Please post the message below on any blog sites or message boards.  I feel compelled to share our story with anyone who will listen.  As stated in the message, I will not accept travel expenses or compensation of any kind to give the presentation, and will be willing to give the presentation anywhere.  I know that you all reach a large number of people, and I am hopeful I can be of some help.  Thanks.
 
 
I have been asked on several occasions, by folks around the country to come and talk about the air study here in DISH. It seems a bit odd to me, but it appears that tiny DISH, TX has been the only municipality to perform a study such as this. I will happily share our story here in DISH with anyone who would like to hear about. I firmly believe that the only way to change the current situation is stand together. I further believe that helping you, where ever you may be, will also help us hear in DISH. Therefore, if you are interested in hearing about our story please contact me directly to discuss the possibilities. I will not accept funding for any travel expenses, but also need to know that my presentation would make a difference. Please give me a call or email for details.

Calvin Tillman,
Mayor, DISH TX

940.453.3640

tillman4council@...

Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX
(940) 453-3640

"Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it"

10/27/2009 by Richard Thomas

(Photo courtesy of Enbridge.)

On Aug. 20, the U.S. State Department granted a Presidential permit for the 1,000-mile "Alberta Clipper" pipeline from Canada's Alberta oil sands to Superior, due for completion in mid-2010.

On Sept. 2 Enbridge (U.S.) Inc., the partner of Canada-based Enbridge, celebrated in Carlton County, where the company had stacks of pipes ready for construction.

The project will result in 3,000 construction jobs. The influx of workers already has created a shortage of rental housing in Bemidji.

On Sept. 3 a coalition including the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Bemidji-based Indigenous Environmental Network filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to stop the pipeline.

"The projects would spur refinery expansions and modifications in the United States, leading to increased air and water pollution for residents of the Midwest and other states," the complaint stated.

It also claims the state department failed "to assess all reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts" and did not "take a hard look at the Alberta Clipper project's stated purpose and need or to adequately consider a reasonable range of alternatives."

The state department concluded the current plan is environmentally preferable to the alternatives. The other options included different routes and "no action," declining to issue the permit.

In the case of no action, "Refiners would seek other means of obtaining the heavy Canadian crude oil, or attempt to obtain additional supplies from less stable and less reliable sources," said the State Department's environmental impact statement.

It also cited "strategic interests" as reason for approval: reducing American dependence on OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil "in a time of considerable political tension in other major oil producing countries and regions." The department noted the need to send "a positive economic signal, in a difficult economic period."

Enbridge also is constructing a $2.2 billion return pipeline, called Southern Lights, to ship diluent (diluting agents) from the Chicago area through Superior to Clearbrook, MN. From there an existing pipeline will be used, with the flow reversed, to carry the diluent to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Enbridge also is expanding its terminal in Superior, adding five new storage tanks to the existing 37. Each new tank has a 250,000-barrel capacity.

Other non-Enbridge pipelines under construction from Alberta are the 2,000-mile TransCanada Keystone I to Illinois and the 3,200 Keystone Expansion to the Gulf of Mexico.

Murphy Oil has weighed potential expanding its Superior refinery to cash in on Canada's oil boom. It wants to expand its refining capacity from 35,000 to 235,000 barrels per day and expand the refinery's grounds from 200 to more than 600 acres. So far, "there is no commercial arrangement to provide additional heavy crude to Murphy Oil," said the U.S. State Department. "No formal application have been submitted to federal or state regulatory agencies."

Oil sands controversy

The tapping of Canada's oil sands, also known as tar sands, is often cited as the world's largest industrial project. It's been an economic boon but arguably an environmental disaster and unquestionably a public relations fiasco.

The extraction process creates more carbon dioxide than regular oil production. (Estimates as to how much more vary, ranging from 15 percent to triple the amount.) Huge swathes of remote forested land must be strip-mined to extract a tar-like substance called bitumen. Steam plants literally melt oil out the ground.

The water used in the process ultimately flows into toxic tailings ponds miles long. In a much-publicized April 2008 event, 500 ducks died after landing on such a lake.

The extraction process also uses four times more natural gas than mining operations and already accounts for 20 percent of Canada's natural gas usage. As an alternative, some groups are proposing to build as many as 25 nuclear reactors.

In September the environmental group Greenpeace, which has been staging protest actions at oil sands operations, released "Dirty Oil," a report carrying apocalyptic predictions for the oil sands: "The rapid development of unconventional hydrocarbons such as Canada's tar sands could tip the scales toward dangerous and uncontrollable climate change."

Speaking in defense of the oil sands in Edmonton on Sept. 23, Enbridge (Canada) CEO Patrick Daniel said opposition to the pipeline "has not led to opposition to energy consumption, which is where the vast majority of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions are produced."

Daniel continued, "I would love to see an energy strategy for this country that we can rally the country around, and agree that this is the generally the direction we are going to take and not oppose everything in energy development while still moving toward renewables."

On the pro-industry website oilsandsreview.com, editor Deborah Jaremko writes, "The oil sands is a massive resource, and undeniably presents some pretty hefty environmental challenges, but I think for Greenpeace it represents the low-hanging fruit of protest potential. Perhaps they should consider consumption-related action, with the understanding that riding bikes everywhere and ditching our jobs and lives to wander the world is simply not feasible (or desirable) for the vast majority of people. Diversifying energy sources is crucial, but it will happen slowly, and it will not happen by `stopping the tar sands.'"

Meanwhile, President Obama maintains he is committed to reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions. The massive American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which passed the House in June, promotes low-carbon fuels, conservation and efficiency. A similar bill was introduced into the Senate Oct. 1.

On the same day Duluth Mayor Don Ness, flanked by labor and environmental representatives, held a press conference to express support.

Because they create jobs, the pipelines propose an awkward issue for pro-environmental labor groups such as the Blue Green Alliance, which was represented at the press conference. The Minnesota-based coalition of environmental groups, co-founded by the Sierra Club and United Steelworkers, support clean energy legislation but have not taken a position on the oil sands or the pipelines.

The steelworkers union has objected only to the TransCanada Keystone line citing its use of imported pipes from India, which the union asserts is made of thin material and poses a safety hazard.

The 2008 drop in oil prices slowed but did not stop tar sands development. The number of camp-dwelling workers dropped from 27,000 a year ago to 23,000 now.

"Keeping oil-sands projects ticking along once they are on stream now requires a price of around $35 a barrel," stated Petroleum Economist magazine in September. "About $80 (per barrel) is necessary for new investments, although in light of a softening of some costs, others put the figure much lower."

Oil sold at $66.95 per barrel on Sept. 28, according to Bloomberg.com. With oil becoming scarcer, prices only can go up.

Pipeline safety

The Alberta Clipper will cross 162 water bodies in Minnesota and 14 in Wisconsin. Seventeen are within the St. Louis River Estuary that feeds into Lake Superior. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources determined the project would produce no significant impact.

"Over the operational life of the Alberta Clipper Project, there would be a very low likelihood of a crude oil release from the pipelines," concludes the U.S. State Department's environmental impact statement. The report cites high maintenance standards and leak detection methods. The report also based its conclusion on the assumption that "Enbridge would comply with all applicable laws and regulations."

Its Web site, www.enbridge.com, encourages that assumption.

"Pipelines are the safest and only practical transportation mode to move large quantities of petroleum," it states.

But the industry's safety record shows that "safest" and "practical" doesn't translate to accident-free.

Enbridge already operates one of the world's longest pipelines, the 3,100 mile Lakehead system. The first section from Alberta to Superior was built in 1950 when the Canadian region had its first oil boom. Today the Lakehead system transports 1.4 million barrels per day. Over the decades the company has had its share of spills. (Sidebar, below.)

The safety of pipelines operated by all companies has been a source of contention. There are 168,900 miles of onshore and offshore hazardous liquid pipeline in the United States.

In the 1990s accidents resulted in 200 deaths, and 3,000 injuries (both gas and liquid pipelines) and 1.5 million barrels of spilled liquid.

Enforcement was strengthened when President Bush signed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. (Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, was a primary House author.) Some pipeline reformers praised the bill as an important step while others criticized it as weak. The act is due for reauthorization in 2010.

According to the U.S. Office on Pipeline Safety, the overall number of "serious" pipeline accidents — involving fatalities and injuries requiring hospitalization — declined from 87 in 1989 to 42 in 2008.

But the number of "significant" incidents (including spills, fatalities and injuries) has increased (277 in 1989 to 292 in 2008). A 2005 spike resulted from the New Orleans flooding.

Between 2003 and 2008 there were 13 fatalities, 39 injuries and $633 million in property damage as a result of pipeline accidents involving hazardous liquid.

Enbridge pipeline accidents

1973: Lakehead PipeLine Co. of Superior (now Enbridge) break releases 31,000 barrels of oil near Argyle, the largest spill in Minnesota until 1991.

August 1979: Lakehead pipeline rupture near Bemidji leaks 10,700 barrels. Company initially recovers 60 percent. Later in 1988 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency requires Lakehead to extract more oil using new technology; removal continues through 2004.

March 1991: The welded seam of a Lakehead pipeline in Grand Rapids ruptures, releasing 40,476 barrels, more than 7,000 of which goes into Prairie River.

September 1998: 8,810 barrels spill from a Lakehead pipeline near Plummer in Northwestern Minnesota.

July 2002: Pipeline rupture spills 6,000 barrels in marsh west of Cohasset.

January 2007: Enbridge pipeline crack spills 1,190 barrels near Whitewater, WI.

February 2007: Construction crew strikes Enbridge pipeline in Rusk County, spilling 3,000 barrels. In January 2009 Enbridge agrees to pay a $1.1 million settlement to the state of Wisconsin for 545 environmental violations.

April 2007: Enbridge Line 3 (From Alberta to Superior) ruptures in Saskatchewan, spilling more than 3,700 barrels.

November 2007: Line 3 leak near Clearbrook in northern Minnesota explodes, killing welders Steve Arnovich and Dave Mussatti Jr. of Superior. U.S. Department of Transportation levies $2.4 million in fines. Enbridge is appealing the amount.

March 2008: Henri St. Pierre dies in an electrical incident at Enbridge's Kerrobert, Saskatchewan station.

September 2009: Drilling for Alberta Clipper pipeline causes section of U.S. 2 near Bemidji to collapse.

The evacuated residents are back in their homes, but they say they are concerned for their safety after the Rockies Express Pipeline gas leak.

"I was on my porch, heard it and then looked over toward the pumping station and saw a big cloud dust and gas blowing toward the house, Phil Crowders house. You could hear a constant noise it sounded like a jet taking off," tells resident Dan Wilson.

Residents who live near the compressor station say they were alarmed when they saw employees evacuating.

"I looked out my back window where I can see their driveway and I saw them going every which way as quickly as they could go.  So I assumed there was a problem," tells Cheryl Crowder who lives right across the road from the compressor station.

These residents and around 50 more people were evacuated by the Harrison Township Fire Department by order of the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office. But they say they are not happy with the Rockies Express Pipeline.

"We were never notified by Kinder Morgan or any representative from the gas line that there was ever a problem," says Crowder.

Allen Fore, Director of Community Relations for the pipeline, says the company notified the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office to evacuate all houses within a half mile of the leak. Sheriff Matt Lutz confirms the company called the Sheriff's Office and they dispatched several deputies and the Harrison Township Fire Department to evacuate residents.  But these residents say they want a more immediate type of notification in case there is another gas leak.

"If they don't want to come door to door that is fine, but we need to have some type of a warning system from this company that lets us know that there is a problem," tells Crowder.

Cheryl Crowder says the Rockies Express Pipeline has not contacted any of the residents about the leak and they say they still don't know for sure if they are safe.

Gas leak forced temporary evacuation

 
 
   


It's amazing what overfilled tanks can do to a tank farm. It's
also amazing this keeps going on, even though this issue has
been known about for decades.

-Mike H.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091113-708775.html

• NOVEMBER 13, 2009, 9:05 A.M. ET
  

UPDATE: Total UK Admits Buncefield Blast Safety Breaches


 LONDON (Dow Jones)--The U.K. unit of French oil company Total SA (TOT) pleaded guilty at London's Central Criminal Court Friday to two charges of violating the Health and Safety at Work Act and one charge of violating the Water Resources Act related to a huge explosion at the Buncefield fuel storage depot in Hertfordshire, England, in December 2005.

 Total's codefendants--Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd., the British Pipeline Agency Ltd. TAV Engineering Ltd. and Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd.--pleaded not guilty to similar charges in relation to the blast.

 "As criminal proceedings continue against a number of other defendants, it would be inappropriate to comment further, other than to say that Total U.K. regrets the unfortunate events at Buncefield in December 2005 and would like to apologize to all those affected by the incident," Total said in a statement. The terms of Total's plea have not yet been determined.

 Total pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering workers and members of the public by failing to adequately manage risks associated with the filling, emptying and monitoring of fuel storage tanks at the depot, which resulted in over filling of the tanks and the release of flammable materials that caused the explosion.

 Hertfordshire Oil Storage pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

 Motherwell Control Systems is charged with failing to conduct adequate maintenance and technical support of switches which should have triggered an alarm when fuel tanks were filled over a certain level. TAV Engineering is charged with failures in the design and manufacture of these switches. A not guilty plea was entered for both companies.

 Total also pleaded guilty to causing fuel and chemicals to be released into the chalk acquifer beneath the Buncefield depot. Hertfordshire Oil Storage and the British Pipeline Agency face similar charges.

 The criminal trial, brought by the U.K. Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive is scheduled to commence in April.

 On Dec. 11 2005, a number of large explosions occurred at the Buncefield oil storage depot in Hemel Hempstead. Forty-three people were injured by the explosions, which also caused major damage to nearby property.

 
   

A Woods Cross oil refinery is shutting down voluntarily after federal regulators found problems that may have led to an explosion last week.

On Nov. 4, an explosion at Silver Eagle Refining rocked a nearby neighborhood and damaged at least a dozen homes, making two uninhabitable.

The blast, which was felt from Salt Lake to Roy, occurred after hydrogen and diesel fuel leaked from a pipeline and ignited, setting off the massive explosion.

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Chairman John Bresland issued a statement Friday saying that "preliminary findings indicate that the explosion occurred when a 10-inch pipe failed catastrophically."

"Although the failure mechanism has yet to be determined, the pipe showed evidence of significant thinning, which had not been detected by the refinery's mechanical-integrity program," Bresland said in the statement. "In my view, the best course of action for the refinery would be to stand down as quickly and safely as possible. The refinery units should remain shut down until the integrity and fitness for service of all the equipment can be documented and verified."

Silver Eagle's management responded positively to the suggestion and agreed to begin an orderly process to "stand down the refinery until these steps are accomplished," according to the statement.

Silver Eagle Refining officials said the use of "certain processing units" already have been suspended and that all processing operations would be temporarily suspended in an "orderly and safe fashion." After any needed repairs have been made and the units have been fully inspected for safety, the units and refining operations will resume, Silver Eagle officials said in a statement Friday.

"We have decided to do this because our top priority is the health and safety of our employees and the community," said Silver Eagle Refining President Dave McSwain. "We believe this is the best decision given the circumstances."

Over the coming weeks, the refinery will review and assess the situation and continue to report to all concerned, McSwain said.

"We are committed to being a responsible business in the community and being a contributor to an important industry sector," he said. "We take our operating responsibility very seriously."

Woods Cross Mayor Kent Parry said city officials were pleased with the refinery's decision to shut down, at least temporarily.

Residents and city officials have been clamoring for an independent assessment of the refinery, Parry said, because until Friday, Woods Cross has relied on Silver Eagle's internal assessments of its safety.

But Silver Eagle's willingness to stand down should be seen as a win-win, he said.

It's also a victory for residents, who can take some solace in the fact that somebody outside the refinery is looking at its safety practices, the mayor said. And the refinery wins because it likely will end up with a checklist of items it needs to correct, Parry said.

"And the residents and city have something that says, 'These are concerns. How are you doing on them?' " he said.

Katie McKay, who lives just four houses away from the street that took the brunt of the Nov. 4 explosion, said her first feeling upon hearing the news that the refinery is shutting down was "utter excitement."

"I'm just excited that someone is finally paying attention to the things that are going on," McKay said.

Those who live near the refinery just want the neighborhood safe so homeowners and the refinery can co-exist, she said.

Lea Peacock, president of the Utah Petroleum Association, said Utah drivers should expect gas prices to increase as a result of the closure.

"I expect it will have some measurable impact on gasoline prices in the state," Peacock said.

The price of crude oil and gasoline are going up nationwide, he said.

Crude oil prices are about $5 more a barrel this year than last. On Friday, benchmark crude for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $76.35, down 59 cents. Brent crude for December delivery settled at $75.55 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Less gasoline being produced locally likely will cause gas prices to increase, especially if it's a long-term closure, Peacock said.

"Certainly it will have an impact on supply," he said, though "Silver Eagle is the smallest of the state's five refineries by quite a bit."

Peacock said it's the first time in his 15 years with the Utah Petroleum Association that he can recall such a closure.

"This is a shock to me," he said.

Closing down a refinery isn't as simple as flicking an "off" switch. It's technical and lengthy, Peacock said.

Although refineries rarely close with government investigations, refineries sometimes have "turnarounds," which are planned closures for routine maintenance, upgrades and expansions, he said.

"Usually, a refinery would do a turnaround once a year," Peacock said. Major turnarounds are scheduled infrequently, "like every three to five years," he said.

Last week's explosion at the Silver Eagle refinery was the second there this year.

A Jan. 12 explosion injured four workers — two employees and two contractors — who were clearing a line with nitrogen gas and bypassed a stabilizing mechanism. The gas forced fumes out of the 440,000-gallon Tank 105, which was nearly full at the time. The fumes ignited in a flash fire, burning the men.

That fire led to widespread evacuations in Woods Cross.

The refinery had been cited for 13 serious safety violations in recent years, including one that was deemed by inspectors to put workers at a high level of risk, according to officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

According to the OSHA Web site, the refinery was cited for 10 "serious" violations in 2005, two "serious" violations in 2004 and one in 2002. One of the 2005 violations was assigned a "gravity" rating of 10, meaning it carried the highest possible risk to workers' safety.

Silver Eagle is the smallest refinery in Utah and sells the gasoline and diesel it produces to "jobbers," or middlemen, in the fuel industry who then distribute the fuel to gas stations.

The company employs about 50 people at its Woods Cross facility and about 25 at its Evanston, Wyo., operation.

"The accident happened where a transmission line brings gas in from Illinois to Indiana," Suggs said.

The gas from the damaged 20-inch pipe, transmitting gas to the BP refinery in Whiting, has since been shut off. Suggs said it took more than 10 hours to shut off gas to the damaged pipe while an alternative pipeline was supplying BP.

He said 11 industrial customers of NIPSCO in the area were affected by the gas leak, but there were no evacuations.

Residents demand answers

El Paso gas addresses concerns in Bushland

Janelle Stecklein / Amarillo Globe-News

Bushland residents attend a meeting with representatives of El Paso Corp. at Bushland High School. The session concerned last week's gas line explosion.

El Paso Natural Gas officials sat on stage for more than two hours and fielded dozens of questions from residents affected by the Nov. 5 blast that destroyed one home, damaged others and temporarily displaced residents of the Prairie West subdivision.

"We know you have serious concerns," said Mike Catt, vice president of operations. "We may not have all the answers this evening."

The high school overlooks the site of the explosion. A large, black crater is etched in the landscape.

Residents shared stories of sleepless nights. Some said their children are afraid to sleep alone at night or leave the house.

All wanted to know what caused the explosion.

"The peace of mind out here is shattered," resident James Gillenwater said.

El Paso officials compiled and handed out a list of local counselors who can work with people.

Many residents said they were concerned other lines near the explosion site may have been damaged by the explosion. They fear another explosion.

Three members of the Torres family were injured in the explosion, and their home was destroyed. The family's mother and father, Alfredo and Agnieszka Torres, have been released from an Amarillo hospital. Franczeska Torres, 15, was transported to a Lubbock hospital's burn unit with serious burns. She is listed in stable condition.

Catt said officials plan to analyze the remaining gas pipelines next year. The company's proposed time line was met by angry grumbling from audience members, who wanted immediate analysis.

"I don't think any of us knew we were sitting on a mini nuclear weapon," said Dr. Jerry Gillis, who suggested rerouting the pipeline.

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Commission officials investigating the explosion said Tuesday they are still working todetermine what caused the pipeline failure.

Investigators said the pipeline was constructed in 1948 and refurbished in 1991. There are no records indicating any problems with the pipeline prior to Nov. 5, PHMSC officials said.

El Paso spokesman Richard N. Wheatley said the investigation has revealed some people smelled gas on Oct. 31 but didn't report it.

Wheatley said anyone who smells natural gas should get away from the area before calling for help. They shouldn't turn out their lights in their homes or use cell phones in the area of a gas leak because of the highly combustible fuel source, he said.

"A cell phone could have an electrical impulse that could prompt ignition," Wheatley said.

As the investigation into the cause of the pipeline explosion continues, officials said they want to continue to help residents pickup the pieces.

"We will do our best to make things right for you," said Jim Cleary, president of El Paso Western Pipeline Group.

Among the aid, he said the company was prepared to cover any damage that might develop as a result for up to a year. The company handed out information about a claims adjuster. The company also planned to survey the neighborhood to determine what effect, if any, the explosion had on home values. They said they'd bring in hydrologists to determine that area water tables weren't effected.

They said the line is operating again but at reduced pressure. The line holds 780 pounds per square inch but now is processing 300 pounds, Catt said.

Art Berman didn't set out to become the Cassandra of shale gas.

That's simply been the result as the Sugar Land petroleum geologist and consultant has persisted in raising doubts about the hottest play in the domestic energy industry.

Natural gas extracted from shale formations has transformed the U.S. energy outlook, leading to predictions that it could produce as much as half of our natural gas by the end of the next decade. Shale gas, though, requires more expensive drilling techniques to produce than conventional gas. That made shale gas attractive last year, when natural gas was selling for $13.58 per million British thermal units, but it can be a money-loser at today's prices of less than $4.50.

In a boom-prone industry known for greeting new discoveries with wide-eyed hype, shale gas has unleashed a gusher of zeal, sparking a drilling craze and soaring lease rates across millions of acres from Texas to New York.

Berman isn't saying that the major shale players — companies such as Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy and Houston-based Petrohawk Energy — are wrong, but he's skeptical that shale gas will be the domestic energy boon that the companies claim.

"I'm saying it's a bubble," Berman said. "They're creating an illusion."

Decline rates disputed

That view puts Berman at odds with a host of energy companies, consultants and investment bankers, who claim shale gas may more than double our domestic supply. They argue Berman's analysis is flawed.

The two sides disagree on how to calculate the decline rates for the wells. In simple terms, Berman believes that shale gas wells will play out much faster — producing much less gas — than his detractors do. He also believes that many of the wells being drilled in shale won't be commercially viable.

His conclusion is based on production rates from the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth, the country's oldest field, which he says show steep and persistent declines. Supporters say the initial declines ease over time and settle into a steady production stream.

In criticizing shale, though, Berman has become something of an Oil Patch pariah.

"I'm being creamed," he said. "There's a brotherhood of defenders out there, and they're all lined up against me."

A column he wrote for the trade publication World Oil got spiked, and Berman resigned in protest. He claims the shale companies put pressure on World Oil's publisher to silence him.

`Time to move on'

John Royall, president and chief executive of Gulf Publishing, said he didn't receive any pressure from gas companies. World Oil serves a global audience, and gas shale is largely a domestic issue. Berman had written on the topic for a year, and Royall decided that was enough.

"Art had an interesting take on shale gas," he said. "It was interesting, provocative stuff, but it was time to move on."

Berman doesn't come off as obsessed or paranoid. He simply believes that the industry has abandoned caution when it comes to shale, wasting millions drilling wells with a lack of scientific analysis.

"All of my instincts say if you approach it this way, it's just insanity," he said.

If he's right, the insanity could affect us all. As Congress discusses carbon capture and environmentalists champion converting vehicles to run on natural gas, the prospect that gas supplies could be far less than we think could have a profound economic impact on the country.

"My message isn't `this is bad,' it's that we need to practice some caution here," Berman said.

An abandoned tap is of concern here:

http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/420091021H/42\
0091021H_CAO_11102009.pdf?nocache=3983

-Mike H.

Still digging for a cause

Blast probe continues; victim 'serious'

Northwest Texas Hospital released Agnieszka Eugenia Torres on Monday, but her daughter, Bushland High School sophomore Franczesca Torres, remained hospitalized in serious condition in the intensive care unit at University Medical Center in Lubbock.

Husband and father Jose Torres, and son and brother Daniel Torres, a third-grader at Bushland Elementary School, were less injured.

The Torres family lived in a home on Laramie Drive that was about 100 yards from the explosion and resulting fireball. The event leveled the house and a shop and consumed two cars.

Workers with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation arrived Thursday night but had to delay their investigation because the ground was unstable and still smoldering after the eruption of flames about 1 a.m., said Patricia Klinger, a spokeswoman for the agency. Their counterparts also were looking at data in the El Paso Natural Gas control room in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Atmos Energy only had 18 homes that had gas service interrupted by the blast that didn't have full service restored by Monday night. The company left tags on doors requesting people call it to finish the process.

"That may be homes that aren't occupied," said Roy Urrutia, manager of public affairs for the utility's West Texas Division.

The fixes they have made the past few days are temporary. They installed a line to tap into another gas source, but they must wait for parts to rebuild a monitoring station where the Atmos lines took gas out of the El Paso line.

"It looks like it will be a week to two weeks," Urrutia said.

Also on Monday, El Paso Natural Gas presented a $5,000 donation to the Texas Panhandle Chapter of the American Red Cross. The gas company expressed appreciation for the Red Cross' services during the emergency.

Help is on the way

EPA involvement in drilling review a plus

Another set of eyes. That is what the federal Environmental Protection Agency has been told it should provide in reviewing the hotly debated natural gas drilling technique called hydro-fracturing.

It's a good move. The recommendation, contained in a bill passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, comes at a critical time in the development of natural gas exploration, especially in New York state where hydro-fracturing to tap the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation has been on hold while the state tries to formulate rules governing such drilling.

Involvement by the EPA could be construed by those eager to get clearance for drilling as another bureaucratic roadblock to the economic gains of natural gas exploration. But with hydro-fracturing being blamed for environmental problems in several regions of the United States, a federal review of this national issue could produce new information and a broader perspective to an issue that appears to have become a state-by-state matter.

Even Pennsylvania, where such drilling already is permitted, would benefit from an EPA review of whether hydro-fracturing has contaminated water supplies or polluted land. The process should in no way interrupt current efforts by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in taking public comments on its proposed regulations. In fact, the additional findings by the EPA - if based carefully on fact and investigations - should help clarify some of the basic understandings, and misunderstandings, surrounding hydro-fracturing.

From Internet blogs to various Web sites to letters to the editor, opinions vary widely on the safety of hydro-fracturing, a process that involves blasting a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals into shale to release natural gas trapped in the rock formation. The drilling process has been accused of causing problems in Wyoming, Ohio and, most recently, Pennsylvania, and in the absence of a stronger federal study of these suspicions, those concerned about their drinking water and other natural resources have become more and more alarmed.

What specifics will come out of this review, sought in a bill sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, isn't clear at this point, but ideally they should shed scientific light on the incidents that have occurred around the nation and conclude whether hydro-fracturing played a role in any related problems.

Obama himself issued a statement about the bill, saying the agency should use what he called "the best available science, as well as independent sources of information" to determine whether hydro-fracturing is threatening drinking water supplies.

An EPA spokesperson quoted in this newspaper last week confirmed that the agency already is taking such steps, and while that's encouraging, what will be even more reassuring is the EPA using its presidential directive to shine more factual light on a highly emotional national issue.

BP declares force majeure on Destin gas pipe due to Ida

NEW YORK (Reuters) - BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has declared force majeure on the offshore section of its Destin natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Ida, it said in a statement Monday.

"Destin will be unable to provide transportation services from its offshore Receipt Points," due to the storm, BP said.

However, the onshore receipt and delivery points remain in operation, the statement said.

The pipeline runs from the central Gulf of Mexico to the state of Mississippi and extends further north where it connects with nine major interstate gas pipelines. It has a full capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day.

(AP) – 11 hours ago

SALINA, Kan. — Leaders from six Kansas counties want a chance to challenge the state's contention that the Canadian owner of a crude oil pipeline is eligible for millions of dollars in tax credits.

The Kansas portion of the pipeline will run through Washington, Clay, Dickinson, Marion, Butler and Cowley counties on its way from Steele City, Neb., to Cushing, Okla. The entire pipeline will carry crude oil from Canadian tar sands to Pakota, Ill., Cushing and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Kansas Department of Commerce has already signed a contract with Canadian energy company TransCanada granting $55.49 million in tax credits for the pipeline, which will be paid in 10 installments over 14 years, said Joe Monaco, a spokesman for the Commerce Department.

There has not been a ruling on whether the pipeline will also be exempt from property taxes.

At a meeting in Abilene last Wednesday, officials from five of the six Kansas counties involved raised questions about whether the pipeline qualifies for any tax exemptions.

According to the law creating the exemptions, Kansas refineries would have to have access to any pipeline that is seeking tax exemptions. Kansas refineries will not have any access connections to the TransCanada pipeline, said Jim Prescott, company spokesman, but will have to use their existing connections at Cushing, Okla., to access that oil.

The law, which grants both income tax credits and property tax exemptions, lets the Commerce Department decide whether the pipeline qualifies for tax breaks. But existing regulations and case law require that property tax exemptions be handled by the Department of Revenue and approved by the Board of Tax Appeals.

County officials at last week's meeting said they hoped to argue their case against exemptions before the board. But Tony Folsom, deputy director of the Property Valuation Division, said that generally the only the state and property owners are part of such cases and the board will have to decide if the counties will be allowed to testify.

TransCanada told the state this summer that the 210-mile pipeline through Kansas will cost $740 million. Based on that estimate, the six counties involved would lose between $1 million and $1.9 million each in property taxes in the first year.

When the Revenue Department originally was asked to compute the fiscal impact of tax credits and property tax exemptions, TransCanada said the pipeline would cost $271 million. But this summer, when TransCanada applied for its tax credits, it said the cost would be $740 million, or 2.7 times more than the earlier estimate.

Is New York's Marcellus Shale Too Hot to Handle?

Fluids made up of a combination of naturally occurring water from the shale formation and drilling mud are pumped into a lined retaining area behind the drilling rig on a farm in Houston, Pa., in October 2008. New York state is currently holding a public comment period for an environmental review of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. (Keith Srakocic/AP Photo)

As New York gears up for a massive expansion of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, state officials have made a potentially troubling discovery about the wastewater created by the process: It's radioactive. And they have yet to say how they'll deal with it.

The information comes from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, which analyzed 13 samples of wastewater brought thousands of feet to the surface from drilling and found that they contain levels of radium-226, a derivative of uranium, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink.

The findings, if backed up with more tests, have several implications: The energy industry would likely face stiffer regulations and expenses, and have more trouble finding treatment plants to accept its waste -- if any would at all. Companies would need to license their waste handlers and test their workers for radioactive exposure, and possibly ship waste across the country. And the state would have to sort out how its laws for radioactive waste might apply to drilling and how the waste could impact water supplies and the environment.

What is less clear is how the wastewater may affect the health of New Yorkers, since the danger depends on how much radiation people are exposed to and how they are exposed to it. Radium is known to cause bone, liver and breast cancers, and the EPA publishes exposure guidelines for it, but there is still disagreement over exactly how dangerous low-level doses can be to workers who handle it, or to the public.

The DEC has yet to address any of these questions. But New York's Health Department raised concerns about the amount of radioactive materials in the wastewater in a confidential letter to the DEC's oil and gas regulators in July.

"Handling and disposal of this wastewater could be a public health concern," DOH officials said in the letter, which was obtained by ProPublica. "The issues raised are not trivial, but are also not insurmountable."

The letter warned that the state may have difficulty disposing of the drilling waste, that thorough testing will be needed at water treatment plants, and that workers may need to be monitored for radiation as much as they might be at nuclear facilities.

Health Department officials declined to comment on the letter. The DEC sent an e-mail response to questions about the radioactivity stating that "concentrations are generally not a problem for water discharges, or in solid waste streams" in New York state. But the agency did not directly address the radioactivity levels, which were disclosed in the appendices of the agency's environmental review of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, released Sept. 30.

The review did not calculate how much radioactivity people may be exposed to, even though such calculations are routinely completed by scientists studying radiation exposure. Yet the review concluded that radiation levels were "very low" and that the wastewater "does not present a risk to workers." DEC officials declined to explain how they reached this conclusion.

Although the review pointed to a possible need for radioactive licensing and disposal for certain materials, and it looked at other states with laws aimed at radioactive waste from drilling, the DEC said there is no precedent for examining how these radioactive materials might affect the environment when brought to the surface at the volumes and scale expected in New York. And it said that more study is needed before the DEC can lay out precise plans to deal with the waste.

In comments to ProPublica, the DEC emphasized that the environmental review proposes testing all wastewater for radioactivity before it is allowed to leave the well site, and said that the volumes of brine water, which contain most of the radioactivity detected, would be far less than the volumes of fluid from hydraulic fracturing that are removed from the well.

What scientists call naturally occurring radioactive materials -- known by the acronym NORM -- are common in oil and gas drilling waste, and especially in brine, the dirty water that has been soaking in the shale for centuries. Radium, a potent carcinogen, is among the most dangerous of these metals because it gives off radon gas, accumulates in plants and vegetables and takes 1,600 years to decay. Geologists say radioactivity levels can vary across the Marcellus, but the tests taken so far suggest the amount of radioactive material measured in New York is far higher than in many other places.

The state took its 13 samples -- 11 of which significantly exceeded legal limits -- between October 2008 and April 2009. The DEC did not respond to questions about whether additional sampling has begun or whether the state would begin issuing drilling permits before the radioactivity issues are resolved. The DEC told ProPublica it did not know where the wastewater would be treated.

"It's got to go somewhere," said Theodore Adams, a radiation remediation and water treatment consultant with 30 years of experience with radioactive waste. "It's not going to just go away."

A Vague Threat

Determining the health threat that radioactive material poses to workers and to the public is complicated. Measuring human exposure -- which is quantified in doses of millirems per year -- from radiation is notoriously difficult, in part because it depends on variables like whether objects interfere with radiation, or how sustained exposure is over long periods of time.

Gas industry workers, for example, would almost certainly face an increased risk of cancer if they worked in a confined space where radon gas, a leading cause of lung cancer and a derivative of radium, can collect to dangerous levels. They would also be at risk if they somehow swallowed or breathed fumes from the radioactive wastewater, or handled the concentrated materials regularly for 20 years. But without these types of intensive or confined exposures, the materials may be less dangerous, making it difficult to discern effects on workers' health, experts say.

People absorb radioactivity in their daily routines, complicating health assessments. Eighty percent of human radioactivity exposure comes from natural sources, according to the EPA. Everything from granite countertops to a pile of playground dirt can emit radioactivity that is higher than the EPA, which regulates based on a theory that zero exposure is best, may prefer.

"You start with the world where you and I are getting an exposure from the sun, from the soil we walk on, from the brick in our house that on average is about 400 millirems a year -- which is dangerous," said Tom Lenhart, a former member of the federal-state Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards. "The EPA would never allow that kind of exposure. So you are starting from a baseline of dangerous exposure, and this is what makes regulating it a nightmare."

The EPA estimates that Americans are exposed to about 300 to 360 millirems per year, including routine artificial exposures like getting an X-ray or flying in an airplane. Each multiple of this "background level" denotes a proportional increase in the chance of getting cancer.

The natural radioactivity of the Marcellus Shale has caused concern since the mid-1980s, when high levels of radon gas were found in the basements of homes in Marcellus, a town in upstate New York, where the shale reaches the surface. The question has long been, if the Marcellus can cause radioactive gas to seep into people's basements, how much radioactivity might be infused into the water left over from drilling? Add to that the question of how much human exposure can be expected from the radiation detected at some Marcellus drilling sites.

In its environmental review, the state said it couldn't answer those questions because exposure depends on so many variables and because the units of measurement for human exposure and concentrations in water are incompatible. There is "no simple or universally accepted equivalence between these units," the DEC wrote in its environmental review.

But Rick Kessy, operations manager for Fortuna Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Talisman Energy and the largest gas producer in New York, says his company has assessed worker exposure at two of the company's well sites in Pennsylvania, where it found no serious risk.

And a U.S. Department of Energy expert who specializes in such exposure conversions said an analysis in New York should be "very easy to do."

"If they know the concentrations and they know the exposure pathways it should be straightforward to calculate that," said Charley Yu, who runs the national computer dose modeling program at Argonne National Labs for the U.S. Department of Energy.

In fact, New York's DEC used Yu's government modeling program, called RESRAD, in a 1999 study [1] to establish radioactivity exposure risks for oilfield brine spread on roads, a common disposal practice. Its brine samples in that case contained far less radium than the Marcellus water. It laid out a simple scenario, assuming a person walked on the road for two hours a day over 20 years and a fixed quantity of brine was spread there. That study found no threat to human health.

No such analysis was included in the state's recent supplemental environmental impact statement.

Few Disposal Options

All this would be of substantially less concern if New York were like most of the other states that produce some radioactive waste during natural gas drilling. In those states, the waste is re-injected underground. But in New York, injection disposal wells are uncommon, and those that do exist aren't licensed to receive radioactive waste or Marcellus Shale wastewater, according to the EPA. Instead, most drilling wastewater is treated by municipal or industrial water treatment plants and discharged back into public waterways.

The radium-laden wastewater would almost certainly need to be carefully treated by plants capable of filtering out the radioactive substances. Kessy, the Fortuna manager, which operates five of the wells with spiked readings in New York, said the levels are higher than he has seen elsewhere. Treatment plants in Pennsylvania are accepting Fortuna wastewater with much lower levels of radioactivity from the company's wells there, Kessy said, but if plants can't take the higher concentrations, it could be crippling.

"In the event that they were not able to comply due to high radioactivity, they would reject the water," Kessy said. "And if we did not have a viable option for it, our operations would just shut down. There is no other option."

It is not clear which treatment plants, if any in New York, are capable of handling such material.

DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said that "there are currently no facilities specifically designated for treating them." He added that the state depends on the drilling companies to make sure there is a legal treatment option for the water, and then reviews those plans.

"The department has not received any permit submissions from the well operators that include details about treatment options for the brine containing NORM," he said. "So we do not know what treatment options are being considered or how effective NORM removal will be."

ProPublica contacted several plant managers in central New York who said they could not take the waste or were not familiar with state regulations.

"We are not set up to take radioactive substances," said Patricia Pastella, commissioner of the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection, which operates the Metropolitan plant in Syracuse, N.Y. "It does present a problem with disposal."

Filtering the water is just one of several problems. Plants that can filter out the radioactive materials are left with a concentrated sludge that has substantially higher radioactivity than the wastewater. Sludge can also collect inside the pipes at well sites, in waste pits and in holding tanks.

Federal laws don't directly address naturally occurring radioactivity, and the oil and gas industry is exempt from federal laws dictating handling of toxic waste, leaving the burden on New York state. New York has laws governing radioactive materials, but the state's drilling plans don't specify when they would apply.

Experts who reviewed the concentrations of radioactive metals found in New York's wastewater said the leftover sludge is likely to exceed the legal limits for hazardous waste and would need to be shipped to Idaho or Washington, to some of the only landfills in the country permitted to accept it.

Fortuna's Kessy said that's an acceptable cost of doing business. "We'll be willing, of course, to fund the necessary disposal means," he said.

The same may be required of some of the equipment used in drilling, which can eventually emit much higher levels of radiation than the water itself. Louisiana, for example, began regulating radioactive materials after it found radioactive build-up in pipes [2] dumped in scrap yards and in the steel used to build schoolyard bleachers.

But the levels in that state were just one-eighth of those measured so far in New York.

"I don't believe anyone has taken a look, seriously, at what the unintended consequences are to dealing with these kinds of materials," said Theodore Adams, the radioactive waste disposal consultant. "It's a unique animal -- a unique disposal -- and depending on where it is located and who is receiving it, it could have an impact."

Pipelines a must for Marcellus drilling to take place

Gas must be able to flow for projects to be a go

By Tom Wilber
twilber@...

Drilling rigs and tanker trucks won't roll into the Southern Tier to extract wealth from the Marcellus Shale until pipelines have been laid to keep it flowing.

That will be no small task.

According to information from the state Department of Public Service, pipeline permitting applications could quadruple from current levels as multi-national energy companies lay the infrastructure to tap the Marcellus.

State regulators anticipate a network of them crisscrossing the Southern Tier to be built before Marcellus wells are developed.

That's far different from the process for conventional gas wells and it's another issue a limited number of state regulators will face with the Marcellus.

For now, permitting is on hold, while state regulators update a plan to deal with the unconventional drilling methods to tap the Marcellus, a massive gas field running under the Southern Tier and throughout the Appalachian Basin. That plan is expected to be completed early next year.

In Pennsylvania, the surge in Marcellus prospecting has been so strong the Department of Environmental Protection created a new office in Williamsport and 37 new positions to oversee permitting and production. The positions were added -- despite a statewide hiring freeze -- to Pennsylvania's Office of Mineral Resources Management, which oversees nearly 600 employees handling natural gas regulation and other issues.

Pennsylvania has the advantage of an infrastructure that allows gas to move quickly from drilling sites to the Tennessee Pipeline. New York, however, not only lacks the infrastructure, it also must deal with less regulators.

Officials in New York have few answers as to how only 17 inspectors in the Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation -- part of the state's Department of Environmental Conservation -- will be able to handle a rush of permits and intensive drilling activity expected on this side of the border. The Department of Public Service has about 15 people dedicated to pipeline issues.

Permits are necessary to ensure construction of pipelines serve the public interest and minimize environmental damage.

"I'll do efficiency planning until I am blue in the face, and we will work the hours to get it done," said Jim Austin, a deputy director with the Department of Public Service. "If I get a tidal wave (of permits) within the first sixth months, I will say I need more staff."

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, met with Austin and other staff from the Department of Public Service -- an arm of the Public Service Commission -- last week in Binghamton to assess issues related to Marcellus pipeline development.

Oversight was a main concern.

"My takeaway was they will need more staff," Lupardo said. "We'll have to find a mechanism for that."

That's been tricky. The industry has supported increased permitting fees if the money is reinvested in the regulatory process to keep things moving and prevent backlogs. Lawmakers, however, instead unsuccessfully proposed taxing the gas industry to boost the general fund.

In the meantime, according to Department of Public Service spokesman Jim Denn, the agency's pipeline permitting staff has "the expertise and experience" to handle a rush of applications, and they will recruit help from other departments if necessary.

It might take quite a bit of help. The staff typically processes between 25 and 30 permits a year for the Trenton Black River formation -- mostly in western New York but all over the Northeast -- although it is yet to deal with a single Marcellus permit. Once the DEC finalizes regulations, Marcellus permits alone could reach between 100 and 150 a year, Austin said.

In all likelihood, they will be rush orders, due to the nature of the Marcellus and the process used to tap it.

Austin's staff is used to dealing with Trenton wells, which can be capped after they're drilled, effectively storing the gas in the ground until market conditions are optimal.

Marcellus gas, however, doesn't wait.

To extract gas from the non-porous Marcellus shale, crews drill horizontally through the bedrock and break it apart with millions of gallons of water, sand and chemical additives jetted into the hole under high pressure -- a process called hydraulic fracturing.

The well regurgitates the waste water, immediately followed by vast volumes of gas. When the gas comes, it has to keep flowing or the wells tend to clog with clay.

Additionally, Marcellus wells normally produce a surge of clean marketable gas right after they are tapped, so it's not profitable for companies to burn it off, or flare it, the way they do with Trenton wells. Pipelines have to be built and ready to go.

Included in last week's meeting with Lupardo and the PSC were dozens of stakeholders, among them elected officials, professionals, advocates and landowners.

Despite reassurances from Austin and others, the agency's ability to oversee the industry remains a point of concern, said Stan Scobie, a Binghamton resident and industry observer who attended the meeting.

"I find it hard to believe when these suckers start going in the ground at the rate that has been suggested that they or DEC will be able to keep up," he said.