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Natural-gas facility springs leak in Weymouth
By adamg on Sat, 01/07/2017 - 12:20pm
US Rep. Lynch at Spectra site this morning (Photo via Lynch).
The Globe reports a stuck valve at a Spectra Energy metering station on the Fore River in Weymouth let natural gas shoot into the air until it was shut around 7:30 p.m. - and that people a mile away could smell it.
US Rep. Stephen Lynch toured the site this morning and said the news is "yet another reason why Spectra shouldn't be allowed to go forward with proposed compressor station" in Weymouth.
Lynch has also opposed a Spectra "metering and regulating" station in West Roxbury, around which residents might not get a smelly notice of a leak because the 750-psi natural gas being pumped into it hasn't had a smell agent added to it.
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Comments
This is what West Roxbury
This is what West Roxbury residents are concerned about... distressing.
W. Roxbury
They are planning to turn the gas on at the new W. Roxbury M & R station on Monday.
I really wish they would explain to us how they will monitor for leaks. In Weymouth a passerby smelled it - Spectra did not find the leak on their own. How do they monitor it?
In W. Roxbury, the gas does not have the usual gas odor, so people passing by will not be able to smell it.
Since it's over your head let
Since it's over your head let me explain. Adam put this up with the logic of getting exactly your response. Why else would he post random south shore news?
Not exactly random
It's the same company building the West Roxbury pipeline. For that matter, it's the same congressman opposing the pipeline. There's a connection there. So, yeah, since I know people from West Roxbury read this site, I figured they might want to know.
Actually, this kind of leak
Actually, this kind of leak doesn't pose an explosion hazard. Gas shooting out of a pressurized pipe is not going to explode - after all, this is exactly how your gas stove works. If this gas were to ignite, it would just create a giant flame. Only if the gas is leaking out into an enclosed space (a building, an underground tunnel/sewer/air pocket, ...) does an explosion hazard manifest.
It's reassuring that Lynch is on it.
LMAO
You test, then you test more, then ... even more
This appears to be due to inadequate testing. Does FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) get involved in the hands-on, physical testing, or do they leave that to the company?
Give Cong. Lynch credit for showing up at the site on a winter Saturday morning.
Covering minor Weymouth news
Covering minor Weymouth news now Adam?
You say tomato
And I say potential health/safety issue that is of interest to people in West Roxbury.
More than that
The Bhopal disaster, Danvers explosion, and and multiple disasters involving natural gas distribution in recent times were disasters where lack of commitment to maintenance and safety culture and timely upgrades of known to be failing gear caused the ultimate catastrophe. They resulted more from problems with human systems and corporate priorities than the ultimate equipment failures that they produced.
This speaks to that commitment in companies seeking to expand pipelines throughout the area.
It's not minor to Weymouth
And it's not minor to any towns with Spectra Energy infrastructure or projects. West Roxbury's fight is Weymouth's fight, and vice versa. There are 25 towns in MA with Spectra projects either looming over them or already built.
Natural gas is lighter than
Natural gas is lighter than air and dissipates quickly. There was no gas in an enclosed area. Great to see the representative out there, but what's he representing, more housing with fewer energy resources translating into higher prices? I'll be voting for different representation.
Any Spectra mess-up gives all of us ammunition against Spectra
Thank you for covering this story, Universal Hub. What happened last night in Weymouth is ammunition for opposition to the Boston Spectra projects... ALL of the Spectra projects from Pennsylvania on up to Maine.
BTW, the globe story is dead wrong. Try not to HYSTERICALLY LAUGH at the last statement from Spectra. RESIDENTS called in the leak. Weymouth FIRE DEPT dealt with the dangers, not Spectra. Spectra had no idea anything was wrong. That pipe/valve was leaking before the fire department was called last night, no doubt. Did it slowly deteriorate? Did it burst? Was there a lack of monitoring and maintenance that lead to the leak? How much hexane, benzene, methane, etc were residents as far away as (at least) a 1/4 mile exposed to? Why does Spectra have no mechanism to monitor their metering station, AND notify residents of a leak immediately?
Yesterday, at 7:37pm, the call came over the scanner. The following is from Scan Weymouth on Facebook:
Fore River Bridge - Outside odor of natural gas under the bridge near the construction site.
Update 1 of 10: Engine 1 on Bridge St reporting a strong odor. Requesting the power plant be called to see if they have anything going on or if they are blowing anything off there
Update 2: Engine 1 is by the metering station and believes a line is open and blowing off gas.
Update 3: Quincy DPW is on scene on their side of the bridge investigating a manhole issue. They are still investigating and not sure if this is related to the issue on the Weymouth side.
Update 4: Quincy crew believes the leak is on their side, but it is blowing off on the Weymouth side.
Update 5: National Grid just advised the fire deputy that they got a report of another outside leak at 191 Bridge St.
Update 6: Fire deputy just read off a number to dispatch for Algonquin Gas Transmission and asked them to call it to inform them they have an emergency there.
Update 7: Algonquin Gas is sending out a team to the site. They will be calling dispatch back with an ETA.
Update 8: Per dispatch: "Joe from Algonquin Gas" is going to be calling the fire deputy about the Fore River site. Fire department left the scene to respond to a gas dryer fire on Meeting House Ln.
Update 9: C2 reports representative from Spectra Energy on scene at 8:57pm.
Update 10: Fire deputy reports Spectra managed to bypass a value at the metering station and stop the leak at 9:43pm. Original dispatch approximately 7:35pm
That was all real-time... Does that sound ANYTHING like Spectra's version of events? Nope. AND, the Weymouth FD had to read a number off of a fence sign to reach Spectra. Boston was never given an emergency plan... It's because Spectra does care.
Gas was shut off at 9:43pm
Would you please change that in your story? Thank you!
Response time...
Missing from this story is the response time to this incident. So what was it?