News From PA: Certain Natural Gas Pipeline Records Not Public

Iris Marie Bloom of Protecting Our Waters has uncovered a disturbing fact: The PA Commonwealth Court has ruled that Public Utility Commission (PUC) records concerning the safety of natural gas pipelines are not public records.  PA's Right to Know laws are considered among the weakest in the nation.

If the public is forced to live near pipelines, which are hidden underground and which are known to leak and explode,  why is information regarding pipelines hidden from the public?  This seems unnecessary at best, and criminal at worst. 

Ms. Bloom applauds Dick Martin, Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Forest Coalition, for his willingness to take on the PUC and PA's Right to Know laws.  I add my admiration and appreciation to Mr. Martin for his work on the people's behalf.

Read more here and here...

Public safety is a public issue.

We have a right to know.

Williams Partners Disregard PA DEP Request At Compressor Station

A compressor station in Susquehanna County, PA, was the site of a huge explosion March 29. Gas seeped into the building and ignited, blowing off part of the roof and damaging two of its seven compressor engines. Despite the DEP's advice NOT to run the station, Williams restarted operations the next day, March 30. It was a "procedural misunderstanding," according to a company spokesperson said. However, a DEP representative said there was no lack of clarity and the DEP is disappointed that its advice was not followed. No enforcement order is being considered, and there may or may not be a fine for either the explosion or the disregarding the DEP shutdown request.

This is totally unacceptable. Is there no way to enforce safe procedures? Gas companies are not scared of regulations or fines. The fines are puny and ineffective. And PA does not have enough inspectors to do the job they need to do to protect people and the environment. Compliance is optional. A company can always argue some fine point of any agreement and get off the hot seat. Even the state Public Utility Commission, which has inspectors on site, is apparently not sure it has jurisdiction over the Lathrop station. In most rural areas (places with 10 or fewer homes within a 220-yard radius of a facility), it does not have jurisdiction. The PUC is still trying to determine if it has oversight authority for the Lathrop station.

So while the gas company Williams, the PA DEP, and the PA DUC all weigh in on this situation, the public remains in possible danger.

Eminent Domain An Issue In Siting PA Gas Lines

Do pipeline companies have the power of eminent domain in Pennsylvania?  This allows them to put pipelines in wherever they wish even over the objection of property owners.  An article (link below) in the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that the answer to this question is YES.  There are six pipeline companies registered in PA as utilities, giving them the right to take easements by eminent domain- at a fair-market rate.

There will be a hearing on Thursday, April 22, in Harrisburg to review the Public Utility Commission's regulatory oversight of pipelines and to decide whether or not the rules need to be revised in light of the gas boom now in progress and growing ever larger as the weeks go by.  The PUC regulates smaller, in-state "midstream" pipelines that are declared as utilities, or common carriers.

Eminent domain has become a big problem in Texas where the Barnett Shale is located.  In January, Laser Marcellus Gathering Co. LLC of Houston applied to build a 30-mile pipeline to connect wells in Susquehanna County to the Millenium Pipeline in Broome County, NY.

Pipelines will become an ever-worsening problem wherever gas drilling is in operation.  Pipelines are dangerous and problemmatic, especially the maintenance of them as the years go by and the hidden inner corrosion which can go undetected.

Read the whole article here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!