Pipelines

Last night representatives from Spectra Energy held a town hall meeting at the Congruity Presbyterian Church in Westmoreland County, PA to discuss the explosion of Spectra’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” which exploded in Westmoreland County, PA on April 29 (see Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes near Pittsburgh, Antis Celebrate). Speaking and taking questions from the audience were Devin Hotzel, manager of stakeholder outreach, Tom Wooden, vice president of operations, Andy Drake, vice president of operations, and Randy Putt, local area manager. According to Spectra, they think a tape coating used on the welds of the pipeline is the culprit–having corroded over time. There may be other contributing factors, but right now they are concentrating on the tape coating which they say was only used for a short period of time–in the early 1980s when the pipeline was built. Here’s a report from the meeting…
Read More “Spectra Says PA Pipeline Explosion “Unacceptable,” Blames Pipe Tape”

An update on Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s “Delmont Line 27” which exploded in Westmoreland County, PA on April 29 (see Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes near Pittsburgh, Antis Celebrate). We previously told you that not only was Line 27 out of commission, so too were three other pipelines running through the same corridor, meaning 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day is not reaching certain mid-Atlantic markets (see Update on Spectra Pipeline Explosion Near Pittsburgh). The early evidence points to corrosion along welded seams, although the jury is still out and the exact cause may not be known for months (see Preliminary Guess on TETCO Pipeline Explosion Cause: Corrosion). That doesn’t stop antis from engaging in wild speculation and “I told you so” statements, as they are now engaged in. THE Delaware Riverkeeper, which opposed the expansion of horsepower/capacity at a compressor station close to the explosion, is now saying the increased flow rate through the pipeline caused the corrosion. Which all sounds reasonable–until you read the words “I can’t say for certain there is a cause-effect relationship between the increases in [compressor] horsepower and the pipeline explosion, but it is information that should be part of the public discussion about this incident and pipeline safety in general.” Translation: “We won’t let this crisis go to waste. It doesn’t matter what the real cause was, we’ll amp up this explosion in sympathetic anti-drilling news outlets like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and spread fear everywhere we can–so we can shut down natural gas in this country.” Below is an update from Spectra Energy that one of the four pipelines is now operating again, along with the latest attempt to demagogue and unfortunate accident with absolutely no evidence…
Read More “TETCO Pipeline Up & Running Post-Explosion; Antis Exploit Accident”

There was an explosion and fire in Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” pipeline last Friday (see Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes near Pittsburgh, Antis Celebrate). The explosion occurred in Salem Township in Westmoreland County, PA, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. Although the cause of the explosion is still not known for sure, investigators do have a working theory–corrosion along welded seams in the pipeline. Investigators from the U.S Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) still say, officially, that the cause is “unknown” and the investigation “ongoing.” However, those same investigators have said they found evidence of corrosion and they’ve ordered another section of the pipeline in the area to be dug up, removed, and sent for analysis. Here’s the latest on the situation, along with an estimate of when service might be returned on this very important pipeline…
Read More “Preliminary Guess on TETCO Pipeline Explosion Cause: Corrosion”