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West Roxbury pipeline opponents get down with the pipe, then get arrested
By adamg on Thu, 06/30/2016 - 10:12am
That's Al Gore's daughter, Karenna, in the screen shot above.
A couple dozen protesters briefly blocked construction again of a high-pressure natural-gas pipeline down Grove Street yesterday before being arrested.
Unlike in past protests, in which demonstrators sat on the lip of the trench, this time, protesters got down into the trench and lay down in a "mass grave" next to the green 18-inch pipe, which is heading to a "metering and regulating" station being built at Grove and Centre streets.
Opponents say the pipe is unnecessary and poses an explosion risk in a heavily populated area. Spectra Energy, building the pipeline from Westwood to West Roxbury, says don't worry about explosions.
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Comments
I've talked to some National Grid guys.
And they say this pipeline is probably not the safest thing in the world, and is something that is really outside the scope of what they ever have to deal with (I guess it's the biggest main in Boston now?)
But man these protestors give me the willies. (Or this video does anyway). They kind of remind me of The Sparrows from Game of Thrones.
Well, that settles It. Your subjective assessment of the
Relative personal creepiness of the protesters Trumps the rational and Informed assessment of your buddies from the utility- who, incidentally, one would normally expect to be the first ones to tell you it's perfectly safe. Better for hundreds to die in a fiery explosion than we listen to a bunch of damn dirty Libs!!!! In all seriousness, if it's truly unsafe, all of us should be out there protesting. It's scary what complacency can do.
There are about 2.4 million
There are about 2.4 million miles of natural gas pipeline in the US. They deliver gas to about 77 million locations. But it takes only 1 accident for you to assert that pipelines are dangerous. One accident is a pretty low threshold. You must lead a life of constant concern ...one accident wow.... even getting up in the morning must be perilous; imagine how many people choke on their breakfast. And driving or walking must be out of the question. Be careful when walking around your house you'd be amazed how many people stumble on their carpets or are injured while opening the fridge. And then there are meteorites...
It's concern over more than
It's concern over more than just 1 accident over 2.4 million miles of natural gas pipelines. Look up "gas" on this page and decide for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipeline_accidents_in_the_United_S...
I also liked the bit about what a pinhole could do
https://anthonymarr13.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/best-profession-for-being...
I wonder how many people trust that the companies and politicians behind the gas work are confident that it's perfectly safe? It's not going to be some gas company CEO's family being incinerated or blown to bits with the neighborhood. I'm sure the company can pay any disaster fines out of a small percentage of their profits, or simply go bankrupt, and the executives retire in comfort, and the assets are shifted to some connected party.
Perfectly safe?
Is anything perfectly safe?
Cheap vs Safe
Safety comes at a price. There are things that can be done to make it safer (buy out the quarry or homeowners) but the result would be gas which is 2x-10x more expensive and/or future shortages using the existing pipeline.
I neither support nor oppose this project but it seems as if no one has come up with a better idea which is more economically feasible or considerably safer. If it was up to me I'd just let the cost of gas rise and encourage solar/wind alternatives. But these methods have their own set of opponents and costs.
tl;dr: You can't win.
Better ideas
1. Don't put the pipelines next to homes
2. Don't put the pipelines next to active, blasting quarries
Spectra could have done that, but chose not to.
Not next to homes?
Where is there wide open spaces with no homes where they can run the pipeline? Even if they run it along side an interstate it's still going to go near homes, plus a number of drivers nearby during an explosion would be exposed to the blast.
Perhaps this isn't the best place for the pipeline but there is never going to be a "good" place. New England is simply too dense.
Spectra could buy out homeowners or the Quarry if they wanted to but there's an obvious cost to that as well.
A better idea
They coud have run the pipeline up VFW Parkway. The construction costs would have been a bit higher no doubt, but less than silencing the quarry.
Better/safer/more economical idea
http://www.mass.gov/ago/news-and-updates/press-releases/2015/2015-11-18-...
Blasting zone
I think you missed that part.
hmm
Curious how they scooped out the ones in the trench?