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: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 19 2018, @01:29AM (2 children)
I looked at buying a piece of land in Texas with about 1/4 mile of petroleum pipeline running through it. Common advice was: all pipelines leak, the question is: how much and what. Gas is not so bad unless it catches your woods on fire. The heavier petroleum won't leak too fast or far, but the more refined stuff can make a pretty good mess.
Turns out that the pipeline was the least of that property's worries, a superfund site was leaching lead from a sham battery recycling operation a couple of miles away and the bloom was poisoning the groundwater over most of the property.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:09PM (1 child)
A pipeline paying you passive income for the easement would have been a feature, not a bug, but, yeah, lead in the ground water is a deal killer.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 19 2018, @03:14PM
As I recall, the pipeline lease income didn't pay a significant fraction of the property tax, but... yeah, and selling mineral rights is pretty popular in East Texas, too.
🌻🌻 [google.com]