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Pipe pressure before gas explosions was 12 times too high
The pressure in natural gas pipelines prior to a series of explosions and fires in Massachusetts last week was 12 times higher than it should have been, according to a letter from the state's U.S. senators to executives of the utility in charge of the pipelines.
Democratic U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey sent the letter Monday seeking answers about the explosions from the heads of Columbia Gas, the company that serves the communities of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, and NiSource, the parent company of Columbia Gas.
"The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has reported that the pressure in the Columbia Gas system should have been around 0.5 pounds per square inch (PSI), but readings in the area reached at least 6 PSI — twelve times higher than the system was intended to hold," the letter said.
The pressure spike registered in a Columbia Gas control room in Ohio, the senators said in the letter, which requests a reply by Wednesday.
See also: Columbia Gas pledges $10M toward relief efforts in Lawrence, Andover, North Andover
Previously: 60-80 Homes Burn; Gas Line "Incident" in Northern Massachusetts
(Score: 1, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday September 18 2018, @11:24PM (7 children)
"Possibly"? Maybe you shouldn't have name-dropped it then?
But since you mentioned it, we can take a look. This news story [adn.com] mentions the three largest leaks over a forty year period. Two were due to deliberate sabotage and the largest was a mere 16,000 barrels leaked. In that time, it's passed on [alyeska-pipe.com] almost 18 billion barrels of oil. If "Big Oil" were truly as sloppy as claimed, there'd be bigger accidents out there.
My bet is that the real reason is that the Keystone XL pipeline would significantly increase oil production from the big fields in the Dakotas and Alberta. That in turn would set back the Green agenda to stopping use of oil in a human lifetime. I doubt local environmental concerns were relevant to a majority of the resistance.
(Score: 1, Informative) by aristarchus on Tuesday September 18 2018, @11:59PM (6 children)
Can you say "shill" louder, khallow? The Green Agenda is about to make you unemployed, and unemployable.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:13AM (5 children)
So what? The Alaska Pipeline's safety record doesn't change, if I'm getting my food pellets from Big Oil or Greenpeace. That's the nature of ad hominem fallacies.
(Score: 1, Informative) by aristarchus on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:32AM (4 children)
And what does that have to do with Massacheusetts? Why are you inserting your Big Oil paid comments into a discussion about NatGas and public utilities? The hominem here is you, khallow. Your intervention is suspect. You interject in bad faith. Your "facts" are irrelevant to the topic at hand. And your father smelt of elderberries!
(Score: 3, Touché) by khallow on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:44AM (3 children)
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @01:16AM (2 children)
Uh huh, you do not care, whichbis why you ALWAYS respond to such "bullshit". You are either a lazy worker, a lonely shut in, or a corporate shill. While the first two are amusing the last is certainly more likely.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 19 2018, @11:02AM (1 child)
Not always. aristarchus can do better. And I don't always respond to your AC posts, amirite?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @03:10PM
Uiswrong