Calif. blast draws local man’s attention

The natural gas pipeline that ruptured and exploded Sept. 10 in a San Francisco suburb sent shockwaves across the nation, with videos of a towering pillar of fire and incinerated homes.

It also left one local man asking: Could it happen here?

Norm Tomchak, 69, of Dallas, said he began studying natural gas pipelines several months ago after he joined the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition’s research committee.

It was after joining that committee that, “all of a sudden, I find out, there’s one that runs right through town,” Tomchak said.

Tomchak is referring to the Transcontinental Pipeline, the roughly 10,000-mile-long natural gas conduit that transects the Back Mountain on its route from the Gulf of Mexico to New York City.

The pipeline is operated by Williams Companies and was originally installed in the late 1950s, with parallel lines laid down in subsequent decades to increase volume, Williams spokesman Chris Stockton said.

Stockton said that, though the pipeline is currently carrying a maximum load, it will only be expanded as demand, not supply, of gas dictates. He added, however, that Marcellus Shale gas is attractive to northeastern utility companies due to its proximity to major East Coast markets, and that expansion is likely in the future. To Tomchak, it seems inevitable.

He worries about the proximity of the pipeline to populous areas in the Back Mountain, and is encouraging local residents to “follow the yellow markers,” vertical yellow pipes that mark where the line is buried at a nominal depth of 3 feet, and see where the pipeline passes. They can then form their own opinions.

“I believe the average citizen has a right to know what is in their backyard,” Tomchak said.

In part, the gas line’s 50-foot right-of way passes within a stone’s throw of the Meadows Nursing Center, abuts the playground at Trinity Nursing Center, crosses Misericordia University’s campus and bisects the Luzerne County Fairgrounds. Should a gas line rupture in any of those areas, the results could be catastrophic.

“The typical blast area for the initial explosion is 300 yards, that’s what my research shows me,” Tomchak said. “Within minutes, everything within 300 yards is gone.”

The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition isn’t seeking to scare the public, Tomchak said, just to create awareness about infrastructure that exists and that will likely soon be carrying Marcellus Shale gas out of the valley, as well as to ensure it is properly maintained. Both test wells drilled in Luzerne County thus far are adjacent to the pipeline.

“We’re not saying, ‘Oh my God, there’s a pipeline. Leave town,” Tomchak said. “We’re not saying it’s unsafe; we’re saying that’s where it is.”

“Of course, those lines were put in when there wasn’t so much buildup,” Tomchak said. “Since then, people living in the area have moved in much closer. Why are we allowing construction over a natural gas line? Does it represent a danger? I think it does.”

Tomchak wants assurance that pipelines are being inspected regularly for leaks and corrosion by qualified professionals.

The National Transportation Safety Board lists reports of 48 major natural gas pipeline accidents, dating from 1969, on its website, and The Associated Press reported last Monday that federal officials have recorded more than 2,840 significant accidents since 1990. Internal corrosion is the second-leading cause of pipeline accidents after third-party damage, and a prime suspect in the Sept. 10 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. explosion.

Stockton said his company inspects and maintains the pipeline in accordance with federal Energy Regulatory Commission guidelines.

“It’s just like a road. If you maintain it and take care of it the right way, it will last indefinitely,” he said. “We can dig up a pipe today that was installed 50 years ago. It’s just a matter of having the right systems in place.”

Inspections include on-foot leak surveys, right-of-way flyovers and internal inspection of the line using a “smart pig,” a torpedo-shaped computer that checks for corrosion by measuring the thickness of pipe walls, Stockton said.

Federal regulations mandate that the pig be deployed in each section of pipe at least once every seven years, though Tomchak, a retired locomotive engineer, doesn’t think the regulations go far enough.

“When I worked there, the railway was inspected every day. A seven-year interval; that’s unacceptable to me,” he said. “I’m thinking once a year at least.”

The pipeline also passes feet from the Dallas Township Building, and along the border of the township park.

The Township Board of Supervisors is currently mulling whether to grant natural gas driller Chief Oil and Gas an easement to run an additional, gathering pipeline into the Transcontinental main. The township will take up that question again at its meeting Tuesday, though Supervisor Glenn M. Howell said Friday that the board is still debating whether it will allow the easement.

“We really haven’t decided yet,” Howell said. “We’re reading everything we can get our hands on. The thing is, some people are for it and some are against it.”

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