Aerial view: 2008 natural gas pipeline explosion site on VA Route 26 in Appomattox County

Aerial view of the blast site along Virginia 26 in Appomattox County after the September, 2008 natural gas pipeline explosion.

From an Essay by Alden Dudley, Roanoke Times, June 26, 2019

Dudley retired in 2003 as Chief of Staff at the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Associate Dean at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. From 2003-2010, he was half-time Professor of Pathology at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg.

Until 1944, liquid natural gas (LNG) was stored in above-ground tank farms (bulk terminals) as on U.S. 460 in Blue Ridge and off Starkey Road in Roanoke (LNG now under ground).

Cleveland had four LNG tanks above ground in October 20, 1944. One riveted seam leaked cold LNG that flowed down to a sewer with gas and exploded in the sewers at 2:30 p.m. The heat of the first tank fire exploded a second tank 30 minutes later and that exploded the third and fourth in a flash. Half of the energy went north Lake Erie, taking cars and people with it. The other half flattened one square mile of the city to include two factories, 70 homes, and many underground utilities. Manhole covers were found miles away. Just fewer than 200 people were killed, and 600 survivors left homeless. The blast was calculated to be 1/6th of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb

Our neighbors in Appomattox had the misfortune of a 30” natural gas pipeline with a pressure of 800 pounds per square inch (psi) corroding and exploding on Sept. 19, 2008, with flames more than 300 feet high. That left a hole 20 feet deep and 2,250 feet in diameter (almost one half mile) in farmland. It exploded two houses and damaged 100 others. Williams and Transco Companies were fined $1 million for improper pipeline maintenance. Multiple defects in the 52-year-old pipe were known to exist, but they ignored them.

On Sept. 9, 2010, a 30” natural gas pipe exploded in San Bruno, California, two miles west of the San Francisco Airport. It registered as a 1.1 earthquake, created a rocky hole 40 feet deep, 167 feet long, and 26 feet wide, killed eight people, shot flames 1,000 feet into the air, took 60-90 minutes to cut off the valve, was an eight alarm fire (25 fire engines, four air tankers, and one helicopter with special fire-fighting equipment) that burned for more than 12 hours destroying 38 houses and several streets. Federal inspectors found the pipe to have defective welds, serious erosion, and easily detectable faults that had been ignored. On April 1, 2014 PG&E was found guilty of many safety violations, obstruction of justice, and illegally moving more than $100 million in designated safety funds to executive bonuses.

MVP proposes a 42” natural gas pipeline with twice the capacity of a 30” line to be flowing under 1400 psi, almost twice the pressure in Appomattox. Cut-off valves must be installed every 20 miles leaving gas the volume of Cleveland’s gas. Further, the MVP proposal stipulates Transco will “co-lay” another 42” pipeline to repeat the damage a few nanoseconds after the first pipe blows. We will have had our apocalypse. A hole more than a mile wide. Instant incineration of all adults, children, pets, animals, vegetation, homes, schools, stores, industry, and government offices over an area 3-5 miles in diameter. Dams will be destroyed and lakes gone. Thousands of people will be killed in hill country; tens of thousands if near cities; more than that within cities. Our reputation as an environment-friendly state will never recover. Forget tourists, retirees and breweries that can no longer get potable water. In fact, forget economic development.

This article sounds heretical and outlandish. But certainty of a big bang is predictable. Pipeline companies speak proudly of “only 0.03 percent events per year per thousand miles of pipeline.” At that rate, the 800 mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline should have one leak every three years. By 2006 the pipe thickness was eroded more than 50 percent, shipping of oil was down 50 percent because of pipe weakness, and there were already more than 500 leaks each year, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

By industrial 0.03 percent admitted leaks, the 301-mile MVP line should have only one “event” every ten years. By Alaska Pipeline experience, there should be 188 leaks/year. However, remember that Alaska is under low pressure and Virginia will be under high pressure. Even if there is only one leak/month instead of 15, where would you want it to occur? Franklin County real estate values have already started to decline and home insurance rates to climb. National insurance companies know what happens around pipelines. All of this for a pipeline that is not even necessary.

Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline runs south thru Lancaster County, PA

From an Article by Ad Crable, Lancaster Online, October 30, 2018

The main contractor on the Atlantic Sunrise and Mariner East 2 gas pipelines that run through Lancaster County has declared bankruptcy.

Ohio-based Welded Construction LP was sued in Oklahoma by Atlantic Sunrise owner Williams Partners. Williams alleges Welded overcharged the company and had accounting failures and other contract breaches.

Williams has withheld $23 million from the company. The nearly 300-mile, $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise natural gas project — which goes through 37 miles of Lancaster County — began moving gas on October 6th.

Sunoco, owner of the 300-mile Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline, terminated its contract with Welded, alleging the company failed to comply with environmental requirements.

The pipeline, which goes through 8 miles of northeastern Lancaster County, has been beset with spills and fines that have delayed the project.

After the legal actions by the two pipeline builders, Welded filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

No effect on local pipelines

Williams spokesman Christopher Stockton said the company’s legal action against Welded on the Atlantic Sunrise has been strictly a billing dispute and that the company’s departure does not affect final restoration work ongoing in Lancaster County.

Stockton said cleanup work, which includes restoring rights of way to original contours, is about 80 percent complete in Lancaster County. Restoration work, which includes final grading and topsoil replacement, is about 70 percent complete.

County residents over the weekend wondered about new plastic orange fencing being placed at road crossings along the pipeline. That is necessary so that Williams can retain permits for a rocky entrance to rights of way in case properties have to be entered with equipment for final restoration next spring, Stockton said.

In the weeks ahead, Stockton said, residents may notice sections of pipeline being excavated. That is to validate the pipe’s protective coating applied by an electrical current.

“This is a normal post-in-service process and typically takes place a couple months after the pipeline has been placed into service,” he said.

Monongahela River at Fairmont, WV

A crystalline waterproofing technology helps the brand new AOP Clearwater facility clean up wastewater used for the extraction of natural gas.

From Penetron, PR News,  March 24, 2014

Located in Fairmont, West Virginia, the AOP Clearwater recently began operation as a “one of a kind” facility to treat and recycle water. This water is used in the “fracking” of natural gas extracted from the Marcellus shale formation.

The Marcellus shale formation is a layer of sedimentary rock deposited over 350 million years ago in the Appalachian regions of western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. This formation contains significant quantities of natural gas; current estimates predict the over one-mile-deep formations may contain up to 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This is enough to supply the needs of the entire United States for nearly 15 years.

Problematic Extraction Process

Extracting natural gas from the carbon rich deposits demands drilling and fracking techniques that inject significant volumes of water (an estimated three million gallons per well head), pressurized to open up the pores in the rock and allow the gas to be collected. This water becomes contaminated with high concentrations of brines, heavy metals, and organics and must be completely removed from the well before gas production can begin.

The high concentrations of contaminants and salt brine (up to 25 %) in the returned water make it necessary to treat the large volumes of water in sophisticated treatment systems. The AOP Clearwater facility applies several treatment layers that include settling basins, bag filters and carbon filters to remove the heavy metals and contaminants. The final treatment uses multi-phase evaporators to remove the sodium chloride or salt from the brine-laden fracking water.

Greatly Enhanced Durability

Penetron Admix was selected for all the concrete structures, including the settling basins and the delivery/receiving stations, to minimize chemical penetration into the concrete. The salt brine, with up to 25% concentrations of sodium chloride, could rapidly damage the reinforcing members of the concrete and quickly deteriorate the structures.

“As shown in independent tests, Penetron Admix can reduce chloride penetration in concrete by 89%,” adds Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group, “virtually eliminating any chloride penetration to a depth beyond one inch and significantly increasing the durability of AOP Clearwater’s concrete structures.”

Running now at full capacity, the AOP Clearwater facility has a treatment capacity of 210,000 gallons per day. Over 80% of the cleaned water is recycled back to the drillers to be used again, making a substantial contribution toward cleaning up today’s fracking process and enabling the long sought dream of energy independence for the country.