around 1:05 a.m. to a “loud explosion.”
Witnesses who live close to the scene said it was massive. Paul Rawluk lives nearby and drove to the site.
“As we got closer, we could see these massive 200 to 300 metre high flames just shooting out of the ground and it literally sounded like a jet plane,” he said. “And that’s the thing that really got us, was the sound of it.”
He said it was hard to describe the scale.
“Massive, like absolutely massive,” he said. “The police were by [Highway] 59 and you could just see little cars out there and you could see in comparison how big the flame was. It was just literally two to 300 metres in the air. And bright, I mean lit up the sky.”
The pipeline is owned by TransCanada, the same company that later lost a lawsuit in Nebraska for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.