[GPSCC-chat] Fw: Gas lines tied to fracking lack oversight

[Caroline Yacoub]

Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:03:35 -0700
>Subject: Gas lines tied to fracking lack oversight
>From: Thomas Scott Tucker <scott at tstucker.com>
>
>
>Audit: Gas lines tied to fracking lack oversight
>By GARANCE BURKE | Associated Press – Fri, Mar 23, 2012
>
>http://news.yahoo.com/audit-gas-lines-tied-fracking-lack-oversight-210134470.html
> 
>
>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ­ Government auditors say federal officials know nothing 
>about thousands of miles of pipelines that carry natural gas released through 
>the drilling method known as fracking, and need to step up oversight to make 
>sure they are running safely.
>
>Amid the gas-drilling boom, private companies have put in hundreds of small 
>gathering pipelines in  recent years to collect new fuel supplies released 
>through the high-pressure drilling technique.
>
>Nationwide, about 240,000 miles of gathering pipelines ferry the gas and oil to 
>processing facilities and larger pipelines in the major energy-producing states. 
>Many of these pipelines course through densely populated areas, including 
>neighborhoods in Fort Worth, Texas.
>
>The Government Accountability Office said in its report issued Thursday that 
>most of those miles are not regulated by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous 
>Materials Safety Administration, which means they are not regularly inspected 
>for leaks or corrosion.
>
>In some states, officials don't know where the lines are.
>
>Emily Krafjack, who lives in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation in 
>Pennsylvania, said many local residents have no idea that the pipelines near 
>their homes are not overseen by federal regulators. Gathering lines that run in 
>the rural northeastern corner of the state receive no federal oversight if there 
>are fewer than 10 homes within 220 yards of the pipeline.
>
>"Who would ever think that they could run something like this next to your home 
>and it wouldn't have any regulations attached to it?," said Krafjack, a former 
>community liaison for Wyoming County, Pa., on gas issues.
>
>Nationwide, there are about 200,000 miles of gas gathering lines and up to 
>40,000 miles of hazardous liquid gathering lines in rural and urban areas alike, 
>ranging in diameter from about 2 to 12 inches. But only about 24,000 of those 
>miles are regulated, according to the report.
>
>The industry is not required to report pipeline-related fatality, injury or 
>property damage information about the unregulated lines. PHMSA only collects 
>information about accidents on the small subset of gathering lines that the 
>agency regulates, but that data was not immediately available Thursday.
>
>The pipeline agency is considering collecting more data on the unregulated gas 
>gathering lines, but the plans are still preliminary and have met with some 
>resistance from the natural gas industry. Agency officials are reviewing more 
>than 100 public comments received about their proposal for gas lines, and also 
>plan to propose a rule that will cover hazardous liquid gathering pipelines by 
>the fall, said Jeannie Layson, a spokeswoman for the Pipeline and Hazardous 
>Materials Safety Administration.
>
>PHMSA delegates some enforcement of its rules to state-level pipeline safety 
>authorities, who the Government Accountability Office surveyed to understand the 
>array of risks associated with gathering lines.
>
>Those state-level agencies told the auditors that construction quality, 
>maintenance practices, unknown locations, and limited or no information on 
>current pipeline integrity all posed safety risks for federally unregulated 
>gathering pipelines.
>
>The expansion of hydraulic fracturing, which involves shattering rock thousands 
>of feet underground with a combination of water, sand and chemicals, promises 
>staggering yields, and drilling also comes with promises of job creation and 
>economic opportunities.
>
>But in Fort Worth, where dozens of new gathering lines have been laid in recent 
>years to capture supplies from hundreds of new wells, some residents say there 
>aren't enough protections from leaks and ruptures due to corrosion.
>
>"It's ridiculous," said Jerry Lobdill, a retired chemical engineer who lives in 
>a Fort Worth neighborhood near several new gas wells and has several lines 
>running near his home. "The gathering lines are unregulated, the city doesn't 
>know where they are, and they're buried so you can't see them."
>
>The recent surge in drilling also has led California lawmakers to write new laws 
>to increase oversight of the industry.
>
>Assemblyman Bill Wieckowski, D-Fremont, is sponsoring a bill now pending before 
>a state Senate committee that would require gas and oil producers to disclose 
>what chemicals they are using when they engage in hydraulic fracturing.
>
>"If we're on this cusp of a boom then maybe we at the very least need to know 
>where these lines are," Wieckowski said.
>
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