The Facts on Fracking (Part 1) - Fracking Waste Management
CPFC Pipeline Info
1. Natural gas pipelines
Citizens for the Preservation
of Floyd County
Citizens for the Preservation
of Floyd County
http://preservefloyd.org
2. Overview
1. Mountain Valley pipeline proposed June, 2014
2. FERC Process
3. Basic gas pipeline information
4. History of manufactured and natural gas
– Safety problems
– Current controversies
5. Pro – Con
6. More information
3. 1. Mountain Valley Pipeline
• Proposed June 12, 2014
• A 330 mile 42-inch pipeline
– from West Virginia to Pittsylvania County, Virginia
• Partners are EQT and NextEra Energy
– EQT (Pa. 2,500 miles of gas pipelines)
– NextEra Energy Inc. ($15 bn, 42 Gw capacity, Ct., Fla. -- Florida
Power & Light)
• Requests for contracts (open season) closed July 10. More
information soon.
• Purpose: To bring Marcellus and Utica shale gas (from
fracking) to South Atlantic markets; possibly also exports.
4. Crossing the
middle of
Floyd County
This is from the EQT “open
season” document
June 12.
It is the best official map we have
as of July 20, 2014
5. We asked EQT for a better map
• Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with a map that is any more detailed than that provided in
the open season document, and sent along with the news release (same map).
• At this time, a fully detailed map with exact routing, pipe diameter, intersect points, etc is not
available until the open season is "closed" and capacity interest is evaluated.
• The project remains at the very early stages of gauging interest from producers and other
potential shippers.
• Community outreach information, schedules, and detailed maps for pipeline projects are
typically made available once the feasibility process is complete. The only public
documentation available is the news release and open season. Thank you and I hope this
information helps you to understand where we are in the process.
• Julie Cox, EQT, July 9, 2014
6. Preliminary map of the MVP route through Floyd.
Even though Floyd
residents are being
asked to allow
surveyors on their
land, EQT has not
released a detailed
map of the pipeline
route.
This map, by Jeff
Walker, is based on
reported contacts
with Floyd residents
by EQT surveyors
around mid-July,
2014.
Rt. 221
Rt. 8
BR Parkway
7. 2. Process with FERC
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
– Has authority to issue permits & licenses
– Pre-filing process will include:
• Open House, in which EQT and NextEra show their
maps, make their case to the public, and listen to
questions
• Scoping process, in which FERC takes testimony on
environmental impacts and issues
10. What we don’t know
• What are exact proposed routes? Who might be
affected?
• What safety issues? What improvements could
be made with citizen input?
• What environmental impacts (eg, anti-corrosive
chemicals, blasting)
• What historical assets or endangered species are
in the path?
• Where are compressor stations planned?
• Are LNG storage stations planned?
11. 3. Basic facts & terms
• ‘Natural’ gas – methane from oil and gas wells
• ‘Manufactured gas’ from coal, widespread use 1800s - 1950s. Gas industry
still responsible for many century - old cleanup issues
• Fracking – Hydraulic fracturing of rock to recover natural gas from formations
thousands of feet deep. Controversial.
• LPG – Liquefied petroleum gas – cooking gas -- propane or butane, liquefies
under modest pressure @ room temp. “Rhino” and other commercial brands. Not
dangerous if used with care.
• LNG – Liquefied natural gas -- methane – stored at minus 260 below zero F.
Used in very large-scale export and storage facilities. Dangerous.
14. 4. Background
• Coal Gas lights installed, Pall Mall, London, 1812
• Coal Gas lights streets of Baltimore 1816
• First major environmental controversies, laws and
lawsuits result from discharges of coal tar from
the plants in 1820s and 30s
• By 1850s, most US and European cities had coal
gas light
• By 1950s, “natural” gas begins to replace 52,000
“manufactured” coal gas plants. Most MGPs were
never cleaned up.
15.
16.
17. 20th Century gas accidents
• 1927, Nov. 14, Pittsburgh, Equitable Gas explosion, 28 dead, hundreds injured.
Workers searched for leak in gas tank with blow torch.
•1937, March 18, New London (Rusk) Tx. school explosion, 500 dead.
• 1944, Oct. 20, Cleveland East Ohio, LNG seeped into sewers, explosion, 130 people
killed, 1 sq mile destroyed, manhole covers miles away.
• 1973, Feb. 10, Staten Island, 40 workers died during cleaning operation inside an
LNG tank which had been drained 10 months earlier.
• Dozens more: search Gas explosions, wikipedia
18. LNG storage on Staten Island was never used after the 1973
accident that killed 40 workers
2013 Photo – see Staten Island Live story
19. Pipeline accidents
• 1986 – 2012 (ProPublica study)
– 7,763 incidents ( half gas, half chemicals)
– 536 fatalities, 2,366 injuries
– $6.75 billion property damage
– Virginia 95 incidents, 5 deaths, 33 injuries
• Example: At 6:11 p.m. on September 6, 2010, San Bruno, Calif. 911 received
an urgent call. A gas station had just exploded and a fire with flames
reaching 300 feet was raging through the neighborhood.
20. Pipeline incidents by cause
16 % -- Other outside force damage
22% -- Outside force damage
22% -- Material weld equipment failure
6% -- Incorrect operation
13% -- Excavation damage
14% -- Corrosion
6% -- All other causes
Peak - 2005 - 361 incidents
Data and chart
by ProPublica
21. Rail & truck versus pipeline
• Trucks – 20 incidents per billion ton-miles
– 37 times more likely to injure workers than pipelines
• Trains – 2 incidents per billion ton-miles
• 30 times more likely to injure workers than pipelines
• Pipelines – 0.6 incidents per billion ton-miles
Source: Frasier Institute
22. Erin Brockovich
• Natural gas compressor stations once used
highly carcinogenic hexavalent chromium (aka
chromium 6) as anti-corrosive agent
• Brockovich organized a lawsuit against PG&E
in 1993;
• She found PG&E had known of dangers since
1960s but grossly irresponsible disposal
killed many town residents
• Film starred Julia Roberts 2000
• Still many problems in Hinkley, California;
not a Hollywood ending
• Brockovich continues to campaign for
environmental justice
23. Keystone XL is an oil pipeline
• Controversial because it helps
open Canadian tar sands
• Numerous climate-related
protests
• Obama administration
decision deferred until 2015
24. 4. Current controversy
• Hydraulic fracturing is source of new gas &
reason for pipeline expansion
• Water quality issues – including simple disclosure
of chemicals (esp. Penn.)
– Also Okla. earthquakes clearly linked to deep well
injection of toxic chemicals from fracking
– Exports of fracked gas a big concern
• Some New York state communities have banned
fracking production / but not pipeline
construction
25. July 14, 2014
Two dozen protesters were arrested in Washington Monday after they blocked
entrances to the federal commission reviewing a proposed natural gas export terminal
and liquefaction plant in Southern Maryland. – Balt. Sun.
26. Fracking controversy
• New York towns can ban fracking under a June
30, 2014 state court decision
• California is stopped the re-injection of
fracking wastewater, saying it is contaminating
aquifers
• Scientists have linked re-injection to
earthquakes in Oklahoma
27. EDF’s five concerns about gas
• Protect groundwater (mercury, cr 6)
• Treat fracking wastewater (proper disposal)
• Control air emissions (benzene, other air toxics)
• Ensure climate benefits (stop methane leaks)
• Empower and inform communities
(disclose all fracking and gas transmission chemicals)
Environmental Defense Fund / natural gas
28. 5. Pro / con pipeline*
Pro:
• Far safer way to deliver
gas than rail or trucks
• Cleaner burning than
coal or oil
• Possibly better for
climate, but maybe not,
due to methane leakage
Con:
• Environmental impacts –
groundwater, toxics, heavy
metals
• Blasting may affect
groundwater
• Laws don’t empower
citizens
• Impacts on rural areas
* Preliminary
29. 6. More information
• FERC main site and process information
• Safety issues
• http://projects.propublica.org/pipelines/
• http://earthjustice.org/our_work/cases/2011/pennsylvania-gas-pipeline-challenged
• http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/10/17/pipelines-safer-than-trains-and-trucks-report-says/
• http://www2.worksafebc.com/i/posters/2012/WS_12_01.html
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/2008/11/wfaa-homepage.html
•
• Environmental issues
• http://www.garfieldfoundation.org/resources/docs/NaturalGasSector%20FS_04hr.pdf
• http://www.edf.org/climate/five-areas-of-concern
• Erin Brockovich - http://www.brockovich.com
•
• Citizens for the Preservation of Floyd County – http://PreserveFloyd.org