Will a New High-Pressure Gas Line Help New Yorkers?Or Blow Them Up?
Pipe Bomb
By Nick Pinto Wednesday, Jan 23 2013
From the window of her apartment on Bethune Street, Ynestra King can look out across the West Side Highway to the playground where she plays with children in her family, to the Hudson River, and beyond it, New Jersey. She can also see the place where a massive new pipeline carrying highly pressurized natural gas rises out of the river, carrying its explosive payload into the heart of the meatpacking district.

Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionJersey CitySan BrunoScience and TechnologyNature and the Environment
"It makes me very uneasy," King says. "I can't feel safe and comfortable in my home again. There's an established blast zone for when something goes wrong with this kind of technology, and I live inside it."

The pipeline, built by subsidiaries of Spectra Energy, runs about 16 miles from Staten Island, through New Jersey, and under the Hudson before surfacing in the West Village. Pipeline advocates say it will create construction jobs and help supply New York with natural gas, which burns cleaner than some heating oils.

Not everyone is convinced of the need for these pipelines. Demand for natural gas is at a low. Opponents of hydro-fracking worry that running this new pipeline, straight from the fracking wells of the Marcellus shale, helps to create a market for a dangerous product.

But leaving aside those environmental arguments, there's an even more immediate concern: Pipelines like this have a disturbing tendency to explode.

In December, a pipeline exploded in Sissonville, West Virginia, leveling four homes, badly damaging several others, and melting a nearby section of Interstate 77. A week before that, a pipe explosion in Goldsmith, Texas, sent a fireball 250 feet into the air, hurling bowling-ball-size rocks through the air. Two weeks before that, a leaky gas line detonated in Springfield, Massachusetts, flattening a strip club and blowing out windows in buildings for blocks around. The list continues.

In 2011, the last year for which there are complete statistics, there were 82 "significant incidents" involving natural gas transmission lines, according to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Those "incidents" alone resulted in $95 million in property damage.

Perhaps the most famous gas-line explosion in recent history took place in 2010, when a high-pressure transmission line, comparable in size and pressure to the Spectra project, exploded in a suburban subdivision in San Bruno, California, leveling 35 houses and damaging many more. The explosion registered with the U.S. Geological Survey as a 1.1 magnitude earthquake, and it carved out a crater 167 feet long and four stories deep. Amazingly, only eight people died.

But as long and disturbing as the list of natural-gas-pipeline disasters is, none of those catastrophes are particularly relevant to the Spectra pipeline, because none of them happened in a place nearly as densely populated as Manhattan or Jersey City. Until recently, no one was trying to run pipelines like this into urban neighborhoods.

To be clear, we're not talking about the distribution lines that bring natural gas to your home, typically two-inch pipes with pressure around 10 pounds per square inch. If you mess with one of those while digging in your front yard, you'll have a small but perfectly respectable explosion.

This isn't like that at all. It's a transmission line, 30 inches in diameter, running at pressures well in excess of that of a fire hose. When these things blow, they blow the #OOPS# up.

"We talked to an expert, an engineer with substantial experience, who told us that at the top end, we could be looking at a crater and other damage that's close to a third of a mile in diameter," says Derek Fanciullo, the assistant corporation counsel for the Jersey City Department of Law. "We have 15,000 to 17,000 people living in a square mile. The human damage and the real property damage if this thing were to explode would be almost incalculable. It's not just the crater: the heat radiates out along the surface of the ground, and these explosions are so hot that if you try to bring emergency vehicles out to the area, those vehicles would melt."

Running this pipeline under the city, the consultant told officials, would be like putting a small-grade neutron bomb beneath the streets.

From Jersey City, the pipeline runs east under the Hudson, resurfacing at the Gansevoort Peninsula in Hudson River Park, currently the home of Sanitation Department trucks and the FDNY's Fire Boat headquarters. Running the pipeline where an explosion would likely take out the fireboat needed to bring it under control might seem like bad planning, especially compounded with the fact that a serious blast could also take out the water main that feeds nearby hydrants, as happened in the San Bruno blast.

It doesn't stop there. A few hundred feet south of where the pipeline makes landfall?I am not making this up?is the Pier 51 playground, frequented by the sometimes adorable and always flammable children of the neighborhood.



How is this possible? Aren't there any responsible adults in a position to rule out corporate projects whose risks have been compared to disaster-movie plot devices? The answer to that question, remarkably, is no.

Natural gas pipelines are governed by a complex patchwork of regulatory agencies, but it's a patchwork with plenty of holes. When a transmission line crosses state borders, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, whose authority trumps any state or local regulations. But while FERC produces a lengthy Environmental Impact Statement, it's minimally concerned with human safety. In the thousands of pages of its impact statement for the Spectra project, FERC regulators determined, reassuringly and at length, that the project would have negligible impact on wetlands, fisheries, migratory birds, aquifers, and a small plant known as the small whorled pogonia.

The "Reliability and Safety" section of its conclusions runs less than a page, and can be summarized as "They're building this up to Department of Transportation standards, so we've got no complaints."

"That's how FERC usually addresses safety issues," says Carolyn Elefant, a Washington D.C., lawyer representing opponents of the pipeline. "They say, 'If you're doing this up to DOT standards, that's enough for us.' So by the time DOT looks at it, it's already a fait accomplis. Once the pipeline has been approved, its much harder for a safety agency to put its foot down."

Even if the Department of Transportation did weigh in on the safety of the pipeline, their standards might not be so useful. The DOT bases its safety standards on the population density surrounding the pipe, ranging from Class 1, desolate Alaskan tundra, to Class 4, densely populated. But the classification system is old, making no distinction between the suburbs of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the west side of Manhattan, where 15,000 people pack into a square mile.

"You're talking about apples and oranges," says Fanciullo, who urged FERC to hold off on approving the pipeline until he could persuade the DOT to update its standards. But FERC has never met a pipeline it didn't like. Its funding is literally?and amazingly?based on how many pipelines it can approve. From the beginning of 2010 to last June, the commission signed off on 35 pipelines. In all but one of those cases, it rubber-stamped the plan presented to it by the pipeline company. Five thousand people argued against Spectra's plan during the FERC's comment period, compared to only 22 in favor of it, but commissioners weren't interested in so much as delaying their approval. The plan received the final go-ahead in May. Construction on the Hudson River section began immediately, and though activists tried to slow it down by chaining themselves to construction equipment and dancing around wearing nothing but green paint, the section running into Manhattan was more or less complete by the end of the summer.

From the Gansevoort Peninsula, the pipeline will run under the West Side Highway to a vault near Tenth Avenue, where it will connect with a yet-to-be-constructed pipeline?still wide-gauge, still high-pressure?belonging to Con Edison, which will run 1,500 feet north on Tenth Avenue before splitting into smaller distribution lines. Fun fact: Because the Con Ed section doesn't cross any state lines, it's not even subject to FERC regulation. In fact, the only permit Con Ed needs to undertake its project is for digging up the street.

Even as the pipeline races toward inevitability, the fight against it isn't over. Jersey City, along with the Sierra Club and others, is appealing FERC's approval decision in the court of appeals for the District of Columbia.

At the same time, a variety of local pipeline opponents are suing the trustees of the Hudson River Park in state court, arguing they broke the law when they approved a non-park use for the Gansevoort Peninsula.

Whether either of these lawsuits will manage to stop the pipeline from becoming operational is far from clear. But if it doesn't happen in the courts, action by elected officials seems even less likely. Michael Bloomberg wholeheartedly endorses the pipeline. His girlfriend, Diana Taylor, who chairs the Hudson River Park Trust's board, helped ram approval of the plan through that body. Mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, whose City Council district includes the pipeline, has managed to dodge the issue entirely.

If politicians aren't prepared to make an issue out of the pipeline, it's likely because their constituents don't even know about it.

"My building is artists' housing, and it's right next to the pipeline," King says. "We're an unusually aware building. But I'd bet if you went door to door, most people in here still don't even know it's happening. They're sneaking this through before anyone knows what they've done."
VV

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Yeah, and Caven Point by the ballfields.

All dug up by Spectra.

If we are getting screwed with this pipeline, they should at least fully repave the streets they dug up.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-01-2 ... /Spectra-Energy-Pipeline/

"This isn't like that (distribution lines that bring natural gas to your home, typically two-inch pipes with pressure around 10 pounds per square inch) at all. It's a transmission line, 30 inches in diameter, running at pressures well in excess of that of a fire hose. When these things blow, they blow the #OOPS# up."

TL;DR
pipeline is happening and JC is gonna blow up eventually?

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They have Burma Rd. closed off with a detour around it. (1/23/13) It looks like the pipeline is going right down the center of the road.

They have been digging at Burma and Phillips for a week. That is the turn to take the pipe behind the JCPD car impound lot along 78.

I hope the city was smart enough to say ?hey if you want to dig in our streets or next to them then we want the whole street repaved. Would be nice if they sprung for repaving of Burma Road and Phillips Street. They need it.

Protesting pipeline expansions in New Jersey:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Activ ... sion_in_West_Milford.html

Sounds like the FERC doesn't reject many proposals

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/pipe ... block-opponents-1.1426928

Another example of state and city rights being overstepped by the FERC and pipeline company

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Linden DID have issues with Sandy. Perhaps the gas pipeline there was lucky, but certainly the oil pipelines were impacted. It's deceitful to claim that because Linden and other towns were ok as far as gas pipelines were concerned, that Jersey City will also be ok.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/1 ... ing-idUSBRE89T0A120121030

I don't know what would happen in the event of a flood, power outage, and mandatory evac of the areas that the pipeline traverses in JC. Could the gas be shut off safely with no access to the flooded areas? Would gas supply be seriously interrupted to NYC? What if the pipeline itself was also damaged during a storm and was inaccessible for a period of time?

FEMA rightly changed their standards as a result of Sandy. Before any new permanent infrastructure is placed, we need to ask "is it safe", and by safe it should at least meet new FEMA building standards.

Im admittedly nothing close to an expert, but the Spectra Energy pipeline with possible 1200 pounds per square inch (PSI) pressure would fall under the transmission pipeline category while the ones currently in place seem like service pipelines (2 inch diameter and 6psi).

http://energy.about.com/od/drilling/a ... Natural-Gas-Pipelines.htm

Dolo - The gas lines that are currently being used in the city by PSE&G differ in size and pressure, therefore different amounts of chemicals are needed to transport natural gas longer distances and the affects from a mishap are multiplied (blast radius being the big one).

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That is only one of JC's arguements. There are many being prepared for brief. I will not compromise our case before brief is requested by presiding judge, First the judge reviews the preliminary finding then will determine our legal standing.

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OK then, here are government statistics on gas transmission pipeline safety:

http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/repo ... tml?nocache=3331#_ngtrans

The 20-year average is 2 fatalities a year. For the entire US.

You can do your own research on how Sandy basically did nothing to the Linden tank field.


The larger point is that the pipelines AND a massive storage facility is just down the road. And yet, Linden does not catch on fire every two weeks.

Neither do Rahway, Metuchen, Woodbridge, and other dense towns that already have the existing gas transmission pipeline.

I can't say I'm reassured by some anonymous posting on a website assuring me that pipelines are safe because Linden was ok during Sandy.

FEMA redrew their maps after Sandy. Simple question. Does the Spectra pipeline infrastructure meet new FEMA building and safety standards?

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Flooding shouldn't cause any issues for gas pipelines. Linden, for example, is not only the terminus of the existing pipeline, but has a tank field the size of a small town. No problems whatsoever because of Sandy.


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All those areas already have a bunch of ordinary residential gas pipelines. The additional risks of the pipeline are minimal.

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You're about two years too late.

The only remaining legal case is beyond desperate. They're trying to claim that FERC itself is unconstitutional. It has no chance of success.

we should start sending the reviewing Court letters and declarations regarding the impact of the pipeline on our lives, safety and property. Brighteyes, could you give us the court, case name and docket number so that those of us that are intersted can do so?

I seriously doubt it - from what I understand, the area around 18th street where they are putting the monitoring station is a notorious flood area.

The pipeline passes very close to schools, playgrounds, businesses, historical districts, and already contaminated areas which could cause even further pollution.

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Have they factored the FEMA ABFE's post-Sandy into their plans? For example the metering station near 17th & Coles looks like its being built on land with 9-10 ft elevation, where the FEMA ABFE is 12-18ft. Scary to think that if we have a flood and power outages like Sandy, there will be no-one at the meter...unless they're in a frogman's suit.

http://fema.maps.arcgis.com/home/webm ... bfb434d76af8c15c26541a545

We have no say in the matter its technically interstate since it goes from NJ to NYC.

If this is something that we have to live with - the city and residents should be able to vote on it.

The main problem is that the FERC (an executive branch of federal govt with no oversight by congress and extremely questionable industry relations) authorized construction of the pipeline despite unanimous opposition (when does that ever happen ?) by the city including mayor Healy and Fulop.

Support NOGasPipeline today !

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I have not read this whole no gas pipe line thread and don?t know if this was mentioned already. I found the Spectra Energy FAQ link (below). I have only posted a few of the ones that made me a little concerned. Also some I found interesting. That one at the bottom about the gas in the pipe line being odorless (not having mercaptan like the house supply) is big time scary. A whole section of JC could be filled with odorless gas before a ?faint smell of hydrocarbons? is detected. Gee.

I also now see why every tree and bush was eliminated from the pipeline path.(hey BrightMoment if you win tell them to put back my beautiful old-time JC roadside underbrush/trees! I miss it already.)

I don?t know why they even have a section about ?pipe line leaks? I thought there were never any leaks.

Speaking of burning leaves?I hope the JC homeless living down in the weeds don?t start any fires near the pipeline.


http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/Pipeline-FAQs/


Answers to Your Questions

The following are answers to questions that residents along Spectra Energy pipelines have asked. If you have questions that are not adequately addressed here, please contact us at 888-293-7867.


Right-of-Way Use

How close can I plant trees to the pipelines? In the U.S., trees are not normally allowed within the pipeline right-of-way. Trees can limit the ability of the company to access the pipeline for operation and maintenance.
The pipeline company routinely mows the right-of-way for better access to the pipeline so its location is more clearly identifiable to anyone performing activities such as excavation that could damage the pipeline. Additionally, a clear right-of-way makes patrolling for encroachments and excavation activities more effective.


What should I do if a neighbor burns leaves in the vicinity of the pipeline? Burning anything within the pipeline right-of-way could impact the integrity of the pipeline facilities. You should advise your neighbor that burning any material at this location is not appropriate. If they do not heed your warning, contact the pipeline company by calling one of the numbers on the marker posts at the nearest pipeline road crossing or the appropriate number in Emergency Contacts. Regardless of why there is burning occurring on the right-of-way, contact the pipeline company immediately.



Pipeline Maintenance & Operation

The pipeline on our property goes through wetlands. Are they deep enough to prevent rusting, corrosion and other threats? How do you know for sure? The top of natural gas pipelines are at least 30 inches (76 cm) below the ground's surface when installed. The pipe has a coating which protects the steel from corrosion. In addition, a small amount of electrical current is applied to the pipeline to prevent corrosion. Spectra Energy ensures this electrical current is maintained at a very low level that will not harm people or animals in the vicinity of the pipeline.



Does gas transported have rotten egg smell? Some natural gas pipelines have an odorant added known as mercaptan which has a smell resembling that of rotten eggs. Local distribution companies typically add this odorant so their customers can detect the presence of natural gas in the air.
Spectra Energy is an interstate natural gas transmission pipeline company in the U.S. and not a local distribution company. Thus many of our pipelines are not odorized.

If a leak were to occur in a pipeline that does not have mercaptan, a person might still detect a faint smell of hydrocarbons (propane and butane are other examples of hydrocarbons), not rotten eggs, even though natural gas is considered odorless.




Pipeline Leaks

How do I turn off the gas outside our house if there is a leak? Report any pipeline leaks to 911. If you know the leak is on one of our pipelines, you should also report the leak to us by calling the phone number on the pipeline marker post or pipeline sign.
Spectra Energy emphasizes you should not attempt to operate any valves or other pipeline devices on our pipeline system. Only qualified company personnel should conduct these activities. Improper operation of our pipeline devices could cause the situation to become more serious.

Furthermore, the valves and/or the gate for the fences in which the valves are located are locked for the public's safety and to avoid unauthorized operation of the facilities.

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That would suggest they are VERY confident that they are going to win.

@tommmyc_37, we have been writing about PCB's, other toxins, etc. for three years this Feb! Go to our site , click tabs at top to find out more info. Also on Home page read blogs and press.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) controls ALL pipelines that are interstate. Congress authorized FERC under the National Gas Act and the Presient appoints each commissioner. That's why the President will do nothing! Since Congress is controlled by Republicans there is zero chance of changing the Narional Gas Act.

FERC rulings can only be overturned in Federal Court. Jersey City and NO Gas Pipeline have filed to overturn FERC's ruling in DC. Federal Court. We are waiting to hear from judge to see if case goes forward. Yes Spectra Energy have started construction but if court rules against them they must put back whole all they've done.

We need money to continue case on our part. We are looking to raise $15k of which we have raised about $5k+.

Send money by clicking the link in my signature below.

Thanks!
Dale Hardman
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Thor, what are the potential issues with PCBs and prevailing winds?

Wasn't almost everybody in Jersey City opposed to this, including the mayor? How is it moving forward then?

This is a done deal they have already broken ground and are instaling what is nessessary to get this pipeline active.

I am about 10 blocks away on Grove Street and still worried about being affected by a potential blast, emissions with prevailing winds, PCB contamination, leaks, emissions, and god knows what else.

I can't even imagine having a kid in school or at a playground right next to this monstrosity.

we should get some protests going at the construction sites. I am so upset by this pipeline. It goes directly within 100 feet of a nearby elementary school (PS5) and my house. I have a young baby. I shouldn't have to worry about being in a blast zone. All of the people involved in making this pipeline come about should be ashamed of themselves. Its just unbeleivable how money just overrides the health and safety of human beings.

Please post pictures so everyone can see where construction is currently taking place.

Many people still have no idea about the pipeline and dont know the proposed route unless its directly through their backyard.

This is a major city issue that has the potential to affect everyone.

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I answered my own question. Those things that I saw over by the ball field on Caven Point Rd are for an underground water retention system. I found the below link that describes what they are. When put together they form a vast underground tank. Don?t know if it to drain water away from the gas pipe or some other project in JC. Hey they should put a few together to form a new foot bridge in LSP. (if anyone has a big truck and a tractor with a lift I will help with a little night work, if you know what I mean)

The company name on the pieces was STORM TRAP so I looked them up.

http://stormtrap.com/products/stormwater-detention-products/

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Yes.

What's with the huge white tent on Merseles between Pacific and Grand St., across Grand from the soccer field? Part of the pipeline project?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01 ... issonville_n_2425831.html

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ? The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will examine pipeline safety during a field hearing later this month in West Virginia, where a December explosion destroyed several homes and cooked a section of Interstate 77.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat who chairs the panel, said Monday he will convene the hearing Jan. 28 in Charleston. A list of witnesses for the hearing is still being developed, a spokesman said.

On Dec. 11, 2012, a 20-inch Columbia Gas Transmission line ruptured, triggering a massive fire and shutting down a major traffic artery near Sissonville, about 15 miles from Charleston.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the cause, has said the line showed signs of external corrosion and had thinned to about one-third of the recommended thickness in some spots. The Office of Pipeline Safety also said in a preliminary report that "general wall thinning is a major factor in the cause of the failure."

"The Sissonville explosion shook West Virginia quite literally," Rockefeller said, "and served as a stark reminder that pipeline safety is serious. And oversight is critically important."

Although there were no serious injuries in Sissonville, Rockefeller said things could have been worse.

"And West Virginians want to know everything is being done to prevent accidents ? and disasters," he said.

The hearing will be the fourth the committee has held on pipeline safety while Rockefeller has chaired it.

Among other things, the Commerce Committee will review the implementation of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011, he said. It will also review the findings of a Government Accountability Office study expected Jan. 23 on how well prepared pipeline operators are to handle a hazardous liquid or gas release.

Columbia Gas Transmission is a subsidiary of Indiana-based NiSource.

The company said Monday it can't predict when the damaged pipeline will be back in service. But NiSource is working with federal, state and local officials "to take every step necessary to ensure the safety of our pipeline system," it said in an e-mail.