{"id":7177,"date":"2013-12-16T13:03:57","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T18:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=7177"},"modified":"2013-12-16T14:51:58","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T19:51:58","slug":"spectra-reps-unfamiliar-with-spectra-fines-lcc-2013-12-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/spectra-reps-unfamiliar-with-spectra-fines-lcc-2013-12-09.html","title":{"rendered":"Spectra reps unfamiliar with Spectra fines @ LCC 2013-12-09"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nBoth of Spectra’s principal representatives to the Lowndes County Commission\r\nand the Dougherty County Commission claim not to be familiar\r\nwith Spectra’s well-known public record of safety violations,\r\nand some of what they say contradicts the public record,\r\nso how can we believe any of their safety assertions about\r\nSpectra’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline?\r\n

\r\nUpdate 3PM:<\/strong> more evidence from Pennsylvania and elsewhere<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nAs I’ve mentioned\r\nbefore<\/a>,\r\nSpectra’s Andrea Grover told us that \r\neveryone in Pennsylvania was happy now, after I asked her\r\nabout\r\n\r\nthe Steckman Ridge compressor station leak<\/a>\r\nin front of reporter Matthew Woody,\r\nat the\r\n\r\n16 October 2013 Spectra meeting at Wiregrass Tech in Valdosta<\/a>.\r\nThere’s more beyond\r\nthe article about pipeline fines and incidents\r\n\r\nWoody wrote 24 November 2013<\/a> for the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT), the local\r\nnewspaper of record.\r\n

\r\nHer excuse for the compressor leak, if I recall correctly,\r\nwas that there are two compressors and it was the other one,\r\nand besides occasional releases are normal. Plus since she\r\ntalked to them everybody in Pennsylvania is happy.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAt the same October meeting, I also asked her about the\r\n\r\nFinal Order against Spectra of 21 December 2012<\/a> by\r\nPHMSA, the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.\r\nThat final order for fines on five different points\r\ncited failure to follow both federal regulations\r\nand Spectra’s own company procedures.\r\nShe disclaimed any familiarity with that.\r\n

\r\nShe still disclaimed any familiarity with that more than a month later,\r\n\r\nin front the WALB TV camera Monday 9 October 2013<\/a>.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nWith WALB I mentioned to her not only the PHMSA Final Order but also\r\n\r\nthe record $15 million EPA fine in 1989 against Spectra<\/a> for PCB spills\r\nat 89 pipeline sites in 1989.\r\nShe disclaimed any familiarity with any of those fines.\r\nShe did say that after PCBs were made illegal in the 1970s\r\nthat Spectra stopped using them.\r\n\r\nI pointed out on camera<\/a> that the EPA fine was well after that.\r\n

\r\nCurious how she hadn’t bothered to gain any familiarity\r\neven after I asked her about the PHMSA Final Order\r\nin October and the VDT\r\n\r\nnamed her in Woody’s article about fines in November<\/a>.\r\nSince she lists herself on linkedin as\r\n\r\n“Director, Stakeholder Outreach at Spectra Energy”<\/a>\r\nI would hope she follows the local newspapers where she\r\nhas previously been quoted.\r\n

\r\nBack on\r\n\r\n22 September 2013<\/a>\r\nMatthew Woody quoted Grover in the VDT:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nSafety is a huge factor when it comes to a project of this\r\nmagnitude. Since the Southeast is prone to hurricanes and tornadoes,\r\nSabal Trail considered that, and said their pipeline will be made to\r\nwithstand those events. Also, the pipe will be monitored 24\/7. The\r\nmonitoring system will be fitted with sensors which would detect\r\nleaks. The pipeline will have shut-off valves that will be shut off\r\nremotely in the event of a leak. Sabal Trail will walk the pipeline\r\nregularly checking for anomalies, such as the changing of the color\r\nof the grass, which is an indicator that the pipe requires\r\nmaintenance at that location.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nYet one reason for that PHMSA Final Order was that at least one of\r\nSpectra’s own employees revealed that,\r\n\r\naccording to Natural Gas Watch 19 June 2013<\/a>,\r\n“Spectra Energy Employee: We Never Bothered to Check Natural Gas Pipeline for Corrosion”.\r\n

\r\nWhich corroborates the actual\r\n\r\nFinal Order to Spectra CEO Gregory L. Ebel of 21 December 2012<\/a>,\r\nwhich reads in part:\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. \u00a719 2.475 (b)\r\nby failing, in two instances, to inspect the internal surface of\r\nremoved sections of pipe for evidence of corrosion. Specifically,\r\nthe Notice alleged that inspection reports indicated Respondent\r\nfailed to inspect the internal surface of certain pipe sections for\r\nevidence of corrosion, even though they had been repaired by welding\r\nin two full circumference sections of pipe.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation.\r\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that\r\nRespondent violated 49 C.F.R. \u00a7192.475 (b) by failing, in two\r\ninstances, to inspect the internal surface of removed sections of\r\npipe for evidence of corrosion.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nWALB didn’t air much of that video, but you can see\r\nher claiming Spectra is oh so responsive to PHMSA.\r\nWhy should we believe Grover’s safety assertions, when she\r\nclaims unfamiliarity with Spectra’s safety record,\r\nand what she does say sometimes contradicts the public record?\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nBefore I dragged Grover on camera (to be fair, she readily agreed\r\nto be on TV), Spectra rep. Brian Fahrenthold (visible in the background in the WALB video)\r\nalso disclaimed any familiarity with any of those fines.\r\nLocal activist Mary Booker\r\n\r\nrecorded the moment<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nFahrenthold’s “unfamiliar” was what irritated me enough to drag\r\nGrover onto camera. I picked her instead of him because I had\r\nalready asked her about fines, so she had no excuse not to have\r\nan answer.\r\n

\r\nYet both of Spectra’s primary representatives to the\r\nLowndes County Commission to present Spectra’s case claimed\r\nunfamiliarity with Spectra’s well-known track record of major fines.\r\n

\r\nSo how can we believe what Fahrenthold told the Dougherty County Commission,\r\n\r\naccording to the Albany Herald, 16 September 2013<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nBrian Fahrenthold, the state and local government affairs director\r\nfor Houston-based Spectra Energy, assured commissioners and\r\nlandowners impacted by the pipeline that his company will\r\n“meet or exceed all safety standards” required by\r\nfederal officials during construction of the $3 billion project that\r\nwill, when completed, send 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per\r\nday into Florida from central Alabama.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nFirst, note he only said “during construction”.\r\nWhat about during the longterm hazard Spectra proposes\r\nto leave plowed through our rivers, wetlands, fields, and near our\r\nchurches, schools, and homes?\r\nAnd how can we believe any of his safety assertions\r\nwhen he says he is unfamiliar with Spectra’s own safety record?\r\n

\r\nHow can we believe what Brian Fahrenthold asserted to the\r\nLowndes County Commission in an open public meeting only a few minutes before\r\nhe disclaimed that familiarity?\r\nAs\r\n\r\nquoted in the VDT<\/a> (with\r\nLAKE videos<\/a>), he said:\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n“We strive everyday for zero incidences.\r\nAll of our meetings, company wide, starts with a safety update.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nHow can we believe any of Grover’s or Fahrenthold’s safety asseertions?\r\n

\r\nWho at Spectra can actually claim any familiarity with Spectra’s\r\nsafety violations,\r\nand who does have any control over them?\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both of Spectra’s principal representatives to the Lowndes County Commission and the Dougherty County Commission claim not to be familiar with Spectra’s well-known public record of safety violations, and some of what they say contradicts the public record, so how can we believe any of their safety assertions about Spectra’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline? […]","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[70,8,2,19,20,88,6124,6687,3,133,204],"tags":[7149,6967,6965,7320,206,8722,8728,8701,8699,10,8709,2106,8702,8710,91,620,12,7,8734,562,1798,6970,6076,6597,6966,7319,237,8700,6,8742,8752,90],"class_list":["post-7177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-georgia","category-government","category-history","category-law","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-natural-gas-2","category-pipeline-2","category-transparency","category-vdt","category-walb","tag-9-december-2013","tag-andrea-grover","tag-brian-fahrenthold","tag-compressor","tag-dougherty-county","tag-epa","tag-ethics","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-history","tag-houston","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lcc","tag-leak","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-natural-gas","tag-pennsylvania","tag-phmsa","tag-pipeline","tag-sabal-trail-transmission","tag-spectra-energy","tag-steckman-ridge","tag-texas","tag-transparency","tag-valdosta","tag-vdt","tag-walb","tag-work-session"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-1RL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177","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=7177"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7184,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177\/revisions\/7184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}