Transmission pipelines are large steel pipes (usually 2″ to 42″ in diameter; most often more than 10″ diameter) that are federally regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. This type of pipeline carries unodorized gas at a pressure of approximately 200 to 1,500 psi. The pipe itself is constructed with 40′-60′ sections or “joints” that are welded together at the seams.
Transmission pipelines can fail due to: seam failures, corrosion, materials failure, or defective welding.
The natural gas transmission pipelines transport is unodorized therefore gas leaks can go undetected until an explosion occurs.
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- 5/26/2014: Natural Gasline Explosion, Warren MN
- 5/23/2014: Natural Gas Fire, Oaktown, Indiana
From 1994 through 2013, the U.S. had 745 serious incidents with gas distribution, causing 278 fatalities and 1059 injuries, with $110,658.083 in property damage.[1]
From 1994 through 2013, there were an additional 110 serious incidents with gas transmission, resulting in 41 fatalities, 195 injuries, and $448,900,333 in property damage.[2]
A recent Wall Street Journal review found that there were 1,400 pipeline spills and accidents in the U.S. 2010-2013. According to the Journal review, four in every five pipeline accidents are discovered by local residents, not the companies that own the pipelines.[3]
SPECTRA SAYS THEIR PIPELINES ARE SAFE. ARE THEY REALLY?
SPECTRA ENERGY FLIP-FLOPS
Spectra Energy ‘Backtracks’ on Methane Incident. First: “Nothing Released …. No Smoke …. No Incident”. Then Admits: Methane & Hydrocarbons Released.
Spectra Energy Corporation was forced to backtrack on dismissive assertions it made about a nighttime incident at its huge natural gas compressor station in Bedford County, PA, after persistent neighbors and a reporter kept pressing the company and state regulators for facts.
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PIPELINE LEAK DETECTION STILL DOESN’T WORK
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AMERICA’S DANGEROUS PIPELINES
CANADIAN PIPELINE INCIDENTS SINCE 2000
Ever wonder whether your community contains any buried pipelines? Or if any issues have arisen with them over the years?
Through an access-to-information request, CBC News obtained a data set of every pipeline safety incident reported to the federal regulator in the past 12 years.
The National Energy Board oversees cross-border pipelines. The data doesn’t include smaller pipelines within provincial boundaries.
The documents reveal details about more than 1,000 incidents that have happened across the country from 2000 until late 2012 and suggest the rate of overall incidents has doubled in the past decade.
Explore the map below to see incidents near your city or filter using various categories, such as the type of event, substance spilled or company name. Click on each incident to read a full description.
Link to the interactive Map here
COMPRESSOR STATIONS REASON FOR CONCERN?
Then came the news that a compression station to re-pressurize the natural gas that would be pumped from Wright, N.Y., to Dracut, north of Lowell — a station that earlier maps seemed to show as being in Conway — might instead be sited within a mile of the farmhouse where Ben lives with his wife and young child.
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FEDERAL PIPELINE AND OIL-BY-RAIL REGULATOR MAKING 9% STAFF CUT
Job cuts come at a time when PHMSA is struggling to regulate the nation’s aging pipeline network and new pipelines tied to the oil and gas boom.
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NATURAL GAS STORAGE FACILITY EXPLODES IN WASHINGTON
According to NBC, “Over the police scanners, one first responder said a 1.2 billion cubic foot natural gas container exploded.”
There are reports of hundreds of people being evacuated, including evacuations by bus from the Umatilla school district to the Hermiston convention center.
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RECENT TRAGEDIES HIGHLIGHT NEED TO REFORM REGULATIONS FOR 500,000 MILE OF OIL AND GAS PIPELINES IN U.S.
What’s going on with pipelines? Has there been a high number of major pipeline tragedies recently, or are such incidents just more in the news with widespread attention to potential federal approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline?
Per the author, “As someone who has worked on pipeline safety and associated environmental protection issues since I began serving on a pipeline federal advisory committee in the mid-1990s, I can say confidently that the period from 2010-2013 has had a very large number of serious transmission pipeline tragedies compared to the previous decade (serious in the lay-person’s sense of the term, i.e., not the relatively narrow definition developed by federal pipeline regulators).”
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LATEST NEWS ARTICLES REGARDING SAFETY and HEALTH
Physicians Speak Out on the Health Effects of Fracked Gas Compressor Stations
Physicians Speak Out on the Health Effects of Fracked Gas Compressor Stations
Source: Physicians Speak out on Gas Compressor Stations
Click here for the full postFracking is 'Screwing Your Children and Grandchildren'
"there’s no way to avoid the consequences... And yet politicians pretend not to hear it, or not to understand"
Source: James Hansen: Fracking is 'Screwing Your Children and Grandchildren'
Click here for the full postWorkers escape serious injury after plant explosion
Hundreds were evacuated after an explosion at a gas plant operated by Anadarko Petroleum near Orla, Texas.
Source: Workers escape serious injury after plant explosion
Click here for the full postPipeline Safety Chief Says His Regulatory Process Is 'Kind of Dying' | InsideClimate News
Two stark numbers illustrate the challenge the administration faces in ensuring pipeline safety while pressing ahead with new pipeline projects: 135 federal inspectors oversee 2.6 million miles of pipeline, which means each inspector is responsible for almost enough pipe to circle the Earth.
Source: Exclusive: Pipeline Safety Chief Says His Regulatory Process Is 'Kind of Dying' | InsideClimate News
Click here for the full postSpectra Exposed
“Spectra neither cares for the public nor the workers. This is a fact. They do not care what happens as long as they flow gas.”
Source: Spectra Exposed
Click here for the full postFormer inspectors allege safety issues with Spectra pipeline project
“Like every other company, Spectra gives a tremendous presentation about their commitment to safety, but their actions lack any kind of resolve. No one ever says, ‘Safety’s #2 here…’ At every turn when I made a safety suggestion, I was met with monumental resistance from the company on every level.”
Source: Former inspectors allege safety issues with Spectra pipeline project
Click here for the full postPorter Ranch gas leak is a wake-up call
More than 280 families have fled their homes in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, sickened by the smell of a voluminous natural gas leak from underground storage wells. The gas has been seeping from the ground for more than a month, yet Southern California Gas Co. says it might to take another three to four months to shut down the well, which goes 8,500 feet deep.
Source: Porter Ranch gas leak is a wake-up call - LA Times
Click here for the full postHomeowners being 'bullied' by big gas? #StopSpectra
Some homeowners in Medina County say it may be the clearest proof yet of how they are being bullied by big gas.
Source: EXCLUSIVE | Homeowners being 'bullied' by big gas?
Click here for the full postCanadian regulator OKs Repsol LNG export plan in New Brunswick
Spanish energy giantRepsol has received approval from Canadian regulatorsto begin exporting liquefied natural gas from its under-utilizedCanaport import facility in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Source: Canadian regulator OKs Repsol LNG export plan in New Brunswick | Reuters
Click here for the full postPHMSA leaves out leak detection
The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration may be getting tougher with pipeline safety regulations, but its most recent rule does not address what many see as low-hanging fruit: New standards for leak detection technology.
Source: PHMSA leaves out leak detection - POLITICO
Alarming Uptick of Earthquakes in Kansas Linked to Fracking With 52 in Just Last Two Weeks
Just like in Oklahoma, Kansas is seeing a shocking uptick in earthquakes connected to the underground disposal of wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process.
Source: Alarming Uptick of Earthquakes in Kansas Linked to Fracking With 52 in Just Last Two Weeks
Click here for the full postEPA to mandate disclosures on chemical releases from gas processing plants
The Environmental Protection Agency will force companies to disclose details on the toxic chemicals released from gas processing plants nationwide in response to legal challenges.
Source: EPA to mandate disclosures on chemical releases from gas processing plants - Fuel Fix
Click here for the full postShell, Exxon Ordered to Pay Groningen Earthquake Compensation
A Dutch court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil must compensate homeowners for a drop in house prices caused by earthquakes linked to production at the Groningen gas field.
Source: Shell, Exxon Ordered to Pay Groningen Earthquake Compensation - WSJ
Click here for the full postImpacted Landowners Demand EPA Revise Flawed Fracking Study
The EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board met this week to review the agency’s draft assessment of the impact of fracking on drinking water resources, but the largely academic exercise got a dose of reality from residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania; Pavillion, Wyoming; and Parker County, Texas who have fought for years to get U.S. EPA to act.
Source: Impacted Landowners Demand EPA Revise Flawed Fracking Study
Click here for the full postFracking air pollution threatens health & climate
Our addiction to fossil fuels has made climate change a real and present danger. At the same time, communities living with fracking in their backyard face a relentless attack on their health everyday, thanks to air pollution from oil and gas production.
Source: EARTHWORKS
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