{"id":18021,"date":"2017-01-22T10:41:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T15:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=18021"},"modified":"2017-01-22T10:41:29","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T15:41:29","slug":"pipelines-companies-dont-detect-corrosion-or-stop-explosions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/pipelines-companies-dont-detect-corrosion-or-stop-explosions.html","title":{"rendered":"Pipelines companies don&#8217;t detect corrosion or stop explosions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\r\nA reminder of why to stop pipeline companies from burying investors&#8217; money in the ground and get on with solar power:\r\nthe pipeline that exploded in Texas last week was\r\nhalf owned by Spectra Energy,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/spectrabusters.org\/hazards\/spectra-safety-violations\/\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.ytimg.com\/vi\/NyMbaZ9FVjA\/mqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.spectraenergy.com\/Operations\/US-Natural-Gas-Operations\/New-Projects-US\/\">\r\nthe pipeline company behind\r\nSabal Trail, AIM, Penneast, and numerous other fracked methane invasions<\/a>\r\nand behind thirty years of undetected corrosion resulting in leaks, explosions, property damage, and deaths.\r\nThe pipeline company didn&#8217;t detect it and couldn&#8217;t even turn it off quickly.\r\nWant to bet that it,\r\nlike Spectra&#8217;s Pennsylvania explosion last spring, was corrosion?\r\n<p>\r\nA very Texas report said &#8220;no people or cattle were injured&#8221;\r\nand also notice: &#8220;The fire is under control and will burn itself out.&#8221;<!--more-->\r\n\r\n\r\nWLOX ABC, 17 January 2017,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wlox.com\/story\/34273558\/natural-gas-pipeline-explosion-outside-of-spearman\">\r\nNatural gas pipeline explosion outside of Spearman<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<script type='text\/javascript' src='http:\/\/WLOX.images.worldnow.com\/interface\/js\/WNVideo.js?rnd=221058786;hostDomain=www.wlox.com;playerWidth=630;playerHeight=355;isShowIcon=true;clipId=13033910;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=fixed;galleryType=wnstory;galleryId=34273558'><\/script><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wlox.com\" title=\"WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi\">WLOX.com &#8211; The News for South Mississippi<\/a>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nIn far-away Massachusetts,\r\nBradford Randall,\r\nWicked Local Weymouth,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/weymouth.wickedlocal.com\/news\/20170118\/texas-pipeline-explosion-cause-for-local-concern\">\r\nTexas pipeline explosion cause for local concern<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\n&#8220;More bad news for our friends at Spectra,&#8221; a post about the\r\nexplosion by Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station\r\nread.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nDCP Midstream, the owner of the Spearman pipeline, is a 50\/50 joint\r\nventure between Spectra Energy and Phillips 66.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThat&#8217;s the same DCP Midstream that in April 2015 <a href=\"http:\/\/spectrabusters.org\/2015\/07\/14\/natural-gas-pipeline-carried-oil-which-leaked-owned-by-a-spectra-company\/\">leaked oil from a natural gas pipeline<\/a>. I don&#8217;t mean they re-permitted it to carry oil, they just put oil in it and said &ldquo;It is unintentional by both parties but it happens from time to time.&rdquo;\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s an update on the April 2016 Spectra Texas Eastern pipeline explosion that incinerated a house and trees and sent the owner to the hospital with third-degree burns.\r\nDebra Erdley,\r\nTribLive, 13 September 2016,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/triblive.com\/news\/adminpage\/11129387-74\/company-spectra-officials\">\r\nSpectra Energy says rapid corrosion, other factors led to Salem pipeline explosion<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nAn interstate natural gas pipeline that exploded in Salem Township\r\nin April had lost about 30 percent of its steel wall to corrosion\r\nfour years earlier, Spectra Energy officials said Tuesday.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nBut officials said what was then considered a minor anomaly &mdash;\r\na small area flagged for reinspection five years later &mdash;\r\ncorroded at an unprecedented rate that caused the explosion and\r\nspurred the company to re-evaluate longstanding industry standards.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHow many other pipes are corroded and undetected or &#8220;flagged for reinspection&#8221;?\r\n<p>\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nFederal officials have yet to issue a determination on the cause of\r\nthe blast that sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air,\r\nscorched about 40 acres of farmland and severely burned a Salem man\r\nwhose home was destroyed.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHowever, Spectra officials said they believe a combination of issues\r\naffecting weld joints on 40-foot sections of pipe caused the rupture\r\nof the line.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nA preliminary investigation by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous\r\nMaterials Safety Administration this year suggested corrosion at\r\nweld joints contributed to the explosion.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHuh, I wonder if weld joints left out in massive thunderstorms and tornadoes such as last night, some wallowing in ditches full of water, might be prone to corrode soon?\r\nMaybe we&#8217;d better photograph and send in reports of such location on Sabal Trail&#8217;s massive destruction path in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.\r\n<p>\r\nSpectra&#8217;s &#8220;fix&#8221;:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nSpectra officials said they have shortened the length of time\r\nbetween inspections of similar transmission lines from every seven\r\nyears to every three to four years. They will lower the threshold\r\nfor flagging anomalies for action and will add an additional\r\nmeasurement to the industry standard, officials said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThis is the same Spectra Energy that in December 2013 was issued a\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.phmsa.dot.gov\/staticfiles\/PHMSA\/DownloadableFiles\/420121009_Final%20Order_12212012.pdf\">\r\nFinal Order by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)<\/a>\r\non five counts with fines for failing to follow federal law or its own corporate procedures.\r\n<p>\r\nThis is the same Spectra Energy that in July 2015 was\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/spectrabusters.org\/2015\/07\/16\/canadian-regulator-orders-spectra-to-clean-up-its-safety-practices\/\">\r\nordered by the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) to clean up its safety practices<\/a>,\r\nincluding its &ldquo;management system failures,&rdquo; because\r\n&ldquo;Based on recent violations described below, the Board is not confident safety concerns are being addressed in this manner.&rdquo;\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s a better idea than Spectra once again pretending to fix its problems:\r\nlet&#8217;s stop building pipelines and get on with solar power!\r\nThe solar industry\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecowatch.com\/solar-job-growth-2197574131.html\">\r\nalready provides more jobs than coal, oil, and gas combined<\/a>.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecowatch.com\/solar-job-growth-2197574131.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.rbl.ms\/9493414\/980x.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<br>\r\nImage: Electric power generation employment by technology,\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/sites\/prod\/files\/2017\/01\/f34\/2017%20US%20Energy%20and%20Jobs%20Report_0.pdf\">\r\nU.S. Department of Energy<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nInvestors know this;\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/wind-and-solar-are-winning-by-2-to-1-over-gas-and-coal.html\">\r\nsolar power is getting twice as much investment as coal, oil, and gas<\/a>.\r\nSolar\r\ndeployed \r\nAlmost as much new U.S. electrical power in 2016\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.seia.org\/research-resources\/solar-market-insight-report-2016-q4\">\r\ncame from solar as from natural gas<\/a>,\r\nand next year solar will deploy more.\r\nBy 2023 more U.S. electrical energy will come from solar power than anything else.\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/solar-power-will-win-like-the-internet-did.html\">\r\nSolar power will win like the Internet did<\/a>.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/wind-and-solar-are-winning-by-2-to-1-over-gas-and-coal.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b017ee7f5d888970d-pi.jpg?w=625\"><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nI and former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff separately said that in 2013,\r\nand\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/as-predicted-u-s-solar-capacity-grew-more-than-400-in-4-years.html\">\r\nFERC&#8217;s own figures and those from U.S. Energy Information Agency<\/a>\r\nshow U.S. solar power deployment more than doubling every\r\ntwo years, better than we predicted.\r\n<p>\r\nLet&#8217;s get on with it and stop all the pipeline boondoogles.\r\nWe don&#8217;t need one blowing up under the Suwannee River\r\nlike\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arktimes.com\/ArkansasBlog\/archives\/2015\/06\/08\/spectra-energy-working-to-recover-400-ft-of-lost-pipeline-after-blast-on-arkansas-river\">\r\nSpectra&#8217;s &#8220;unused&#8221; pipeline blew up under the Arkansas River in 2015<\/a>,\r\nblowing water a hundred feet into the air, bombing a towboat with concrete, and losing 400 feet of pipe.\r\nThat was undetected corrosion, too.\r\n<p>\r\nDespite all those and <a href=\"http:\/\/spectrabusters.org\/hazards\/spectra-safety-violations\/\">many more<\/a>\r\nleaks and explosions caused by undetected corrosion over thirty years, with massive property damage and even fatalities,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2015\/10\/27\/videos-more-wwals-witnesses-rebuttal-spectra-speaks-and-wwals-counsel-summation-in-day-3-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-21\/#Alan-Lambeth-Sabal-Trail-Rebuttal-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975-Day-3-2015-10-21\">\r\nSpectra Energy&#8217;s Director of Engineering Design Alan K. Lambeth testified in WWALS vs. Sabal Trail &amp; FDEP (Oct. 2015)<\/a>\r\nthat because of Spectra&#8217;s pipeline coatings and cathodic ionization:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nAnd so if there is any\r\nlittle scratch or something in that coating anywhere\r\nalong the pipeline, this will protect the pipeline\r\nfor, you know, 10 miles in either direction, 10, 15\r\nmiles.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2015\/10\/27\/videos-more-wwals-witnesses-rebuttal-spectra-speaks-and-wwals-counsel-summation-in-day-3-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-21\/#Alan-Lambeth-Sabal-Trail-Rebuttal-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975-Day-3-2015-10-21\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7WdGVSHXgvg\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWould you buy a used or even new pipeline from this company?\r\n<p>\r\nLambeth also testified:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nThe Sabal Trail pipeline job, I was involved in the early stages of\r\nthe project two and a half years ago as we were starting to talk\r\nabout the project and looking at what would be involved and starting\r\nthe investigations of looking at details in Florida, which we had\r\nnot built a pipeline in before.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nSo apparently Lambeth was Spectra&#8217;s Director of Engineering Design back in December 2015 when PHMSA ordered it to pay up for not following federal\r\nlaw or its own corporate procedures.\r\n<p>\r\nMeanwhile, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2016\/12\/11\/sabal-trail-violations-fdep-assured-us-would-not-happen-are-happening\/\">\r\nSabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\nStanford Professor Mark Z. Jacobson&#8217;s research team has laid out plans\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/100-renewable-energy-for-u-s-by-2050.html\">\r\nto convert each and every U.S. state (and most countries) to 100% wind, water,\r\nand to sun power by 2050<\/a>.\r\nThat&#8217;s 100% as in no coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, or biomass, just clean solar, wind, and water power: 90% by 2035, 80% by 2030, and 25% by 2025. No new technology required: just existing solar, wind, and water power production with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, plus huge efficiency savings both from using electricity directly and through other well-known techniques. \r\n<p>\r\nWe&#8217;re right on track for that 90% by 2035 as wind and solar power are deploying right along my graph and Jacobson&#8217;s graph.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<a title=\"1503x850 End-Use U.S. Power Change over Time, in 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States, by Mark Z. Jacobson et al., 27 May 2015\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=13612\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x339 End-Use U.S. Power Change over Time, in 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States, by Mark Z. Jacobson et al., 27 May 2015\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/e4b2dca9378eea18378b33e167b1b696.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWhy, then, are pipeline companies driving hell-for-leather pedal-to-the-metal\r\nto gouge pipelines into the ground?\r\nWaterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained it at Standing Rock:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nKennedy said the strategy of Energy Transfer Partners is to get pipe\r\nin the ground so investors have an interest in keeping the oil\r\nflowing for another 30 years.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n&ldquo;The end of their industry is in sight and their strategy is\r\nto maintain the market. It&#8217;s easy to build pipeline, but not\r\ntransmission lines because transmission lines support wind and solar\r\nenergy. They cannot beat us in the market, but they&#8217;ll saddle our\r\nchildren &#8230; and anchor us in this dirty, addictive toxic\r\nfuel,&rdquo; Kennedy said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHe called the camp the front line in the battle for clean energy.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n&ldquo;If people care about the future of humanity, they need to\r\ncome here and stand with Standing Rock,&rdquo; he said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nMichael Bruin, executive director of the Sierra Club, appeared with\r\nKennedy and said the group&#8217;s 2 million members are inspired by\r\nStanding Rock.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n&ldquo;When we replace fossil fuels, we will never go back. Who\r\nwould go back to mountain top removal (for coal), or pipelines\r\ncrossing our watersheds? Nobody,&rdquo; said Bruin, adding he thinks\r\npresident-elect Donald Trump will reject the pipeline if he&#8217;s in\r\nfavor of growing the economy with clean energy jobs.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI don&#8217;t know what he will say, but I know what we all say:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2017\/01\/15\/revoke-sabal-trail-permits-2017-01-14\/\">\r\nRevoke Sabal Trail Permits<\/a>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<a title=\"24th Street at Sabal Trail RoW, 12:57 PM, 30.3992670, -83.1522680\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/?attachment_id=28968\">\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" id=\"28970\" width=\"600\" height=\"385\" alt=\"24th Street at Sabal Trail RoW, 12:57 PM,\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/wp-content\/themes\/pianoblack\/img\/\/2017\/01\/07c25aa64997e521aaebe06733f60975.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-style:italic\">Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research.  You can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/donate\">donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reminder of why to stop pipeline companies from burying investors&#8217; money in the ground and get on with solar power: the pipeline that exploded in Texas last week was half owned by Spectra Energy, the pipeline company behind Sabal Trail, AIM, Penneast, and numerous other fracked methane invasions and behind thirty years of undetected [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[120,47,216,203,8,19,20,6124,104,559,6687,73,55],"tags":[8472,9565,9567,8738,9569,8719,8753,9566,9570,9572,7314,785,6971,6712,8751,8701,9564,8709,8702,8710,12,7,9571,562,8737,8782,9568,6970,6076,466,6482,6597,8731,34,9563,6966,296,237,6,3545,8727,1744],"class_list":["post-18021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biomass","category-climate-change","category-coal","category-florida","category-georgia","category-history","category-law","category-natural-gas-2","category-nuclear","category-oil","category-pipeline-2","category-safety","category-water","tag-aim","tag-amarillo","tag-arkansas-river","tag-biomass","tag-cathodic-ionization","tag-climate-change","tag-coal","tag-dcp-midstream","tag-detection","tag-donald-trump","tag-explosion","tag-ferc","tag-final-order","tag-fine","tag-florida","tag-georgia","tag-hansford-county","tag-history","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-michael-bruin","tag-natural-gas","tag-nuclear","tag-oil","tag-penneast","tag-phmsa","tag-pipeline","tag-river","tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","tag-sabal-trail-transmission","tag-safety","tag-sierra-club","tag-spearman","tag-spectra-energy","tag-suwannee-river","tag-texas","tag-valdosta","tag-violation","tag-water","tag-waterkeeper-alliance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-4GF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18021"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18032,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18021\/revisions\/18032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}