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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, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday September 18 2018, @11:29PM (4 children)
They're saying, 6 pounds. Supposed to be half a pound. Pressure much too high. Because the Gas Company made a mistake. Trying to get that gas to the folks that need it. They tried a little too hard, right? Our thoughts & prayers are with the survivors & the families.
And, by the way, taxes are much too high too. Crime, much too high. Look what happened at the Boston Marathon. Lots of innocent children, and people, killed. Massachusetts needs DEATH PENALTY. But you don't hear about any of that from the Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @01:37AM (3 children)
You say that MA should have the death penalty. Now tell me, what are the chances that anyone at Columbia Gas will get the death penalty for this tragedy? My answer is *zero*. What if the accident happened in a state that does have the death penalty? Same answer.
From personal experience (in another state), Columbia will do the barest minimum for their customers. I say kudos for the Senators getting involved and keeping this in the news cycle. Keep the pressure on this sleazy public utility, and the state regulators that are supposed to be monitoring the utility.
Oh, and the $10M that Columbia pledged is chicken feed, divide by 80 houses and that's $125K per household. Not enough to rebuild a house & pay rent for the family while the house is being reconstructed, or, for that matter pay medical expenses for anyone badly burned.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @01:44PM (2 children)
It's always seemed the most mind-boggling contradiction to me.
Crime and punishment types... all about punishment, lock them up, throw away the key, off with their heads. Accountability! Responsibility! Except when a corporation does it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @03:22PM
It sort of makes sense, proper punishment would probably cost jobs. No one wants to hurt the "ecomony".
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday September 19 2018, @03:26PM
You use exactly the right words, and that's very important. It's not "crime and justice"; it's crime and *punishment*. They don't want rehabilitation, they don't want restitution, they want REVENGE. It's not about obeying the law, at least not directly; nor is it about morality or society; it's purely about obeying those in authority. It's not a contradiction because they don't care what the law says, they only care what some particular authority figure says. If that authority figure is the one that fucked up, then they can just say that they didn't, and all those crime and punishment types will immediately start blaming anyone who disagrees.
This is also why you tend to find a lot of racists in that mix -- they merely want to preserve the existing power structures, and see any efforts to promote diversity, integration, or equality as a threat to that existing order.