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 Feb. 21, 2012: Debate Surrounds Race to Export America's Natural GasEnergy companies are honing plans to export natural gas faster than President Obama can call the United States the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas," and that's raising new questions about the country's energy policies, according to an article by Inside Climate News.Multinational energy firms and some economists say exporting natural gas is a no-brainer, but some U.S. manufacturers, utilities and consumer advocates counter that exporting natural gas will drive up electricity prices, deepen reliance on dirtier coal and discourage investment in domestic manufacturing, the article states. A government study released last month reinforced those price concerns. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. natural gas prices could jump 36 to 54 percent if every export plan currently on the table goes through. Electricity prices could rise 2 to 9 percent, the report says. Even as the debate intensifies, energy companies are laying foundations to export natural gas from the United States, Inside Climate News reports. No export facilities currently exist in the continental United States, but eight companies have applied to build them. The size of the proposed terminals varies, but each would process between 1 billion and 3 billion cubic feet of gas a day, according to applications they filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). If all eight were built, their combined capacity would allow them to export about 18 percent of the 67 billion cubic feet of gas the U.S. consumes in a day. It's clear why exports tempt the industry, the article states. A thousand cubic feet of natural gas—which provides roughly the same amount of energy as a barrel of oil—currently costs $14 to $15 in Asia. In Europe, the same amount of gas sells for $8 to $9. In North America, it trades for only about $4, down 9 percent from what it was at the outset of 2011. "I wasn't entirely convinced until three to four months ago that the U.S. is going to be a big exporter," said Mikkal Herberg, an Asian energy specialist who teaches at University of California, but recent events and market conditions turned his thinking around. "The economics of sending U.S. gas to Asia are awfully good right now, assuming these shale gas supplies are as good as we think they are and that economists have confidence that these high prices can last." To read the Inside Climate News article, click here. Feb. 13, 2012: Japan, Europe Eye U.S. Natural Gas to Replace Nuclear PowerEDITOR'S NOTE: The Wall Street Journal article referenced in this post may not be available for online viewing to non-subscribers. For more information on the topic, please see the additional links at the bottom of the post. Japan and some European countries are looking at natural gas imports to replace nuclear power in light of the 2011 meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. With the international appetite for natural gas growing, a U.S. Congressman is trying to prevent natural gas exports, which he says could drive up natural gas prices for home heating. "Just as the U.S. is preparing to crank up sales of its vast natural-gas supplies abroad, the global market is being reshaped by Japan—which is suddenly retreating from nuclear power after last year's earthquake," wrote the Wall Street Journal. "The island nation produces less than 4% of the gas it consumes and must import the rest by ship." The Journal reports that Japanese companies are buying rights to natural gas with the home market in mind. Japan now has just three of its 54 nuclear reactors operating, with the last one set to stop in April or May. Japan's industry minister says people should be prepared for a summer without nuclear power - a shift that has virtually no precedent among developed nations in peacetime, according to the Journal. Already, Japan's electric-power companies boosted imports of natural gas by some $7.5 billion in the final three quarters of 2011. It isn't just Japan, according to the Journal. "Nations in Europe and Asia are looking to expand gas imports as well, in some cases because of a turn away from nuclear power," the paper reported. "Germany, which has said it will shut down its nuclear plants by 2022, opened a new gas pipeline from Russia in November. In Britain, where nuclear expansion plans have slowed down after Fukushima, BG Group PLC has signed a contract to import U.S. natural gas, and companies are exploring for new supplies." Price is an important incentive for U.S. gas producers, according to the Journal. "Exporters can take advantage of a gaping price difference. In the U.S. natural gas goes for about $2.50 per million British thermal units. The price in Japan for the same quantity is about $16," the paper reported. U.S. companies are looking at building export terminals in at least eight locations. Cheniere Energy Inc. is furthest along with its project at Sabine Pass, La., and Cheniere agreed Jan. 30 to sell 3.5 million tons per year of gas to Korea Gas Corp. The specter of increased U.S. exports of natural gas is a threat to U.S. consumers, according to U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.). He says that the United States should stop exports of natural gas to prevent domestic prices from rising, according to a report by Reuters. Markey has filed two bills to address natural gas exports. The first would prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from approving any natural gas export terminals until 2025. The second would prevent exports of natural gas drilled on federal lands and would ban pipelines crossing federal lands from carrying natural gas destined for export. "Low natural gas prices are a competitive advantage for American businesses and a relief for American families, and exporting our natural gas would eliminate our economic edge and impose new costs on consumers," Markey said in a statement. Last month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said exporting U.S. natural gas could add as much as 9 percent a year to prices of the fuel for consumers and industry over the next two decades, if all the applications were approved. To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here. To read the Reuters story, click here. To read a Bloomberg article about natural gas imports in Japan, click here To read a Jakarta Post article about Indonesia's interest in importing natural gas from the U.S., click here To read a UPI article about how natural gas exports could drive up prices in the United States, click here Feb. 7, 2012: Sierra Club Faces Fallout for Taking Natural Gas MoneyThe Sierra Club is working to repair its reputation after a recent revelation that the environmental organization quietly accepted $26 million in contributions from natural gas producers while advocating the use of natural gas, according to an article on Politico.com. "Last week's revelations about the 120-year-old organization's hushed financial marriage to the natural gas industry — and its just-as-secretive divorce — have left some long-time supporters feeling angry, betrayed or misled," Politico wrote. "The news cut especially deep for activists who have spent years fighting the spread of shale gas drilling in states like New York and Pennsylvania." Politico reported that the Sierra Club accepted $26 million in donations from gas industry interests from 2007 to 2010 — years when the group's national leaders were talking up gas as a cleaner, greener "bridge fuel" alternative to coal. "I think it betrays all the grass-roots volunteers," Kate Bartholomew told Politico. She is a gas activist who is also an elected member of the executive committee that oversees the Sierra Club's statewide chapter in New York. "How do you hide $25 million? How do you not know where it comes from?" New York state anti-fracking activist Walter Hang, president of the environmental data service Toxics Targeting, called the disclosure "incredibly embarrassing. ... It basically looks like they're shilling for the No. 2 natural gas producer in America," he told Politico. While some environmentalists are blasting the Sierra Club, others are lauding the organization's current leadership, including Executive Director Michael Brune, for coming clean. And some hope the group, finally unburdened of its secrets, will be liberated to become a full-throated ally in the fight against fracking. "I think this means the Sierra Club is saying we cannot go down the road of a gas-powered future," said Josh Fox, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland. He added, "It would be great if our government followed suit and our politicians stopped taking money from the gas industry as well." Politico wrote that the Sierra Club continues to focus on coal as the most harmful fossil fuel and has helped stop more than 160 new coal plants while seeking to get others retired. That "Beyond Coal" campaign was the beneficiary of the gas industry donations, which largely came from "individuals or subsidiaries" of Oklahoma-based natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy, Brune wrote in his blog last week. To read the Politico article, click here. Feb. 1, 2012: Officials Fiddle While Ancient Gas Lines ExplodeA retired Pennsylvania State Police Officer has taken natural gas utilities and regulators to task for their "miserable record" on safety, in a recent article featured on PhillyBurbs.com. James F. Kesler, of Bristol Township, Pa., said he remembers the deaths on Dec. 8, 1968 of Andrew and Adeline DePietro in a gas explosion at the Paris Inn in Middletown Township, Pa. "I would have hoped that America's utilities and regulatory agencies both state and federal would have taken a more proactive safety approach to the distribution and safe handling of natural gas," he wrote. "Sadly, it's been business as usual and the public be damned. Their miserable record of safety speaks volumes." Kesler recounted a string of gas explosions in the last two years:
He added, "The utilities that own the gas mains are useless, for they most likely will tell us they don't have the money." He said state and federal regulators need to address the issues. "I suggest our public servants put their fiddles down long enough to deal with the clear and present danger associated with the distribution of natural gas in antiquated piping." Kesler said there is no quick fix. "Federal investigators, responding to the fatal explosion in Allentown, told UGI Corp. 19 years ago that the company probably would need to replace miles of corroding pipeline in the city to reduce the threat to public safety. I call on the governor to get serious about a gas main replacement project." He recommends taxing the natural gas industry, including companies benefiting from gas production in the Marcellus Shale gas fields, to cover the costs of pipeline replacement. To read Kesler's article, click here. January 23, 2012: Marcellus Shale Gas Volume Has Been Exaggerated by 200%Projections of the amount of natural gas available underground in the eastern United States have been grossly exaggerated, according to new data released by the U.S. government and reported by Bloomberg. The U.S. Energy Department has cut its estimate for natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale formation by 66 percent, citing improved data on drilling and production, Bloomberg reports. The Marcellus shale is a geologic formation located under parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey West Virginia and Virginia. About 141 trillion cubic feet of gas can be recovered from the Marcellus shale using current technology, according to the Energy Department. That is down from the previous estimate of 410 trillion, the department said today in its Annual Energy Outlook. About 482 trillion cubic feet can be produced from shale basins across the U.S., down 42 percent from 827 trillion in last year's outlook. The estimated Marcellus reserves would meet U.S. gas demand for about six years, using 2010 consumption data, according to the Energy Department, down from 17 years in the previous outlook. The U.S. Geological Survey said in August that it would reduce its estimate of undiscovered Marcellus Shale natural gas by as much as 80 percent after an updated assessment by government geologists. To read the Bloomberg article, click here. January 17, 2012: Shale Squeezing LNG OverseasAmerican industries are raising objections about plans by American gas producers to export up to 20 percent of the natural gas now being extracted from under American soil, according to a report on EnergyBiz.com. Companies with huge investments in existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities say that they ought to be able to convert them to export terminals to take advantage of the shale boom, the report states. Opposition to their plans is coming mostly from big industry that consumes vast amounts of natural gas and which wants those supplies to stay at home, according to EnergyBiz. The major chemical companies such as Dow and DuPont say that the exporting of LNG will drive up natural gas prices and hurt their ability to compete. And with natural gas prices now at $3 per million BTUs and with forecasts not much higher, those businesses are on the front lines. Asia, for example, is paying much higher prices at around $18 for the same unit, while Europe is spending about $12, the report states. "If we export significant quantities of natural gas (in the form of LNG), we will become part of an international market in order for short-term profits to be made by the affected producers and exporters," said Jim Collins, on behalf of the American Public Gas Association, in congressional testimony. "But long-term the effects will be predictable and disastrous: We will experience price increases, and the price volatility of the past will return." The U.S. Department of Energy has received nine applications that would allow companies to send LNG abroad - to the tune of 15-20 percent of all domestic gas production, the report states. Eleven import facilities exist here. The Energy Department has conditionally approved at least two requests. One of those was from Cheniere Energy, which will retrofit an existing LNG import terminal in Louisiana so that it can increase exports. Experts say that only a small investment needs to be made to make such facilities "bi-directional." In addition to Cheniere, Dominion Gas received permission from federal authorities to convert its Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland to an export facility. Meanwhile, Sempra and Southern Union would like to do the same for ones they have in Louisiana. Most of the applications are coming from the Gulf States, which have already been receptive to their LNG import facilities and which would likely support any changes to their operations. To read the EnergyBiz.com article, click here. January 9 2012: Canada Will Look to Asian Markets If Obama Kills U.S. Oil PipelineCanada is warming to the idea of an oil pipeline from Alberta to the Canadian West Coast to deliver petroleum to thirsty Asian markets if the United States balks at a pipeline that would bring more Canadian oil here, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Canadians began a lengthy series of public hearings this week over the proposed pipeline that would ship crude from Canada's landlocked oil sands to the Pacific. The proposal threatens to fan a debate in Canada over the country's growing status as a global energy powerhouse, according to the Journal. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently ratcheted up support for the idea of transporting some of Canada's growing oil production westward to the coast, where it can be loaded onto tankers and sent to Asian markets. The new push comes after the proposed U.S. pipeline, TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL, was tripped up by politics in Washington. Keystone XL would move crude from oil-rich Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but environmentalists and some powerful U.S. Democrats have opposed it. Late last year, President Barack Obama signed legislation - part of a tax compromise with Republican lawmakers - requiring him to make a decision on the pipeline by the end of February. The White House has signaled the deadline might force the president to reject the project. With that line's future in doubt, Canadian politicians and oil-industry executives have rallied behind Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway pipeline as a way to boost export capacity and open up new markets in Asia as oil production climbs, the Journal reported. Canadian oil output is expected to grow 50 percent over the course of the decade, to 4.2 million barrels a day, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, an industry group. To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here. Organization Challenges Claims of U.S. Natural Gas GlutThe natural gas industry has been touting an abundant supply of natural gas underground in the U.S., but data on U.S. reserves do not support the claims, according to a recent report by Future Tense that was published on Slate.com. "The recent press about the potential of shale gas would have you believe that America is now sitting on a 100-year supply of natural gas," the article states. "The data, however, tell a very different story. Between the demonstrable gas reserves, and the potential resources blared in the headlines, lies an enormous gulf of uncertainty." The article goes on to compare the industry's claims to data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). While the industry has estimated the U.S. natural gas supply at 2,170 trillion cubic feet (tcf) - a 95-year supply at the 2010 rate of consumption - the EIA's forecast is less certain. EIA divides its projection of natural gas reserves into categories based on the likelihood of developing the resources. The agency categorizes only 273 tcf as "proved reserves," meaning that it is believed to exist and to be commercially producible. "[Another] 536.6 tcf are classified as 'probable' from existing fields, meaning that they have some expectation that the gas exists in known formations, but it has not been proven to exist and is not certain to be technically recoverable," the article states. "An additional 687.7 tcf is 'possible' from new fields, meaning that the gas might exist in new fields that have not yet been discovered. A further 518.3 tcf are 'speculative,' which means exactly that. A final 176 tcf are claimed for coalbed gas, which is gas trapped in coal formations." The article says that claims of a 100-year supply are overstated. "Assuming that the United States continues to use about 24 tcf per annum, then, only an 11-year supply of natural gas is certain," according to the Slate article. "The other 89 years' worth has not yet been shown to exist or to be recoverable. "Even that comparably modest estimate of 11 years' supply may be optimistic. Those 273 tcf are located in reserves that are undrilled, but are adjacent to drilled tracts where gas has been produced. Due to large lateral differences in the geology of shale plays, production can vary considerably from adjacent wells." To read the Slate article, click here. December 26, 2011: RI Homeowners and Businesses Endure Multi-Day Gas OutageMore than 1,500 homes and businesses in Westerly, R.I. recently endured several days without heat and hot water just before Christmas due to a problem with a utility gas pipeline, according to a report by Bloomberg Businessweek. National Grid says crews went door to door in Westerly on Dec. 22, 2011, to close off natural gas meters of 1,600 customers as it worked on a distribution problem, according to the report. Utility spokesman David Graves said crews worked through the night and had secured about 800 meters by roughly 7 a.m. on Dec. 23 after air got into the system, causing extremely low gas pressure. Many of the affected customers lost gas for more than two days, and at least one business owner said that National Grid should make compensation for the business losses that he sustained. Chris Champagne told the local ABC News affiliate that sales at his Westerly restaurant were down 50 percent during the outage. Some homes had to wait to have gas service restored because the occupants didn't answer the door when technicians visited, according to a story in the New London Day. Utility gas technicians left tags with a number for homeowners to call to have their pilot lights relit. National Grid expects to take full responsibility for the problem. Spokesperson Jackie Barry says anyone who's taken a loss from the gas shutoffs should file a claim with their claims department, according to the ABC News report. Barry said that all gas was restored by the afternoon of Dec. 24. To read the Bloomberg Businessweek story, click here. To read the ABC News story, click here. To read the New London Day story, click here. December 18, 2011: Pa. Gas Utilities Avoid Scrutiny, FinesGas utilities in Pennsylvania are cited for dozens of safety violations a year, but they rarely face fines or public disclosure, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer. In the last five years, the Public Utility Commission has levied just 17 fines for safety violations - a small fraction of the cases in which regulators have cited utilities for safety violations, according to the Inquirer. As for all the other safety cases, they're a secret between the utilities and the PUC, the report states. The agency won't tell the public what happened, or where, or whether the public was placed at risk. It won't even identify the utilities involved. The PUC says its goal is to correct safety problems quickly, not to punish or embarrass utilities, according to the Inquirer. The agency believes that revealing safety inspections would interfere with a "collaborative and deliberative process," said spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher. The PUC's eight gas-safety inspectors are responsible for 46,000 miles of pipelines, along with other natural gas facilities. The PUC also will take over regulation of some of the thousands of miles of new high-pressure pipelines being built to get the Marcellus Shale gas to market. "They're extremely understaffed and very overworked," said Lynda Farrell, a pipeline-safety advocate from Chester County told the Inquirer. Last week, the PUC filed a public complaint against Philadelphia Gas Works, alleging safety violations in one high-profile case - the fatal gas explosion in the Tacony section of Philadelphia in January. It called for the maximum $500,000 fine - a record for a gas-safety case, the Inquirer reports. That's far harsher than the typical penalty, the report states. In Pennsylvania, the gas-safety cases can drag on for as long as five years and result in an average settlement of $47,000. Under the PUC deals, the utilities are allowed to settle cases without admitting wrongdoing. To read the Inquirer report, click here. December 14, 2011: EPA Links Gas Drilling to Drinking Water PollutionThe national debate over gas drilling practices grew more intense last week with the news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that drinking water in a Wyoming town was likely polluted by a gas producer's operations, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The findings, which will be peer-reviewed by scientists before being made final, could expose Encana, the gas producer, to fines and litigation, according to the Journal. The company has been providing fresh water to 21 homes in the Pavillion, Wyo., area since August 2010, when it began meeting with the EPA and state regulators to find a long-term alternative to well water for the area. The Journal reported that environmental groups said the finding confirms that gas drilling poses environmental risk and should be subject to strict rules or banned outright. The EPA conducted a multiyear study in response to concerns voiced in 2008 by residents in Pavillion about the smell and quality of their water. The agency, after drilling its own wells in Pavillion and sampling water, said it detected benzene, a carcinogen, that exceeded safe drinking-water standards, as well as methane - the primary component of natural gas - and synthetic chemicals such as glycols and alcohols "consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids." The EPA said that in one well it drilled it measured 246 micrograms of benzene per liter, far above the maximum permitted level of five micrograms per liter. The EPA said it looked at other explanations for the contaminants but concluded gas drilling was "likely" to blame, the Journal reported. The report cited problems with how the wells were constructed, including intervals where the wells had no cement casing or weakened cement, according to the Journal. EPA officials said this could be related to the age of the wells, some of which date to the 1950s, and varying state regulations over the years. To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here. To read a New York Times story on the gas-related water pollution, click here. To read a related story on TheHill.com, click here. Gas Leak Sends Seven Pa. Residents to the HospitalSeven people in Reading, Pa., were rushed to the hospital Monday afternoon for treatment of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning related to leaking utility gas, according to a report on WFMZ TV 69. Firefighters were called to the scene around noon on Monday, where they found high levels of the gas in six attached homes on the block, including one that measured above 200 parts per million, the report states. The average level for a home without a gas stove varies from 0.5 to 5 parts per million, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Levels near properly adjusted gas stoves are often five to 15 ppm, according to WFMZ. Two adults and five children were experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and were taken to the hospital. Fire crews on the scene said they pinpointed the source of the gas to a blocked chimney that is shared by two of the homes. Close to 200 people die each year as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. To read the WFMZ TV 69 report, click here. December 6, 2011: Celebs Assist Pa. Town Hurt by Gas DrillingActor Mark Ruffalo and film director Josh Fox denounced a controversial form of gas drilling this week at New York's City Hall, where they collected water to bring to 11 Pennsylvania families whose tap water is flammable, according to a report by ABC News. Well water in Dimock, Pa., has been contaminated since 2008, when the Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. leased their land to use for gas drilling, according to the report. When one resident's well exploded several months ago, the state investigated and found that faulty casings in a gas drilling well had caused methane to seep into local drinking wells, ABC reported. In addition to methane, the water contains unsafe quantities of heavy metals, radioactive material and toxic chemicals such as ethylene glycol, also known as antifreeze, according to ABC. Dimock Township residents complained of health problems after drinking and bathing in the water, and so the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PDEP) has forced Cabot to deliver clean water to the affected families for the past three years. The PDEP also planned the construction of a water pipeline that would deliver clean water to the region. But when Thomas Corbett was sworn in as governor in January 2011, things changed. The pipeline construction was stopped, and the PDEP approved a decision to have Cabot stop delivering clean water to the 11 families in Dimock, ABC reported. Ruffalo told ABC, "All I can say is corrupt politics, corrupt politicians," Ruffalo said. "It's pretty fishy. The DEP was building a pipeline that Cabot was going to have to pay for to the tune of $12 million. For $1.6 million, Cabot bought off Corbett, and as soon as he came into office, he killed the pipeline..." ABC News also has posted a televised new story about the controversy. To read a Dec. 5 U.S. News/MSNBC report on the water controversy in Dimock, click here. To read a National Resource Defense Council blog entry from Dec. 5 on the water controversy in Dimock, click here. To read a Scranton, Pa. Times-Tribune article about the controversy, click here. November 22, 2011: Gas Explosions Wreak Havoc in Ohio, N.J.Nine people were injured and six buildings heavily damaged in two recent gas explosions in Ohio and New Jersey. In the wake of the Ohio explosion, a federal agency ordered a gas pipeline operator to take a pipeline out of service temporarily to protect local residents. The Ohio explosion occurred on Nov. 17 in the community of Glouster. Three homes and one barn were destroyed, and a second barn was damaged, according to a report in The Zanesville Times Recorder. After the explosion, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a corrective action order to Tennessee Gas Pipeline, according to Matt Butler, spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The agency ordered the company to reduce the pipeline operating pressure to 80 percent of its former maximum and obtain approval from PHMSA before returning the line to service, according to the Times Recorder report. The cause of the pipeline failure has not been determined, the newspaper reported. Tennessee Gas Pipeline was excavating the failed portion of piping and planned to have the pipe material tested. "Based on evidence and extensive interviews, it appears the explosion was the result of the ignition of natural gas following a physical failure on the pipeline," a news release from the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office stated. "Investigators can not determine the exact source of ignition, but believe a spark from debris, static electricity or nearby power transformers likely ignited the natural gas," the release stated. In New Jersey, eight firefighters and an emergency medical technician were injured in a basement explosion during an early-morning house fire in Pennsauken on Nov. 21, according to a report in the Courier Post. Pennsauken Fire Chief Joseph Palumbo said the fire in the basement involved a release of natural gas from the regular service gas line. "As they (firemen) were stretching a hose line into the dwelling, a gas explosion occurred, causing significant interior and structural damage to the home," he said. At the time of the explosion, seven of those injured were inside the home and a battalion chief was on the porch, he said. A spokeswoman from Public Service Electric & Gas Co. said Monday there was no gas leak at that address. "We checked our gas line and there was no leak, but the gas meter melted as a result of the fire," said PSE&G spokeswoman Karen Johnson. November 17, 2011: Pipeline Plan Will Help U.S. Capitalize on Oil GlutThere is a glut of oil in the U.S., and a pipeline operator has introduced a new plan to get oil out of storage and further reduce declining oil imports, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Enbridge Inc. recently announced it would reverse the direction of flow in the Seaway pipeline, which links the oil supply hub in Cushing, Okla., with the world's largest refinery complex along the Gulf Coast. Over the past two years, the U.S. has started producing so much oil that existing pipelines have been unable to move it to refineries, according to the Journal. That has led to oversupply in the center of the country, keeping the price of American crude far below that of petroleum traded overseas. Enbridge is seeking to move oil out of Cushing, which is expected to create jobs, reduce oil imports and increase gasoline exports, according to the Journal article. "It's hard to overestimate the significance" of reversing the pipeline, said Antoine Halff, lead industry economist at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It is the start of a process to reconfigure the U.S. pipeline system to carry increased domestic oil production to the Gulf Coast, he told the Journal. For decades, oil has been imported from overseas to the Gulf Coast, then either refined there or moved elsewhere in the U.S. for processing, but booming U.S. oil production and declining imports mean oil now needs to move from north to south. U.S. oil production, which had been declining since the 1970s, is climbing again, according to the Journal article. After bottoming out at five million barrels a day in 2008, domestic production has jumped by 10% in the past couple of years. To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here. To read a Businessweek article on the Seaway pipeline, click here. November 1, 2011: Gas Explosion Destroys Building in Pa.A building in Millersville, Pa., was destroyed by a natural gas explosion that occurred when a construction crew struck a gas line, causing a massive gas leak, according to a report by ABC 27. Tom Zimmerman, who runs a business on the first floor of the building, was inside his office about an hour before the blast, ABC reported. "I was startled how strong the smell was," he said. "I never smelled gas that strong, and that concerned me." He and his co-workers went outside, where they felt it was safe, the report stated. "A neighbor pointed out at the intersection where the gas was coming out at a high rate." Fire crews evacuated the building and the immediate area, and then a large explosion blew out one side of the building, according to the report. Officials were unsure what ignited the gas and caused the explosion. "When we arrived on the scene we had high readings of natural gas out in the street here and in various homes and businesses," said Mike Fessler, of UGI, the local gas utility. Their next move was to turn off the power and get gas levels back down to safe levels, so they had to vent the dangerous gas out of the area, ABC reported. "Because there is so much gas built up under the street they actually drill into the street and they have fans that extract the gas out of the street from under the ground, so it doesn't go into the properties," said Duane Hagelgans, Blue Rock Fire Commissioner. The building that exploded is The Framery, a small picture frame shop with an apartment above it. Two people lived there with their dog. No one was home and fire crews got the dog out. About 100 homes and businesses were evacuated after the gas line ruptured, according to a report by Lancaster Online. Residents were allowed back in their homes that night, but asked to leave again the next day when high gas readings were again detected. They were able to return that night, according to the report. Lancaster Online also reported that natural gas levels remained inexplicably high one day after the gas explosion. "Our problem is, we discovered more gas," said Hagelgans. "We're trying to figure out where it's coming from." To read the ABC 27 account of the explosion, click here. November 9, 2011: Professor Finds Numerous Gas Leaks in Boston AreaA Boston University associate professor is using gas detection equipment to find natural gas leaks in the Greater Boston area - and he is finding plenty, according to a story in the Boston Globe. Nathan Phillips, associate professor of geography and the environment, started driving the streets of Boston looking for natural gas leaks, and he was stunned to find they numbered in the thousands, the Globe reported. He wanted to document the extent of leaks because of concerns that the gas could harm trees and add to greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Then he found a leak that posed a more immediate danger, and it was near his home. Phillips found the leak at a manhole in front of the West Newton Cinema. Twice in the past month, he detected the levels of methane in the atmosphere there to be about 6 percent, which regulators and gas companies consider a potential explosion hazard. The Globe reported that aging pipelines in Massachusetts have more than 21,000 leaks, according to gas company records. Phillips detects gas leaks using a new device called a cavity ring-down spectrometer, which he puts in the trunk of his car so he can take measurements as he drives. "Cambridge Street between Storrow Drive and Government Center: very leaky," he told the Globe. "Harvard Street in Brookline between Commonwealth Avenue and Coolidge Corner is also very leaky... . Beacon Street from Coolidge Corner out through Newton to Newton Center, that's very leaky." Massachusetts gas companies reported that 8.2 billon cubic feet of natural gas was unaccounted for in 2007, according to the Globe. Phillips calculates that is the equivalent of about 4 to 5 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts that year, since methane's contribution to global warming is 25 times greater than the same amount of carbon dioxide. Click here to read the Boston Globe story. Phillips' work has also been reported by Boston University. October 20, 2011: Environmental Activist Rips Natural Gas IndustryRobert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, recently criticized the natural gas industry for resisting public disclosure of information and opposing reasonable regulation. Writing for the Huffington Post, Kennedy took natural gas producers to task for attacking the New York Times over a recent string of articles about natural gas drilling. "Superb investigative journalism by the New York Times has brought the paper under attack by the natural gas industry," Kennedy wrote. "That campaign of intimidation and obfuscation has been orchestrated by top shelf players like Exxon and Chesapeake aligned with the industry's worst bottom feeders. This coalition has launched an impressive propaganda effort carried by slick PR firms, industry funded front groups and a predictable cabal of right wing industry toadies from cable TV and talk radio. In pitting itself against public disclosure and reasonable regulation, the natural gas industry is once again proving that it is its own worst enemy." Calling himself "an early optimist on natural gas," Kennedy wrote that he once thought natural gas could help ease the country's dependence on coal and destructive coal mining practices. "My caveat was that the natural gas industry and government regulators needed to act responsibly to protect the environment, safeguard communities from irresponsible practices and to candidly inform the public about the true risks and benefits of shale extraction gas. The opposite has happened. "The industry's worst actors have successfully battled reasonable regulation, stifled public disclosure while bending compliant government regulators to engineer exceptions to existing environmental rules. Captive agencies and political leaders have obligingly reduced already meager enforcement resources and helped propagate the industry's deceptive economic projections," Kennedy wrote. "As a result, public skepticism toward the industry and its government regulators is at a record high. With an army of over 40,000 highly motivated anti-fracking activists in New York alone, popular mistrust of the industry is presenting a daunting impediment to its expansion." Kennedy noted that he sits on New York State's High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel, which is developing rules for safe gas drilling. "We spend much of our time sorting truth from the web of myths spun about fracking by fast talking landsmen, smarmy CEOs, and federal regulators," he wrote. He cited numerous instances where research has raised doubts about fundamental gas industry presumptions.
October 18, 2011: Senate Hearing Focuses on National Gas ExplosionsEDITOR'S NOTE: This account of the Senate hearing is courtesy of the New England Fuel Institute. Last year's San Bruno, Calif., disaster and other recent natural gas safety incidents received high-profile Congressional attention on October 18. "There are a lot of reasons to worry about this, and there are a lot of reasons to continue to do extraordinary due diligence on this issue" said Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee. Her colleague, Sen. Boxer (D-CA) said that "most disturbing of all, this accident and this tragic loss of life were entirely preventable." The natural gas explosion killed eight of their constituents and injured 52 more. A total of 38 homes were destroyed and 70 damaged. The committee also heard testimony from the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator Cynthia L. Quarterman, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, PG&E Executive Vice President for Gas Operations Nick Stavropoulos, Pipeline Safety Trust Vice President Rick Kessler, Interstate Natural Gas Association President & CEO Donald Santa, Jr., and American Gas Association Vice President Christina Sames. Complete hearing information and archived video is available online. The hearing highlighted just how common and costly natural gas disasters have become. According to the DOT there have been an average of 42 serious natural gas pipeline incidents per year over the last decade, resulting in an annual average of 14 deaths, 16 injuries and over $32 million in damage to property. According to Feinstein, 61 percent of all natural gas pipelines have been grandfathered - "meaning regulators and the industry assumed it was safe to continue operating the pipeline at pressures used in the past." She added that countless pipelines in urban areas "have inaccurate or incomplete records, have never been tested or inspected by smart pigs, and lack automatic or remote-controlled shutoff valves capable of limiting damage following a rupture." During the hearing, regulators and gas industry representatives outlined steps they were taking to address pipeline safety concerns. New legislative measures were also considered. However potential remedies have come under fire due to their focus on new studies, technologies and procedures rather than identifying and replacing old pipelines and those in disrepair. Given the enormity of the problem there are serious doubts that new legislation and regulation and renewed attention from the gas industry will result in increased public safety. To read an account of the hearing by San Bruno Patch, click here. October 9, 2011: Gas Producer Wants to Export Natural Gas From ShaleVirginia-based Dominion Resources Inc. is seeking federal approval to allow exports of liquefied natural gas from the Marcellus Shale and other areas of the booming Appalachian drilling industry, according to a report by PennLive.com Dominion has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy to allow 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day to be exported through a terminal it owns in Maryland, according to the PennLive report. Gas would be exported from the Dominion Cove Point terminal on the Chesapeake Bay, in Lusby, Md. Ben Ketchum, an activist with the anti-drilling group GasTruth, said the move is a sign of the industry reneging on statements it made about how Marcellus gas will benefit Pennsylvania and the United States, according to PennLive. "It's becoming more and more obvious that this is not an industry that is trying to provide a real service to the communities they're invading," Ketchum said. "In all actuality, this will be like any other commodity; it's going to be sold to the highest bidder."  A gas-drilling rig in the Susquehanna County. Residents in areas where gas producers use fracking have been outspoken in their complaints about methane contamination in water wells and other environmental problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010 launched a two-year study of the potential adverse effects. "There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing may impact ground water and surface water quality in ways that threaten human health and the environment," the EPA stated. The study is expected to be complete in 2012. In addition to owning power plants, Dominion is a major operator of natural gas pipelines and storage facilities. It would not own or directly export the liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Its customers would be responsible for supplying the gas to the terminal and then shipping and selling it, Dominion said. To read the PennLive article, click here. October 5, 2011: Oil Production Could Boom in OhioOil exploration companies are bullish on the prospects for substantial oil production from the Utica Shale formation in eastern Ohio, according to articles published by CNBC and Dow Jones newswires. Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, described the Ohio oil find as possibly "one of our biggest discoveries in U.S. history" in a recent appearance with Jim Cramer on CNBC. He said there could be an investment of up to $200 billion to drill as many as 25,000 wells. The region could produce the equivalent of 25 billion barrels of oil and other petroleum products, McClendon said. The Utica Shale oil find is described at length in a Dow Jones newswire article from February 2011 that is featured on Rigzone.com. "Ohio is bracing for an oil boom as companies, led by Chesapeake, gobble up leases covering millions of acres in the eastern half of the state," the article states. "While no one's yet proven the commercial potential of the Utica formation, an oil-rich layer of rock that underlies this area, some believe it will yield crude on par with the largest shale reservoirs in the U.S. and spark a Rust Belt resurrection." The article continues: "Though there's no large-scale production from Utica wells yet, stakeholders say its potential is comparable to the Eagle Ford formation in south Texas, where wells turn out thousands of barrels a day and leases can exceed $12,000 an acre." September 27, 2011: New Gas Pipeline Safety Concerns AriseTwo new concerns about natural gas pipeline safety have been reported in the news. In California, The San Francisco Chronicle reports that regulators have not pursued their concerns about a commonly used type of gas pipe that could be unsafe. Meanwhile in Seattle, Wash., utility crews have found three natural gas leaks in a neighborhood where a gas explosion occurred on September 26, 2011, that injured two people, according to a Seattle Times report. In the California story, The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the type of plastic pipe that caused a natural gas explosion and fire in a Cupertino condominium in August 2011 has long been considered a potential threat to the public, but federal pipeline regulators have allowed companies to keep it in the ground and secretly gather limited information about its failings. Companies such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), which owns the line that caused the Cupertino blast, don't have to routinely report what they know about failure rates of particular brands of plastic pipes, even to the federal and state agencies that regulate pipeline operators, the Chronicle reports. The federal government, bowing to industry resistance, has never required it. The Cupertino condominium was gutted Aug. 31 after a plastic pipeline fitting cracked, filling the garage with gas that exploded just minutes after the owner had left for lunch, according to the Chronicle. PG&E later found six other plastic pipe failures near the blast site. The line was an especially problematic type of pipe manufactured by DuPont called Aldyl-A. PG&E has 1,231 miles of the early-1970s-vintage pipe in its system. Federal regulators singled out pre-1973 Aldyl-A starting in 2002 as being at risk of failing because of premature cracking, according to the Chronicle. Explosions caused by failed Aldyl-A and other types of plastic pipe have killed more than 50 people in the United States since 1971, the federal government says. Instead of requiring utilities to remove the problematic plastic, however, U.S. pipeline safety officials have allowed the industry to compile limited data about failures in Aldyl-A and similar pipe and to keep the findings confidential, according to the Chronicle story. Meanwhile in Seattle, a spokeswoman for Puget Sound Energy said that utility crews discovered two gas leaks within a half mile of the site of the Sept. 26 explosion, according to the Times. A third leak was discovered less than a mile from the site. A utility spokesman said the explosion was caused by corrosion that occurred when a falling tree took out a power line and electricity traveled into underground pipes. To read the San Francisco Chronicle story, please click here. To read the Seattle Times story, please click here. September 16, 2011: American Oil Supplies Are More Abundant Than We ThoughtSupplies of oil in North America are more abundant than previously realized, according to a recent study by the National Petroleum Council that was reported on FuelFix.com. The Council undertook a study of American reserves of oil and natural gas and determined that advanced production technologies can untap plentiful oil reserves onshore, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian Tar Sands. With these reserves, North America has the potential to be more self-reliant for oil, according to the Council's report. "Contrary to conventional wisdom the North American oil resource base also could provide substantial supply for decades ahead," the Council's report said. The Council is an expert panel convened by the U.S. Secretary of Energy. FuelFix reported that by 2035 oil from shale formations in the northern United States and South Texas could yield 2 million to 3 million barrels of oil per day. Under the most optimistic assumptions the U.S. and Canada combined could produce up to 22.5 million barrels per day, the Council's study concludes. The strong rally occurring in U.S. oil production has inspired Goldman Sachs to predict that the U.S. will be the world's top producer of oil by 2017. The U.S. currently trails Russia and Saudi Arabia. Daniel Yergin, a member of the National Petroleum Council and the chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, discussed oil production and the North American oil supply in a recent Wall Street Journal essay entitled "There Will Be Oil". To read the article on FuelFix, click here. September 13, 2011: Gas Industry Has Image Problems, Says an InsiderA natural gas industry executive says the industry must work harder to improve its message in the face of growing public awareness about the controversial drilling technique know as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," according to an article by NaturalGasWatch.org.Tisha Conoly-Schuller, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, discussed the industry's image issues during a conference in Denver, Colo., on fossil fuel production. She cited a 2010 documentary firm on natural gas drilling as a game-changer in public perception. "I hate to credit the movie Gasland, but it's really changed the conversation," she said. 
"What we've seen in the last few years, and I hope it's peaking, is a completely heightened public awareness around hydraulic fracturing and an increase in active opposition," she said. Fracking is used in the majority of new natural gas wells. Drillers inject millions of gallons of pressurized water laced with chemicals into the ground to break up shale formations in order to recover the gas. The process has been linked to several environmental problems, including the pollution of drinking water with flammable methane gas.
Conoly-Schuller denied allegations that fracking causes the emission of flammable methane gas from faucets and showerheads. "The flaming faucet -- that was disproven by the Colorado Oil & Gas Authority," she said. Conoly-Schuller said the favorable perception of the gas industry is only 7 percent in recent polls. "That's lower than Congress. The public does not believe us. We need someone else delivering our message for us." To read the NaturalGasWatch.org article, please click here. August 31, 2011: Federal Watchdog Faults Utility, Regulators in Deadly Gas ExplosionA federal safety panel reported that mistakes and lax inspections by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) were to blame for a natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and burned a suburban San Francisco neighborhood in 2010, according to a USA Today article.(The Associated Press published a related video about the NTSB report. See the video below.) The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited substandard welds and other problems dating to the 1956 installation of the gas line as the direct cause of the September 9 accident in San Bruno, Calif., the article states. The Board also said that the California Public Utilities Commission failed to detect problems with PG&E's safety procedures, including a lack of automatic shutoff valves, USA Today reported. "It was not a question of if this pipeline would burst," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. "It was a question of when." The NTSB warned that the problems that led to the tragedy in San Bruno could exist elsewhere. The explosion sent a giant plume of fire into the air that burned for 95 minutes before utility workers were able to shut off the gas. In addition to eight deaths, dozens of people were injured and 55 homes destroyed or damaged. Investigators identified a substandard seam weld in the pipeline. PG&E has said it didn't know of the welds because its records incorrectly listed the pipe as seamless. To read the USA Today article, please click here. August 26, 2011: Pipeline Extension Would Bring More Canadian Oil to U.S.Increasing oil production in Canada's Alberta Province is creating a supply glut, and several U.S. agencies are considering a proposed pipeline expansion that would expand oil imports from Canada, according to the Wall Street Journal.An estimated 170 billion barrels of oil are in the ground in Alberta, giving the province the third largest proven oil reserves in the world (after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela). The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would boost the Alberta-to-U.S. supply capacity from 591,000 barrels a day to 1.1 million barrels a day. The pipeline now reaches from Alberta to Cushing, Okla. The project would expand the capacity and extend the pipeline's reach to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The pipeline would travel through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The project is expected to bring a $20 billion investment and 13,000 jobs (along with another estimated 118,000 spin-off jobs) to those six states. The project gained momentum this month when the U.S. State Department reported that the proposed pipeline expansion wouldn't cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The State Department report removes a major roadblock to construction of the pipeline, but does not grant final approval, according to the Journal. The department has authority over the project because it crosses an international boundary. An alternative plan is under consideration to pipe the oil to Asian markets if the U.S. does not approve the pipeline extension, the Journal reported. The oil that the pipeline would carry is derived from Alberta's tar sands. Tar sands oil is thicker than light crude oil and the refining process is more energy intensive. There is some opposition to the use of tar sands oil in the U.S. Congress and the environmental community. To read a Wall Street Journal article about the pipeline, click here. To read an Associated Press story about the State Department's report on the Keystone XL Pipeline, click here. To read a Bloomberg Businessweek story about the State Department's report on the Keystone XL Pipeline, click here. To read a U.S. Department of Energy report on how oil production in the Gulf Coast region affects pricing, click here. To read a Washington Times article on job creation and the Keystone XL pipeline,click here. To visit the Keystone XL Pipeline web page, click here. To read a FuelFix article on protests against the Keystone XL pipeline, click here. August 19, 2011: New York Subpoenas Natural Gas DrillersThe Attorney General for New York State recently issued subpoenas to several natural gas drillers asking them to explain how they identify the quantities of recoverable natural gas that they declare to investors, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.Some industry critics have questioned the longevity of the natural gas drilling boom in New York, Pennsylvania and other states and suggested that companies will struggle to turn a profit unless prices rise sharply, according to the Wall Street Journal article. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week sent subpoenas to Range Resources Corp., Goodrich Petroleum Corp., and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. seeking information on how they calculate their natural gas reserves and how they represent their profitability to investors, according to the Wall Street Journal. The subpoenas also seek information on the cost and longevity of wells, the Journal reported. In addition to the long-standing debate over the environmental impacts of drilling, public officials now are raising questions about whether some companies have accurately represented the amount of gas they can profitably produce, the Journal reported. The attorney general's subpoenas follow similar inquiries that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made of other companies. Taken together, the inquiries underscore how regulators' concerns are expanding beyond the controversial process of extracting gas from shale rock, known as hydraulic fracturing, which has so far dominated the debate over natural gas development. Schneiderman requested the same information from Chesapeake Energy Corp. in an addendum to a subpoena issued in June on how it discloses environmental risk, the Journal reported. The subpoenas were issued under the Martin Act, which gives the attorney general broad authority to obtain documents from companies that operate in New York. A focus of Schneiderman's probe is whether companies are abusing the license they were given in estimating their reserves, as the result of a 2008 change in SEC rules, according to the Journal. Before the rules changed, companies had to estimate reserves based on the production of nearby wells. The revamp allowed them to calculate their reserves from wells they have planned to drill but have not developed over a larger territory, enabling them to book greater volumes of gas. The change came as producers increasingly turned to mining natural gas from shale formations, layers of rock that tend to have the same mineral deposits and extend for hundreds of miles. Hydraulic fracturing has drawn scrutiny from environmentalists and regulators concerned about its impact on water and air quality, according to the Journal. August 18, 2011: Mass. Company Creates Organism to Directly Produce Distillate Fuel, called "Game-Changer"With a little help from genetic engineering, researchers at one Massachusetts company say they've created an organism that takes sunlight, water and carbon dioxide and creates liquid fuel.Bill Sims, CEO of Cambridge-based Joule Unlimited, says the process utilizes bacteria, produces a chemical product and secretes it. The result? A fuel that can fill demands for diesel and ethanol. The product can be used in trucks, heavy equipment and further refined into jet fuel. Simply put, the organism created secretes the fuel in a direct process, working faster than current biofuel technology that often uses algae. Officials with the Energy Information Administration report that diesel consumption in the United States has steadily risen in recent years. In 2005, 9.4 million barrels were used. In 2009, 1.04 billion barrels were consumed. In 2010, diesel supplied 5.9% of the U.S. energy needs. Joule is taking the first big step toward commercialization, leasing more than 1,000 acres of land in New Mexico. They hope to prove the organism can produce fuel quickly, on a large scale, nearly anywhere. Sims believes the technology can revolutionize part of the fuel industry, meeting transportation needs virtually anywhere around the world. Read more here. August 9, 2011: Concerns Mount About Fracking and Water PollutionThere are concerns that hydrofracturing, the controversial drilling technique that is used on the majority of new natural gas wells, may pollute drinking water, according to a recent story by National Public Radio (NPR).Also known as "fracking," hydrofracturing is used to extract natural gas from hard-to-reach deposits, such as a mile underground in dense shale. Drillers pump truckloads of water mixed with sand and chemicals into the rock. Under intense pressure, that creates tiny fractures that allow gas trapped there to escape. In Pennsylvania the number of natural gas wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale has increased from 34 in 2007 to 1,446 last year. But drive around the region and you'll see that not everyone shares the industry's appreciation of fracking, according to the NPR report. There are lawn signs opposing gas drilling, and in Sullivan County, N.Y., a handmade sign reads, "Thou shalt not frack with our water. Amen." NPR reports that many fracking opponents were inspired by the movie Gasland. In one compelling scene, Colorado resident Mike Markham shows how he can light his tap water on fire. Throughout the movie, filmmaker Josh Fox gives fracking special attention -- calling into question how safe it is and whether it's adequately regulated. The natural gas industry worries that the focus on fracking could prompt policymakers to restrict the practice and bring a halt to the gas booms under way, according to NPR. That's already happening around the country in places such as Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh and most recently Morgantown, W.Va. New York is deciding on new rules to govern fracking there. It's not just the industry concerned about the focus on fracking, according to NPR. Some environmentalists say it may be taking attention away from the other problems that go along with drilling, like air pollution and toxic spills. "I'm hoping that it's really just a starting point -- a jumping-off point -- to look at all these other issues," says Amy Mall, senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. And Mall hopes the focus on fracking will lead to more research about how natural gas development affects people. "There's very little science about any of these impacts -- not just the fracking, but the air quality, the waste-management issues," Mall says. "But it does seem the immediate priority of the agencies is to focus on fracking." To read the NPR story on fracking, click here. July 29, 2011: San Bruno Officials Criticize State's Probe of Deadly ExplosionCity officials in San Bruno, Calif., site of a massive natural gas explosion in September 2010 that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes, have criticized the state's investigation of the blast as poorly researched and unsubstantiated.In a related development, the adjacent City of San Francisco intends to sue several government agencies for failing to enforce standards that might have prevented the San Bruno blast. California appointed a blue ribbon panel to investigate the San Bruno explosion, and the group recently issued a report blaming the explosion on a 2008 sewer project. An attorney for San Bruno sent a sharply worded criticism to the state saying the report was marred by numerous omissions and erroneous conclusions, according to a report in The San Francisco Examiner. The letter noted that the panel failed to interview the sewer contractors, review the project specifications or talk to San Bruno engineers who signed off on the work, according to the Examiner. Instead, the panel relied on a gas industry group's report that incorrectly described the scope of the sewer project and the findings of a consultant who did not know all the facts, the letter said. The Examiner reported that San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson said that the state panel's focus on the sewer job diverted from a "real and fact-based evaluation" of the true causes of the explosion. Meanwhile, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced his intention to sue several state agencies under the Pipeline Safety Act, according to the Examiner. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration "have a poor track record in actual enforcement, instead adopting a minimalist, 'check the boxes' approach to their regulatory obligations under the act," the letter said. The blue ribbon panel tasked with investigating the explosion also criticized the CPUC, according to the Examiner. It noted that low-ranking CPUC employees had discovered problems at PG&E, but their concerns were never seriously considered by the people at the top of the agency. "As evidenced by the San Bruno explosion, natural gas pipelines that are not adequately maintained pursuant to an effective integrity management program pose a serious threat to those who live, work and gather near them," Herrera wrote. "That includes thousands of people who live and work in areas adjacent to the gas transmission pipelines running through San Francisco." Click here to read the San Francisco Examiner story on the San Bruno reaction to the state investigation. Click here to read the San Francisco Examiner story on San Francisco's threatened lawsuit. July 20, 2011:Natural Gas Spent $1.68 Million on Lobbying in Three Months With the natural gas industry facing new regulations on multiple fronts, three natural gas trade association spent a combined $1.68 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2011, according to news reports.America's Natural Gas Alliance led the spending frenzy with an outlay of $910,000 in January, February and March of this year, according to Forbes.com. The group represents natural gas drillers, who are working to prevent new restrictions on the controversial drilling practice they use to extract natural gas from shale formations. Known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," the procedure involves injecting millions of gallons of water underground to fracture shale formations and free natural gas trapped in the rock. Fracking is widely criticized for allegedly polluting water wells near drilling sites and generating massive quantities of polluted waste water. Fracking fluids contain a variety of chemicals, but current federal law does not require drillers to reveal what chemicals they are injecting into the ground. Another natural gas lobby, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), spent $480,000 on lobbying in the year's first quarter, according to the Bloomberg. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has launched a national pipeline safety initiative after a series of fatal pipeline accidents, Bloomberg reports. INGAA also lobbied the government in hopes of including natural gas in a portfolio of fuels that would be considered "clean," in proposals that would require that the nation's electricity come from mostly clean sources in coming years. About 21 percent of the nation's electricity is now generated using natural gas. In the first three months of 2011, INGAA lobbied the Transportation Department, as well as Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Bloomberg. The third group, the American Gas Association (AGA), spent $290,000 on lobbying in the first quarter, according to Forbes.com. The main lobbying group for the natural gas utilities, AGA also lobbied Congress about pipeline safety, natural gas drilling rules and clean energy proposals. In late March, a bill called the FRAC Act was reintroduced in Congress. It would force drillers to reveal the chemicals included in their hydraulic fracturing fluids and remove fracking's exemption from clean water regulations. Read the Bloomberg article about the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America July 11, 2011: Fracking Fluid Kills Trees in TestA controlled test of the chemical-laced fluids used in natural gas drilling killed most of the vegetation and trees in the test area, according to a report by Bloomberg Businessweek.Lead researcher Mary Beth Adams, a soil scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, says that the damage to the trees and vegetation, detailed in a case study published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, shows the need for more research into gas industry practices, Bloomberg Businesweek reported. "There is virtually no information in the scientific literature about the effects of gas well development on forests in the eastern U.S.," Adams said. The test results are troubling, because gas companies are using the fluids extensively to extract natural gas from underground shale formations in a process known as hydrofracturing or "fracking." Fracking is exempt from the federal Clean Water Act, and drillers often dispose of fracking fluids in public sewage systems that are not designed to treat them. The test was conducted by Berry Energy in cooperation with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The company sprayed 75,000 gallons of fracking fluid on a test site of less than one-half acre in the Monongahela National Forest. "Within a few days, all ground vegetation was dead," Bloomberg Businessweek reported. "Within 10 days, the leaves of the hardwoods began to turn brown and drop. Within two years, more than half of the 150 trees were dead, and sodium and chloride concentrations in the soil were 50 times higher than normal." "This study suggests that these fluids should be treated as toxic waste," argues Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes." Click here to read the Bloomberg Businessweek story. June 25, 2011: Insiders Suggest Natural Gas Producers Are Overstating YieldsNatural gas from shale formations might not be as easy and inexpensive to extract as natural gas companies are saying, according to the New York Times. The Times recently reviewed hundreds of natural gas industry e-mails and internal documents and discovered a stark contrast between what gas company spokesmen are saying publicly and what insiders are telling each other. In e-mails, insiders such as company executives, state geologists and market analysts voiced skepticism about gas production forecasts and questioned whether companies are intentionally overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves, according to the Times. Many of these e-mails also point out that the industry's bullish public comments contrast sharply with inside information, suggesting the possibility of a financial bubble. "Money is pouring in" from investors even though shale gas is "inherently unprofitable," an analyst from PNC Wealth Management, an investment company, wrote to a contractor in a February e-mail. "Reminds you of dot-coms." "The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work," an analyst from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company, wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2009. Company data for more than 10,000 wells in three major shale gas formations raise further questions about the industry's prospects, the Times reported. There is undoubtedly a vast amount of gas in the formations. The question remains how affordably it can be extracted. The data show that while there are some very active wells, they are often surrounded by vast zones of less-productive wells that in some cases cost more to drill and operate than the gas they produce is worth, according to the Times. Also, the amount of gas produced by many of the successful wells is falling much faster than initially predicted by energy companies, making it more difficult for them to turn a profit over the long run. If the industry does not live up to expectations, the impact will be felt widely, the Times wrote. Federal and state lawmakers are considering drastically increasing subsidies for the natural gas business in the hope that it will provide low-cost energy for decades to come. But if natural gas ultimately proves more expensive to extract from the ground than has been predicted, landowners, investors and lenders could see their investments falter, while consumers will pay a price in higher electricity and home heating bills, according to the Times. There are implications for the environment, too. The technology used to get gas flowing out of the ground -- called hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking -- can require over a million gallons of water per well, and some of that water must be disposed of because it becomes contaminated by the process, the Times noted. If shale gas wells fade faster than expected, energy companies will have to drill more wells or hydrofrack them more often, resulting in more toxic waste. The Times reports that it obtained the e-mails through open-records requests or from industry consultants and analysts who say that the public perception of shale gas does not match reality. In the e-mails, some people within the industry voice grave concerns. "And now these corporate giants are having an Enron moment," a retired geologist from a major oil and gas company wrote in a February e-mail, referring to other companies invested in shale gas. "They want to bend light to hide the truth." To read the Times article, click here. June 24, 2011: Utility in Deadly Gas Explosion Faces Questions
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in May notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that the transmission line where the explosion occurred had sprung a leak a few miles away in 1998. But a more recent filing by the company included documentation from workers that raised questions about the company's account. The conflict about the 1998 leak is just the latest development in a long string of concerns about the company's record keeping in the wake of the September 2010 blast in San Bruno. NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman previously has chided the company for coming forward with critical information about prior failures so long after the agency began its probe, saying it could hamper investigators' progress. In this week's filing, PG&E revealed that none of the approximately 20 leak surveyors and pipe repairmen involved in the 1998 incident recalled a leak springing from a seam running lengthwise down the pipe, as the document given to NTSB in May states. One worker said he remembered the leak stemming from a girth weld, a problem that also appeared in several other spots on the high-pressure line coursing through bedroom communities south of San Francisco, according to the filing. Following the explosion, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered the company to hand over decades' worth of safety records for its pipelines, and this week's release includes more than 16,000 documents on welding problems. NTSB investigators say last year's blast originated at a poorly installed weld on the lengthwise seam of the transmission line, which PG&E previously believed was seamless. Consumer advocates said such shoddy accounting puts people at risk, and they wonder whether PG&E might reveal other erroneous records in the future. "One day the records say one thing, the next day they say something else, the next day there are no records to be found or they were written in erasable ink," said Mark Toney, executive director The Utility Reform Network, based in San Francisco. "The story keeps changing, and the more we learn, the more it sounds like there were repeated early warning signals on that line that were never followed up on." PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson initially said the small methane leak detected in 1998 was the result of a defect in a double-seamed weld running lengthwise down the transmission pipeline. Swanson would not say earlier this week whether the company told federal investigators about employees' conflicting accounts, but he subsequently clarified that the company notified NTSB about the new information at an undetermined "later" date. The NTSB declined to comment on the discrepancy, and CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said the commission had not heard about any of the prior leaks before the San Bruno blast. "We have conflicting information," Swanson said. "We're learning valuable lessons from this investigation, and when all the facts are known about the cause of this terrible tragedy, we'll be able to put in place the types of practices and procedures to help prevent this from happening again." The U.S. Department of Justice, as well as numerous state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies, are pursuing their own investigations into what led up to the pipeline rupture. Pipeline safety experts said it was concerning that PG&E lacked key details about weld flaws on the ruptured line, because girth weld and long seam weld leaks necessitate different kinds of safety tests. To read the Associated Press article, click here. May 21, 2001: Victim Hospitalized After Gas Explosion
Arlington, Va., County Police and Fire are investigating a natural gas explosion at an apartment building for seniors, according to NBC Washington.The explosion occurred just before noon on May 21 in the 4300 block of North Carlin Springs Road, near the Ballston Commons shopping mall. One person was seriously hurt and was flown to a local burn center, according to NBC. No one else was hurt. The explosion happened inside an apartment home. The home and two others near it were heavily damaged. Dozens of others received minor damage. About 100 seniors are displaced. It's not clear when they will be able to return. To read the NBC Washington account, click here. May 16, 2001: EPA Administrator: Fracking Safety Has Been OverstatedConclusions about the safety of hydrofracturing have been overstated, according to a former Environmental Protection Agency official who oversaw a 2004 study on the controversial natural gas drilling technique, according to the New York Times.Ben Grumbles, who ran EPA's Office of Water, stated recently that the EPA study didn't deem all hydrofracturing (also known as "fracking") to be safe, and it didn't justify exempting all forms of it from drinking water protections. The 2004 study found that in certain circumstances, fracking presented "little or no threat" to drinking water. Grumbles recently wrote about the 2004 hydrofracturing study in an article he wrote for the non-profit he runs, Clean Water Alliance America. "EPA, however, never intended for the report to be interpreted as a perpetual clean bill of health for fracking or to justify a broad statutory exemption from any future regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act," he wrote. The former assistant EPA administrator says that after five years and a nationwide surge in drilling, it might be time to take another look at the exemption, which was included in a 2005 energy bill. "A lot has happened since 2005 and, in my view, it makes sense to review the Safe Drinking Water Act landscape as well as the relevance of Clean Water Act programs," he said. According to the Times report, the surge in drilling made possible by advances in fracturing technology is in shale gas, he said, "which is different from fracking for coal bed methane, the primary subject of EPA's 2004 report." EPA was called on to study hydrofracturing after an Alabama court ruled in 1997 that that EPA should be regulating coal bed methane fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Control program. An EPA commission of experts, including several from industry, reviewed existing literature and concluded in the final 2004 report that fracking presented "little or no risk" to underground drinking water. In 2005, Congress cited the report in justifying a fairly broad statutory exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act's underground injection control regulatory program. Click here to read Ben Grumbles' article for the Clean Water America Alliance. May 9, 2011: Study Links Polluted Drinking Water and Natural Gas Wells
A recent study by Duke University demonstrates a link between methane contamination of drinking water wells and their proximity to natural gas drilling sites, according to the New York Times."The study would suggest potential for widespread contamination of rural drinking water from drilling in the Marcellus Shale under Pennsylvania, New York and other states," the Times wrote. "It could also provide substantial backing for drilling opponents and drill-site neighbors who blame drilling for fouled drinking water." The Duke environmental chemist who authored the study, Robert Jackson, discussed the results with the Times. "Some of these landowners have a legitimate complaint. It looks like there's a real problem," he said. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found average methane was 17 times higher within 3,000 feet of drilling than water farther away. According to the Times, the researchers found that 85 percent of the 68 wells they tested in Pennsylvania and upstate New York had some amount of methane. That is consistent with industry contentions that lots of wells in drilling areas had methane before exploration began. But they found that within about 3,000 feet, the concentration spikes upward sharply, and the chemical makeup more closely resembles the deep shale gas the companies are producing. The study noted the average level found within a kilometer of drilling — 17 times higher than non-drilling areas — is higher than the level at which federal coal mine regulators recommend immediate action, such as ventilating the area, and possible changes to the water supply. The peer-reviewed study injects some scientific rigor into a debate long characterized by shouting matches and partisan counterclaims, according to the Times. Researchers plan to go back into the field to test wells where gas was drilled since the samples were taken last year. Some of the wells they sampled far from drilling sites last year now have active production nearby. The Duke research team, which also includes Stephen Osborn, Nathaniel Warner and Avner Vengosh, has recommended more research into the medical effects of methane exposure and more study of the disposal of fracturing fluid and the brine waste that comes back up with it, the Times reported. Fracturing, also called "fracking," or "hydrofracking," is a part of the gas production process in which chemical-laced water is injected underground at high pressure. Advances in fracturing technology are what made production of shale gas possible in Pennsylvania, New York and other states. The researchers offered two policy suggestions relating to hydraulic fracturing, according to the Times. Governments, they said, should require disclosure of the chemicals in fracturing fluid, and Congress should order federal regulation of fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). That has been proposed by congressional Democrats for several years, with legislation called the "FRAC Act." But it has never passed. UPDATE - April 11, 2011: Highway to Hell: Why Shale Gas Fracking Is Worse Than Coal for Climate
The Hill reported this morning on a groundbreaking report from Cornell University researchers confirming that shale gas recovered through high volume hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," will produce even more greenhouse gases than the burning of coal in the next two decades -- a critical window in which society must reduce emissions to combat climate change.Read more - View the Huffington Post article. *UPDATE: The Cornell paper is now available in final, published format here: "Methane and the greenhouse-gas emissions footprint of natural gas from shale formations."[PDF] April 10, 2011: Studies Say Natural Gas Has Its Own Environmental Problems
A New York Times article reports that natural gas - the energy source being touted as the solution to weaning the U.S. off dirtier fossil fuels and reduce global warming - is not as green or as clean as its proponents think.The research to support this claim, which Cornell University professors will soon publish, has also made headlines in the Huffington Post as well as in the Congressional newspaper The Hill. It suggests that the rush to develop the nation's vast, unconventional sources of natural gas is logistically impractical and likely to do more to heat up the planet than mining and burning coal. The problem, the studies suggest, is that planet-warming methane, the chief component of natural gas, is escaping into the atmosphere in far larger quantities than previously thought, with as much as 7.9 percent of it puffing out from shale gas wells during the fracking process, intentionally vented or flared, or seeping from loose pipe fittings along gas distribution lines.
Read more about this explosive study. View The New York Times article, The Hill article, and the Huffington Post article.
March 7, 2011: Natural Gas Drilling Linked to Disposal Sites Suspended, Likely Linked To Arkansas Earthquakes
Two natural gas companies have agreed to temporarily suspend use of injection wells in central Arkansas where earthquakes keep occurring. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy and Clarita Operating of Little Rock told the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission on Friday that they've stopped operation of the wells near Greenbrier and Guy pending the panel's next regular meeting on March 29. The commission says there is likely a link between the wells and the earthquakes. There have been more than 800 quakes in the area in the past six months and a magnitude 4.7 quake - the strongest in Arkansas in 35 years - hit there Sunday. The high-pressure wells are used to dispose of wastewater from natural gas drilling. (Read more)
February 26, 2011: Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers
Dangers to the environment from gas drilling are greater than previously understood, according to the New York Times. Gas producers are rushing to extract natural gas from underground shale formations, but the drilling of each well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself. Thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health have been under-reported. The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle. Other documents and interviews show that many E.P.A. scientists are alarmed, warning that the drilling waste is a threat to drinking water in Pennsylvania. (Read More)
February 16, 2011: Natural Gas Loses Support of Environmentalists
Whatever happened to the romance between the environmental lobby and natural gas? After years of basking in a green glow as the cleanest fossil fuel and a favorite short-term choice to replace cheap-but-dirty coal, gas now finds itself under attack from environmentalists, filmmakers and congressional Democrats — and even from some scientists who raise doubts about whether its total emissions are as climate-friendly as commonly believed. Case in point: the Sierra Club, whose former executive director, Carl Pope, has spoken warmly in recent years about gas as an alternative to coal in power plants. Now, the group is considering calling for natural gas to be phased out by 2050 — about 20 years after it wants coal eliminated. Sierra Club Deputy Executive Director Bruce Hamilton says he and other Sierra Club leaders are "trying to be clearer in our communication. ... We want people to know that natural gas is not a clean fuel and it needs to be cleaned up before it can be an acceptable fuel." (Read more)
February 10, 2011: Pa. Natural Gas Explosion Kills Five
The death toll in a suspected natural gas explosion that destroyed eight homes in Allentown, Pennsylvania, rose to five Thursday evening, authorities said. The victims include a 4-month-old and a 79-year-old. Authorities sifted through piles of rubble on a snowy street. Allentown Fire Chief Robert Scheirer confirmed four of the deaths. Scott Grim of the Lehigh County Office or the Coroner confirmed the fifth. "It was a difficult fire to fight because of the weather," said Scheirer, noting that the icy conditions were made worse as firefighters pumped water into a blaze that burned down houses and spewed out of street gas lines. (Read more)
January 26, 2011: Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated
The United States is poised to bet its energy future on natural gas as a clean, plentiful fuel that can supplant coal and oil. But new research by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--and a growing understanding of the pollution associated with the full "life cycle" of gas production--is casting doubt on the assumption that natural gas offers a quick and easy solution to climate change. Advocates for natural gas routinely assert that it produces 50 percent less greenhouse gases than coal and is a significant step toward a greener energy future. But those assumptions are based on emissions from the tailpipe or smokestack and don't account for the methane and other pollution emitted when gas is extracted and piped to power plants and other customers. The EPA's new analysis doubles its previous estimates for the amount of methane gas that leaks from loose pipe fittings and is vented from gas wells, drastically changing the picture of the nation's emissions that the agency painted as recently as April. (Read the Scientific American article)
January 19, 2011: Natural Gas Explosion Kills 19-Year-Old
A giant explosion rocked the Tacony Section of Philadelphia Tuesday night claiming the life of a gas worker. The deadly blast happened as crews were working to patch a high-pressure gas main break. "The street is all blown up," Mayor Michael Nutter said. The dramatic blast sent flames high into the sky, and the moment was caught on tape by an NBC viodeographer at the scene. The body of a PGW employee Mark Keeley was found after the fire was controlled. NBC10 sources say that the worker was only 19 years old. Four other PGW workers and one firefighter were transported to local hospitals, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said. Three of the gas workers are in critical condition at the Temple University Hospital Burn Unit.
January 11, 2011: Gas Explosion Destroys NJ Home
A 97-year-old woman was injured in Cinnaminson, N.J. and her home was destroyed by a natural gas explosion. Marion Sands had stepped outside the home after smelling gas, and she was calling Public Service Electric and Gas when the explosion occurred. Cinnaminson Fire Chief William Kramer later confirmed that natural gas was the source of the explosion. (View a video of the scene)
September 12, 2010: San Bruno Explosion Prompts Survey of All Utility's Pipes
California regulators said today they will order Pacific Gas and Electric to survey all its natural gas lines in the state, after a massive gas line explosion in suburban San Francisco devastated a neighborhood and left eight people dead. As part of the order from the state's Public Utilities Commission, PG&E must run leak surveys on all natural gas lines, with priority given to higher-pressure pipelines and to lines in areas of high population density. (Read more)
September 9, 2010: Eight Die in Gas Pipeline Explosion
A thunderous gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., killed eight people, injured dozens and sparked a fireball that destroyed 38 homes. California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, standing in for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he wanted to know more about reports of people calling Pacific Gas & Electric Co. about smelling gas prior to the explosion. "The investigation is going on," Maldonado told Reuters. "There is going to be some accountability. The pipeline is owned by PG&E." (Read more) June 30, 2010: Citations Against Gas Drillers Have Doubled
Pennsylvania environmental regulators have issued nearly 565 citations against Marcellus Shale natural gas operators so far in 2010 - about twice the 2009 pace, according to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Five companies were responsible for half the violations, and nearly three-quarters of them occurred in five north-central Pennsylvania counties where shale-gas drilling is most intensely concentrated, according to a report by the Department of Environmental Protection. June 28, 2010: Natural Gas as Panacea: Dubious Path to a Green Future
Environmental and economic concerns about the gas extraction technique known as hydrofracturing should make Americans think twice about relying on natural gas, according to an article by Daniel B. Botkin, professor emeritus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. "The water pollution concerns alone should be sufficient to make the U.S. and other countries rethink future reliance on shale gas," Bodkin wrote in Yale Environment 360. "Separating the gas from the shale, a process known as hydrofracturing, involves forcing a mixture of water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure down a well bore and into rock formations, creating small fractures that release the trapped gas. The process uses a huge amount of water - the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation estimates as much as 1 million gallons per well -- at a time when water is already a limiting and precious resource. Second, hydraulic fracturing fluid may come back to the surface, or near enough, to affect groundwater supplies. This fluid is a mixture of chemicals including friction reducers, biocides to prevent the growth of bacteria that would damage the well piping or clog the fractures, a gel to carry materials into the fractures, and various other substances. Returning to the surface, it could also bring other environmentally damaging materials, such as heavy metals."
June 27, 2010: For Trees, Death by Gas Leak Is Out of the Shadows
Gas leaks are killing trees in Massachusetts, the co-founder of the Massachusetts Shade Tree Trust told the Boston Globe. Bob Ackley, a gas-line specialist who started the organization, said the Massachusetts communities of Newton, Quincy, Brookline, Hingham, Saugus, Milton, Nahant, Lynn and Revere are working with the Trust to identify tree damage from gas leaks. In Quincy, where Ackley estimated gas leaks caused more than $850,000 in damage to trees, City Council President Kevin Coughlin said he began to recognize the problem when his constituents reported smelling gas and would then report damage to their trees. Coughlin said the trees are assets to Quincy, and National Grid needs to repair its infrastructure and make the cities and towns whole for any damage caused by gas leaks. "These are taxpayer dollars that fund the planting of these trees," Coughlin said.
June 25, 2010: Burning Tap Water and More: Gasland Exposes the Natural Gas Industry
In 2008, Josh Fox received a letter from a natural gas company. They were interested in leasing land owned by his family to do natural gas drilling. The offer was for $100,000, but instead of taking the money, Josh decided to do some research on the natural gas industry and ended up making a documentary called Gasland. It focuses on the impact that modern natural gas extraction, which primarily uses hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), has on communities and the environment. Click here to view the trailer and here to visit the film's Website. PBS recently interviewed Fox, as did Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."
June 14, 2010: Is Natural Gas a Cleaner Alternative Energy or a Danger to Communities?
Natural gas is often touted as a clean alternative fuel, but to more than a dozen families sharing the neighborhood with natural gas wells in Dimock, Pa., natural gas has been anything but clean, according to a story on ABC News. The majority of people in this small town in northeastern Pennsylvania leased their land to Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas, which has 62 gas wells in the area. Not long after the drilling began, residents along Carter Road noticed their water was turning bad. "I was getting dizzy and almost blacking out. Sometimes I did black out," says Pat Farnelli, a mother of eight who has gas wells are both sides of her property. June 8, 2010: Can We Expect a Natural Gas Clampdown?
Natural gas blasts in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas are being closely scrutinized as the energy market is already facing greater regulations on offshore drilling. CNBC's Sharon Epperson examined the issue in a televised report. May 17, 2010: Gas Companies Fall Short On Safety Regulations
Business and homeowners using natural gas expect their gas companies to be doing everything they can to ensure their safety. But Team 5 Investigates found two of the three major gas companies in Massachusetts falling short on following regulations designed to protect homeowners. For decades, gas companies have been required to inspect the piping that comes into homes and connects to gas meters. They're supposed to check every three years for corrosion and every five years for leaks. "There are hundreds of thousands of homes that have not been inspected," said Mark McDonald, president of the New England Gas Workers Association. March 10, 2010: Natural Gas Executives Discuss Gas Risks
Utility executives discussed gas leaks with Massachusetts lawmakers at a public hearing, according to a story on WBZ.com. They discussed a series of explosions that occurred around the state and said they cannot fix every gas leak they find, because the cost would be too high. Gas workers union president Mark McDonald sounded the alarm on safety, saying the industry often ignores leaks that are classified as minor, including "approximately 15,000 grade 3 gas leaks in National Grid alone that are unattended." He added, "The main problem is leak management, and the [Department of Public Utilities'] failure to enforce regulations." Lawmakers say they are concerned about the state's gas pipe network, including older pipes made of bare steel and cast iron.
February 8, 2010: Alliance Forms to Fight Natural Gas Pollution
A group made up of citizens in California and Nevada has formed to inform the public, media and government about issues surrounding natural gas pollution, according to a press release issued by Citizens to Stop Natural Gas Pollution. Water resources are a serious concern everywhere in the nation but are of particularly serious concern in the West. Natural gas mining, extraction and distribution throughout the country has a serious impact on clean water resources, clean air resources, and climate change. Citizens to Stop Natural Gas Pollution will highlight natural gas pollution issues that have a direct impact on the health and safety of the American people, including outdated, leaking natural gas distribution lines.
February 2, 2010: Gas Blast Injures Elderly Couple
An elderly Irving, Texas, couple is hospitalized - one of them clinging to life - following yet another natural gas explosion in North Texas, according to a story on WFAA.com. Relatives say Joseph and Peggy Manthiey never smelled a thing before being blown out of bed early Sunday morning. Atmos Energy crews have since discovered probable culprit, a major leak on a service line across the street from the Manthiey's home. While that leak has been repaired, crews are still working up and down the block finding more. Neighbor Kayla Rice said Atmos Energy crews found a leak in her front yard. "It bothers me that they won't give me any information and tell us anything," she complained. "They are in our front yard working all day long, but they won't say anything." January 20, 2010: Gas Drilling Techniques Are Under Fire
Federal government oversight of hydraulic fracturing - a drilling technique that boosts natural gas extraction by blasting water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure - is sorely lacking, putting drinking water supplies at risk, according to a report highlighted by the New York Times. According to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy group based in Washington, drilling companies are side-stepping a permitting requirement for the use of diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids by using similar petroleum distillates that contain the same toxins as diesel, but require no permitting. The report also cites evidence that drilling companies continue to inject diesel fuel underground without the proper permits.
January 18, 2010: Gas Explosion Rocks New Jersey Neighborhood
A natural gas explosion rocked an Edison, N.J. neighborhood, destroying a vacant law office, shaking residents from their beds, and somehow sparing three PSE&G employees who'd been working to plug a leak in a 16-inch gas line nearby, according to an article on NJ.com. The blast, which was heard for miles, damaged two homes on either side of the law office and left a 10-foot pile of debris that smoldered through the morning. January 14, 2010: Gas Cited as Cause of Fatal Explosion
Crews are investigating a possible gas explosion in a North Philadelphia home, according to a story on CBS 3. Firefighters were called to the 200 block of W. Allegheny Avenue after reports of flames at about 6:30 a.m. PGW workers were brought to the scene as the fire is believed to have been started by a gas explosion. The incident remains under investigation. January 13, 2010: Gas Explosion Injures Seven
Leaking gas has been identified as the cause of an explosion in a restaurant in Pretoria, South Africa, that injured seven people, according to an article on News24.com. "It is suspected that the technician did not shut off the gas supply, or that he drained the line before removing the meter, causing gas to escape. The ignition source is not known," said Console Tleane, spokesman for the local community safety department. January 4, 2010: Gas Explosion Destroys Home
An Amarillo, Texas, family escaped without serious injury after natural gas caused their home to explode, according to an article by KFDA News 10. Firefighters say natural gas pooled underneath the home in the 1400 block of Northeast 16th for quite some time before the explosion. One of the occupants, the father, was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries and two others were not injured. December 28, 2009: Cutting Methane Is the Key
The most obvious strategy for buffering global warming is to make an all-out effort to reduce emissions of methane, rather than carbon dioxide, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Sometimes called the "other greenhouse gas," methane is responsible for 75% as much warming as carbon dioxide measured over any given 20 years. (Natural gas is 95% methane.) The article states overlooking the harmful effects of methane is a "huge missed opportunity." "Methane also forms ozone, the smog that severely damages food crops and kills tens of thousands each year by worsening asthma, emphysema and other respiratory diseases," the article states.
December 9, 2009: Gas Explosion Kills Teen
A teenager was killed and his parents seriously injured in a house explosion that was caused by a buildup of natural gas, according to an article on WBIT.com. Nick Krzeski was found dead in the rubble of the blast, which destroyed the home and threw his parents from an upstairs bedroom into their yard. Firefighters believe the explosion was caused by a buildup of natural gas that ignited, according to the article. December 7, 2009: Dark Side of a Natural Gas Boom
The natural gas drilling boom is raising concern in many parts of the country, according to an article in the New York Times. Hazards like methane contamination of drinking water wells, long known in regions where gas production was common, are spreading to populous areas that have little history of coping with such risks, but happen to sit atop shale beds. And a more worrisome possibility has come to light: A string of incidents in places like Wyoming and Pennsylvania in recent years has pointed to a possible link between hydraulic fracturing and pollution of groundwater supplies. In the worst case, such pollution could damage crucial supplies of water used for drinking and agriculture. October 15, 2009: Curbing Climate Change By Sealing Gas Leaks
Natural gas leaks are a substantial source of methane emissions, which aggravate climate change, according to an article in the New York Times. Acting quickly to stanch the loss of methane, which comprises 95% of natural gas, could substantially cut global warming in the short run, according to studies by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Methane is a valuable target because, ton for ton, it traps 25 times as much heat as carbon dioxide, researchers say. October 14, 2009: Researcher Finds 270 Gas Drilling Accidents
New York State's depiction of a clean, tightly regulated natural gas industry just got a shot of muck in the eye, according to an article in the Press Sun & Bulletin, of Binghamton, N.Y. As the debate over the merits of Marcellus Shale development reaches a crescendo, an Ithaca researcher has culled a list of 270 files documenting wastewater spills, well contamination, explosions, methane migration and ecological damage related to gas production in the state since 1979. Walter Hang, president of Toxic Targeting, said his company publicly released the list to show regulation of the state's gas industry is "fundamentally inadequate." September 4, 2009: UN Secretary: Climate Change Action Is Needed Now
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a world climate change summit that he is alarmed by the effects of climate change that he observed during a visit to the Arctic. "Our foot is stuck on the [climate change] accelerator and we are heading towards an abyss," he told the conference, according to an account in the Christian Science Monitor. It might be easy to dismiss this as more alarmist hype except for the coincidental publication of a major Arctic climate study, the Monitor reported. The study shows the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than anywhere else at a time when it should be cooling down.
August 19, 2009: Gas Leak Causes House to Explode
Firefighters in Memphis, Tenn., say a house explosion in Midtown Memphis was caused by a natural gas leak, according to a news account. Fire officials say a 45-year-old woman who was in the duplex at the time of the explosion was taken to the hospital in critical condition with second and third degree burns to her face and arms. August 19, 2009: Explosion Linked to Gas Kills Mother
Authorities believe natural gas played a role in a Truckee, Calif., explosion that killed a mother and injured two of her children, including a newborn baby, according to a news account. The explosion occurred in an apartment where the family was living. Two men who helped three survivors escape reported smelling gas. August 19, 2009: Fatal Fire Linked to Natural Gas
Investigators say a deadly house fire near Bristol, Ind., that killed three people was likely caused by natural gas, according to a news report. Randal Garrett, Agnes Garrett and Michelle Garrett died after their house caught fire on August 18. The home was destroyed, and it took more than 12 hours to find the bodies in the charred rubble. Investigators say they found evidence the blaze started in the basement and natural gas was likely the cause.
August 14, 2009: Missing Markings Lead to Ruptured Gas Main, Evacuations
An ongoing flurry of construction activity contributed to an accident in Chico, Calif., where a four-inch natural gas main was punctured, prompting some evacuations, according to a news account. PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said the main had been marked with an underground service alert warning, but it was inadvertently scraped off by contractors doing road work. The gas main was punctured as a crew from Knife River Corp. dug down with a backhoe to remove an abandoned sewer line. Gas spewed from the breach for about three hours before PG&E crews could dig down on either side of the break and cap it off, around 11:15 a.m.
August 14, 2009: Gas Leak and Explosion Create Traffic Nightmare
An explosion in a state office building in Honolulu yesterday followed a break in a 4-inch Gas Co. pipe that snarled downtown traffic for most of the day, according to a news report. Fire crews determined that gas from a 4-inch synthetic natural gas line outside the building had likely leaked into conduits and created a buildup in a utility room. Synthetic natural gas is used to heat boilers, stoves and ovens. August 13, 2009: Workers Hit Gas Line; Leak Causes Evacuation of Homes
Eight homes in Washington Township, Ohio, were evacuated as fire crews investigated a natural gas leak, according to a news report. Road construction crews pierced a gas line at the intersection and ran to a nearby fire department. Families were displaced for about two hours and about 30 homes remained without gas several hours later. August 13, 2009: Second Gas Leak Causes Another Evacuation
For the second time in as many days, workers installing underground cable nicked a natural gas line in Moorhead, N.D., prompting the evacuation of nearby residents, according to a news account. Wednesday's incident followed a meeting held earlier in the day at which Midcontinent Communications officials talked sternly with subcontractors about gas leaks caused by the installation of Midcontinent cable, said Moorhead Fire Chief Joel Hewitt. Crews working for Midcontinent have caused at least 12 gas leaks since May 11, according to information provided by the Moorhead Fire Department. One of those leaks occurred the morning of Aug. 11 not far from the site of the Aug. 12 cut. Not all of the gas leaks in Moorhead this summer have been caused by crews working for Midcontinent, which is in the process of installing cable as part of the company's new franchise in Moorhead. In one case, a car struck a meter, causing a leak. In three instances, Moorhead Public Service crews nicked gas lines, Fire Department records show.
August 10, 2009: $1 Million Fine Proposed for Gas Pipeline Operator
Almost a year after a natural gas pipeline explosion rocked Appomattox, Va., federal inspectors have issued a proposed fine of almost $1 million following an investigation that found safety regulation violations, according to the Lynchburg News Advance. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration levied a $952,500 fine on Williams Gas Pipeline after investigators found possible failures to "address regulatory requirements for monitoring and preventing external corrosion," according to an agency news release. One of three pipelines that comprise the Transco line ruptured and then exploded on Sept. 14, 2008, injuring five people, leveling two homes and damaging about 100 other houses. The resulting fireball scorched land some 1,125 feet in diameter. Investigators discovered that external corrosion had caused the line to break. August 10, 2009: Gas Explosion Sends Pavement Flying
Workers installing fiber optic cable struck a natural four-inch, high pressure gas line in St. Paul, Minn., tossing pavement at least 50 feet and prompting some homes in the area to be evacuated for a brief time, according to an account in the Star-Tribune. "The pressure of the leaking gas was so powerful that it lifted the pavement at least 50 feet away," the Fire Department said in a statement. Xcel Energy workers shut a valve that stopped the gas flow from one direction, then they dug a hole and clamped the plastic gas line from the other direction. The leak was stopped in 40 minutes. Most of the 27 homes that were without natural gas after the leak had their service later restored, and Xcel was hoping to have repairs on the remaining 10 homes completed Monday night. August 8, 2009: Gas Leak Sparks Fires, Explosion at Church
Firefighters say a natural gas leak sparked a fire outside a church in Timnath, Colo. and an explosion that caused another fire inside the church, according to an Associated Press account. Firefighters say a contractor working on street construction hit a natural gas line around 8:45 a.m. Saturday, and leaking gas sparked a fire outside Timnath Presbyterian Church. Leaking gas apparently found another ignition source inside, sparking the explosion and second fire before emergency crews arrived. August 6, 2009: Home Explodes; Gas Leak Suspected
Investigators suspect that a natural gas leak caused a house to explode in Longview, Texas, sending debris throughout the neighborhood, according to an Associated Press account. Dorothy Chandler, the 83-year-old homeowner, and her 65-year-old son were trapped in the rubble until firefighters pulled them out shortly after the 1 a.m. explosion. Officials briefly evacuated about 10 nearby homes, some of which suffered minor damage. August 5, 2009: Restaurant Evacuated for Gas Leak
Gas from an extinguished pilot light forced the evacuation of a Portsmouth, N.H., restaurant, according to an account in Foster's Daily Democrat. Nobody was injured in the incident, but emergency responders did find high levels of gas in the building at 107 Congress Street. Assistant Fire Chief Steve Achilles said he had no idea how long the pilot light had been out, but noted they are always concerned that such a situation could turn explosive with the right mixture of gas, oxygen and a possible ignition source such as an open flame or light switch. August 4, 2009: Four Blocks Evacuated After Gas Line Breaks
Rochester, Minn., emergency responders evacuated about four city blocks after a construction crew struck a nearby gas line, according to an account by KAAL TV. Police blocked off the intersection of 7th Street and 11th Avenue Northwest after the gas accident. Authorities said the gas line was about 6 inches underground and they were working to contain the leak and limit access because of the large amount of gas involved. "Anytime we have any type of natural gas leak it is a dangerous situation, this is a little bit more heightened because of the high pressure line and the amount of volume of gas we've got coming out of it," said Fire Marshal Vance Swisher. August 4, 2009: Mowing Crew Breaks Gas Line
A mowing crew broke a 4-inch high-pressure natural gas line Tuesday near Coteau, La., closing part of Louisiana Highway 88 and prompting a small evacuation in the Coteau area, according to an Associated Press account. Iberia Parish Sheriff's Capt. Wendell Raborn said a few businesses and perhaps a dozen residents were evacuated for about two-and-a-half hours. A mowing crew was using a side-mounted arm on their rotary cutter to cut high grass on the sloping side of a small canal, and high grass hid the exposed gas line, he said.
August 3, 2009: Gas Leak Closes Main Street
Businesses and buildings in Hartford, Conn. were evacuated for several hours because of a gas leak, according to a news account. Main Street was shut down at Main and Tower streets just before 11 a.m. and didn't reopen until after 2:30 p.m. Police said a contractor struck a gas line, causing the leak. Traffic was redirected around the area as a result of the incident, police said. About a half-dozen stores and businesses around the gas leak, including a popular Jamaican bakery, were off-limits until crews could dig down to the line's shut-off valve to turn off the gas.
August 3, 2009: Gas Leak Suspected in House Explosion
A gas leak is suspected in a double explosion that leveled a St. Louis home, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch account. A woman who escaped moments before the house exploded told a neighbor she had smelled gas inside. No one was injured in the blasts, but two cats and a dog perished. Fire Capt. David Neighbors said that the owner of the home opened her front door and the house exploded about 11:45 a.m. The firefighters evacuated neighbors on both sides of the home. A thick cloud of smoke made it difficult for firefighters to breathe. Bricks and rubble were all that remained at the home site. August 3, 2009: Gas Leak Forces Evacuation
Homes on two Oneida, N.Y., streets were evacuated because of a gas leak, according to an account in the Oneida Daily Dispatch. The leak occurred at roughly 8:43 a.m. when Oneida City Water Department workers installing a new water line on Liberty Street clipped a two-inch natural gas line with a backhoe, Oneida City Fire Chief Don Hudson said. The line, which supplies natural gas to homes on Liberty Street for stoves and heating, broke, causing gas to leak out into the area. The sound of the gas coming out of the pipe could be heard from city hall, Hudson said. National Grid Spokesman Patrick Stella said that gas crews arrived on the scene around 10:45 a.m. to fix the leak. At the same time, members of the police and fire departments evacuated and blocked off the immediate area to prevent anything from happening that could ignite the gas, which, Hudson said, is highly flammable. August 3, 2009: German Utility Tries to Break Russian Gas Stranglehold
German utility RWE AG is seeking access to natural gas reserves in Turkmenistan in order to reduce its reliance on Russian supplies, according to a news account. A planned pipeline that would ship gas from Turkmenistan to Austria is intended to cut Europe's dependence on Russian fuel. Russia has cut off gas to the region twice in the last three years. August 1, 2009: House Explodes; Gas Leak Suspected
A gas leak caused a house in Stayton, Ore. to explode, according to the Statesman Journal. Neighbors told KPTV of Portland they felt the blast from blocks away shortly after 11 p.m. Firefighters smelled gas in the area and called Northwest Natural Gas to turn off a natural-gas line to the house. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the explosion. No injuries were reported. The owners of the house were away at the time.
August 1, 2009: Natural Gas Leak Closes Highway
Traffic on both side of US Hwy 183 in Austin. Texas, was shut down because of a natural gas leak, according to KXAN News. Fire officials said construction workers were working on a fence in a homeowner's front yard, when they hit a natural gas supply line to the house. Natural gas leaked out for about five minutes. July 30, 2009: Mall Evacuated Due to Gas Leak
A gas leak led to the evacuation of Colonial Square shopping center in Bountiful, Utah, and all businesses in that vicinity, according to an account in the Deseret News. The evacuation was prompted by a "small gas leak in the ground," said South Davis Metro Fire Battalion Chief Steve Moss. Nearly 15 buildings were evacuated. July 30, 2009: Natural Gas Producer Shuts Down Leaking Well
East Resources Inc. shut down a natural gas well in McNett Township, Pa., that had been leaking and possibly causing contamination problems in the surrounding area, according to an account in The Daily Review, of Towanda, Pa. One person was evacuated from a home, water was being provided to four homes, 18 wells were being monitored, and some roads in the area were closed by the state police, it was reported. East Resources reportedly saw improvements in the two tributaries to Lycoming Creek and the four drinking water wells that had become contaminated. The company submitted a monitoring plan to sate Department of Environmental Protection to address future monitoring in the area.
July 26, 2009: Gas Explosion Damages Home
A vacant home in Florence, Ky., was heavily damaged by a gas explosion, according to an account by WLWT in Cincinnati. Fire commanders at the scene said a gas leak was blowing into a nearby doctor's office when firefighters arrived. Both buildings sustained serious damage. "The first suspicion is going to be natural gas. There's a natural gas leak somewhere in the building. What caused the leak, why the building exploded - at this time those are the things we need to investigate," Florence Fire Chief Marc Mumech said. People as far as two miles away reported hearing and feeling the explosion.
July 24, 2009: Gas Line Rupture Forces Evacuation
A high-pressure natural gas line ruptured in Sacramento, Calif., forcing several dozen people from their homes, according to an account on KCRA TV. Florez Paving, which was doing work for the city, clipped the line on the 2700 block of 29th Avenue, officials at the scene said. The Sacramento Fire Department cleared about a four-square-block area and set up an evacuation center at Signal Heights Baptist Church. "Right now, I think we're going to be OK. But we're doing all this just to be safe," fire Capt. Jim Doucette said. "Gas is very flammable, obviously, so we're just trying to make sure that everybody's all right." "Once we complete repairs around 7:30 tonight, we'll send gas service representatives door-to-door to each home to restore gas service to those customers," said Brian Swanson, with Pacific Gas and Electric. Florez Paving could be billed for the gas line repairs, PG&E said. July 21, 2009: Gas Explosion Injures One
A gas explosion in Hampton Bays, N.Y., injured one man and damaged his home, according to an account on Newsday.com. A 5-year-old also was in the home at the time, police said, but was not injured in the blast. The man, who suffered burns, was taken by medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Medical Center.
July 20, 2009: Gas Line Struck; 100 Evacuated
More than 100 people, including many children, evacuated homes and businesses in Adamstown, Md., because of a gas leak, according to an account in the Frederick News-Post. The pressurized gas leaking from the 12-inch underground pipe sounded like a small jet, said Steve Shook, deputy chief of Carroll Manor Fire Co. "I knew a major gas line was struck." The gas pipe was on county-owned land along Adamstown Road, about 100 yards from Carroll Manor Elementary School, said Steve Leatherman, bureau chief of support services for the county's Division of Fire and Rescue Services. A contractor, drilling a hole for a utility pole, struck the pipe, causing the natural gas leak. July 19, 2009: Gas Leak Sends Nine to Hospital
Nine people, including seven children, were treated at Baltimore-area medical facilities for the effects of a natural gas leak in a Northeast Baltimore apartment, according to an account in the Baltimore Sun. Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright said that firefighters and a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crew traced the leaking carbon monoxide to a malfunctioning gas-operated water heater on the first floor.
July 16, 2009: Gas Pipeline Explosion Kills Worker
One person was killed and three others critically injured in a gas pipeline explosion in Smith County, Miss., according to an account in the Clarion-Ledger. A part of Kinder Morgan's Midcontinent Express pipeline exploded around 4 p.m. The injured workers were "literally right on top" of the explosion, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said. Two had life-threatening injuries and the third was in stable condition, Jim Pollard, a spokesman for AMR ambulance service, said. In November 2007, two people were killed and seven were injured when Dixie Pipeline's propane line exploded in Carmicheal in Clarke County. Witnesses described seeing a ball of flames. Four homes and 150 acres were destroyed. The explosion reportedly was felt as far away as Quitman, about 20 miles north. According to the NTSB report, the accident cost Dixie Pipeline more than 430,000 gallons of propane and $3.3 million. July 15, 2009: Utility Companies Say Gas Line Ruptures All Too Common
Utility companies say that gas pipelines are often damaged by construction equipment, according to an account on WSBT TV in Indiana. "We do see more hit mains, hit services, [in the summer] because people are out working in their yards, digging, doing landscaping, or we see a lot more road improvement projects, construction and things of that nature," said Northern Indiana Public Services Co. spokesman Mike Charbonneau. In just the last few weeks, construction crews hit at least three natural gas lines.
July 15, 2009: Toddler, Mother Injured in explosion; Gas Leak Suspected
A natural gas leak may have caused an explosion that injured a Hazel Park, Mich., woman, her 2-year-old daughter and her brother and destroyed the family's two-story home, according to an account in the Detroit Free Press. Two of the victims were taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital for burn treatment. The explosion was under investigation Wednesday, but Hazel Park Fire Chief Ray DeWalt said he believes it was caused by a natural gas leak inside the house. July 15, 2009: Gas Explosion Destroys Nebraska Home
An Omaha, Neb., home exploded after a construction crew that was working on the home at the time accidentally cut a gas line, according to an account on KPTM TV News. The crew that caused the damage telephoned the Metropolitan Utilities District from outside the house, but the structure exploded while they were on the phone. Gas was then shut off to homes in the vicinity. July 7, 2009: Gas Leak Forces Evacuation of 450 Homes
Authorities evacuated 450 homes in Essex, Vt., after a gas line ruptured and a fire erupted, according to an account by WPTZ TV News. A one-inch hole formed in an underground steel gas line after a power line came down in a storm and apparently sent a strong electric charge through a street sign pole, burning a hole in the pipe. The current ignited the natural gas, sending flames shooting several feet out of the ground. Firefighters evacuated nearby neighborhoods, as Vermont Gas and Green Mountain Power crews shut off service to hundreds of residential and commercial customers.
July 2, 2009: Gas Fire Forces Evacuation
A police officer was injured and emergency workers evacuated a neighborhood in Hammond, Ind., after a downed power line sparked a natural gas fire, according to an account in the Munster, Ind., Times. A 15-foot fiery orange plume shot up from the street until gas crews were able to turn off the utility gas supply in the area. Authorities also detected natural gas seeping into sewers on the west side of Kennedy Avenue and evacuated homes and businesses in the vicinity for about five hours. June 23, 2009: Loud Gas Leak Forces Evacuation
Authorities ordered an evacuation in Bessemer Township, Mich., after a 16" utility gas line ruptured, causing a leak that reportedly sounded like a jet engine, according to an account in the Chicago Tribune. There was no immediate word on what caused the break. June 13, 2009: Gas Explosion Kills Three in Factory
Three workers at a Garner, N.C., Slim Jim plant was killed in an explosion caused by a natural gas leak that ignited in a room housing vacuum pumps for sealing the snacks, according to an Associated Press story. The explosion ripped through the 500,000-square-foot plant while 300 people were at work. Officials said 38 employees were injured, four of them suffering critical burns. Three firefighters were treated after inhaling fumes from ammonia, which is used in the plant as a refrigerant. June 12, 2009: Utility CEO's $75 Million Bonus Draws Fire
The chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp., Aubrey McClendon, is under fire for taking a $75 million bonus while the company was losing billions, according to a story by the Associated Press. One shareholder told McClendon that he planned to sell his stock, citing a lack of ethics by the chief executive and the board of directors. The company posted a $5.7 billion loss in the first quarter of 2009. June 1, 2009: Gas Leak Forces Evacuation
A gas crew severed a utility gas line in Sheboygan, Wis., forcing resident to evacuate, according to a story in the Sheboygan Press. About 30 residents were evacuated from 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. as fire and utility crews dealt with "explosive levels" of natural gas that flooded sewer pipes and threatened to filter into homes, said Fire Chief Jay Lastusky. Wisconsin Public Service spokesman Kerry Spees said a contractor working on a sewer line about 8:15 a.m. cut through a 1-inch pipe that provides natural gas to 140 homes.
May 23, 2009: Authorities Prevent Calamity in Gas-Filled Building
A potential disaster was averted on May 23, 2009, when authorities detected a gas leak that filled a Three Forks, Montana, building with an explosive level of utility gas, according to a story in the Belgrade News. The newspaper reported that three downtown blocks were averted while police, firefighters and utility crews vented the Three Forks Masonic Temple and brought the situation under control. May 21, 2009: Gas Explosion Creates 100-Foot Fireball
An explosion caused by a ruptured gas pipeline rocked Howard County, Mo., and sent a fireball 100 feet into the air on May 21, 2009, according to a report by television station KRCG 13. May 11, 2009: Gas Explosion Leaves Man in Critical Condition
An Oklahoma City, Okla., man was critically injured on May 11, 2009, when a utility gas explosion destroyed his home, according to a report by KTUL TV. The man suffered second- and third- degree burns on his face, head and hands. Fire investigators determined there was a gas leak near a kitchen stove where the explosion was centered, the report stated.
May 9, 2009: Blast Injures Seven Safety Officials
Six firefighters and one policeman were injured in a May 9, 2009 utility gas explosion in Providence, R.I., according to an account in the Providence Journal. The explosion occurred after midnight when a car slammed into a second car that was parked, knocking it into a bank of gas meters. Police and firefighters were responding to the car accident when the explosion occurred. One firefighter was tossed 30 feet, the newspaper reported. May 7, 2009: Gas Explosion Levels Ohio Dentist's Office
Utility gas is the suspected cause of a May 7, 2009 explosion that destroyed a dentist's office in Huber Heights, Ohio, according to WHIO TV. No one was home at the time of the explosion. Neighbors had reported smelling natural gas in the area earlier in the day. May 7, 2009: Gas Explosion Injures Eight Firefighters
Eight firefighters and one gas utility employee were injured in a gas explosion at a Forestville, Md., strip mall on May 7, 2009. A CBS/Associated Press account stated that two firefighters were admitted to the burn unit at a local hospital, while the others were treated, then released. Firefighters had responded to the scene of the early afternoon incident after receiving a report of a gas leak. The explosion was recorded on a fire truck dashboard camera. May 4, 2009: Ruptured Gas Main Spews Harmful Gas
A backhoe ruptured a gas main on New York's Long Island, causing harmful utility gas to spew into the atmosphere for three hours unchecked. No one was injured, but an undetermined quantity of methane was released into the atmosphere. Methane, the principle ingredient in utility gas, is a greenhouse gas that is 72 times more harmful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. National Grid has not reported how much gas leaked. May 2, 2009: National Grid Leaves Reported Leak Unrepaired
The Long Island, N.Y., newspaper Newsday reported in May 2009 that a resident of Roslyn Heights, N.Y., Mark Bernstein, reported a gas leak on this street to National Grid, and the utility took no action for six months until Newsday took an interest in the case. Bernstein told the newspaper that he and several neighbors called the utility repeatedly over a six-month period and were told that work crews had to take care of emergencies before they could attend to the Roslyn Heights leak. A National Grid spokesman told Newsday that they visited the site after Bernstein called and determined there was a low-priority "Level 3" leak that posed no danger to local residents. After Newsday called, however, the utility sent a crew to repair the leak.
April 24, 2009: Gas Explosion Kills Queens, N.Y. Mother
A 40-year-old mother of three was killed and several people were injured when a house exploded in Queens, N.Y. on April 24, 2009, according to a report in the New York Times. A Con Edison gas crew was in the area investigating a reported gas leak when the blast occurred. Firefighters found the body of Ghanwatti Boodram, who lived in the house, in the rubble four hours after the 4:50 p.m. explosion, officials said. Three neighboring houses also sustained serious fire damage. News reports stated that a gas crew removed a manhole cover near the house moments before the explosion. Con Edison has faced harsh criticism from the family of the deceased and area residents over its handling of the situation, according to an account the Daily News. The Daily News also reported that Con Edison workers had checked the area for gas leaks seven weeks before the blast and found nothing. A video of the fire that followed the blast can be seen on YouTube. March 15, 2009: String of Gas Explosions Raises Questions
The Boston Globe took an in-depth look at the problem of gas leaks in March 2009 after a series of home explosions. According to the Globe's account, three Massachusetts homes and one in New Hampshire were struck by explosions between December 2008 and March 2009. The Globe said, "These blasts, killing three and injuring one, have served as a reminder of the dangers associated with the massive underground pipe system tunneling beneath streets and delivering a flammable product to nearly 1.5 million customers in the state." The Globe investigated gas explosions dating back to 2004 and found that thousands of gas leaks occur each year. Causes include old, corroded pipes, construction accidents and human error, the paper reported. March 5, 2009: Gas Explosion Kills One, Causes Major Damage
One woman was killed and three commercial buildings were destroyed in a March 5, 2009 gas explosion in Bozeman, Montana, according to a CNN report. The explosion occurred around 8 a.m. on Main Street. Firefighters let the resulting blaze continue to burn for more than 12 hours because they could not shut off the gas supply. Debris was scattered over several city blocks. The victim, Tara Reistad Bowman, 36, of Bozeman, was an employee of Montana Trails Gallery and was in the building at the time of the explosion. View a YouTube video of the explosion here.
Feb. 20, 2009: Explosion Kills Woman and Dog in Massachusetts
A utility gas crew told firefighters they had a gas leak under control just minutes before a home exploded in Somerset, Mass., on Feb. 20, 2009, killing a 62-year-old woman and her dog, according to an account in the Boston Globe. Rose Marie Rebello, 62, and her dog were both found dead after the evening blast. Two hundred neighbors were forced to evacuate, and a firefighter and a utility worker suffered injuries. Neighbors had reported a strong odor of gas in the area before the explosion. February 1, 2009: Blast Destroys Wisconsin Home
A leaking natural gas line triggered an explosion on February 1, 2009 that destroyed a Milwaukee home and seriously injured two people, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The blast occurred at about 3:30 a.m., splitting the home open and dropping Mary Oden and her 8-year-old son from the second floor to the first floor. Oden spent 16 days in the hospital with broken ribs and serious burns to her neck, back, arms, right leg and right side. Her son was burned on his face, arms, hands and leg and was hospitalized for 11 days. A utility gas crew was outside the house investigating a report of gas odors when the explosion occurred, the newspaper reported. January 25, 2009: Gas Explosion Injures Massachusetts Man
A Gloucester, Mass., man was seriously injured on Jan. 25, 2009, when a gas explosion leveled his home. Area residents had been complaining about gas odors in the area for several days, according to an account in the Boston Globe. The blast tore off the home's roof and sprinkled glass throughout the neighborhood, according to the Globe. December 23, 2008: Cartel Calls for End to 'Cheap Gas'
Major gas-exporting nations have formed a new OPEC-like cartel for utility gas based in Qatar, according to a story on Canada.com. With the formation of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that the "era of cheap gas" is over and consumers will face higher prices in the future. The new cartel includes Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the UAE, and Venezuela. According to some estimates, the group accounts for well over two-thirds of the world's natural gas reserves and as much as half of its production. September 14, 2008: Pipeline Explosion Injures Five in Virginia
Five persons were injured when a gas pipeline exploded in Appomattox, Va., on Sept. 14, 2008, according to an account in the Lynchburg News & Advance. The newspaper reported that a large crater was left in the ground and two homes were leveled. Siding on homes 400 yards away was blistered, according to the report. The blast occurred near a gas pumping station, where residents said crews had been doing construction in the days before the blast. Appomattox County Deputy John Mattox was patrolling the area when the blast occurred. "It was what can only be described as a massive fireball, a quarter- to a half-mile tall and at least that wide," he said. 2007 (various dates): Headline: Are Trees Being Killed by Utility Gas Leaks?
A Massachusetts group is working to prevent the destruction of shade trees caused by underground gas leaks. The Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Trust has tested the soil around hundreds of dead or dying shade trees and detected leaking gas, which it claims is killing the trees. The group's efforts have been covered by numerous news organizations, including the Boston Globe, the Associated Press and WBZ TV.
"Minor natural gas leaks that are no threat to people can still cause harm: They can kill public shade trees by choking off the oxygen at their roots. "Bob Ackley, who has spent 25 years testing natural gas lines for leaks, says it's happening to thousands of trees around the state, and gas companies are slow to fix it. "So Ackley and attorney Jan Schlichtmann, famous for fighting for eight families in a groundwater contamination case portrayed in the John Travolta movie 'A Civil Action,' set up the Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Trust to help communities stop the leaks and recover their costs. " 'We can't be losing these trees,' Ackley said. 'Every tree that we lose that's 60, 70, 80 years old, it's going to take 60, 70 years to replace.' Here is an excerpt from the Boston Globe from December 2007: "When Quincy residents complained that they smelled gas near their homes, no one took much notice. But when the smells were traced to areas with dying trees, it was clear to them that, as City Councilor Kevin Coughlin put it, 'there's something going on here.' "Just what is going on is a matter of disagreement. "Municipal officials in Quincy and other local communities fear that leaks in underground gas lines are killing trees - including shade trees that have stood for decades - by displacing oxygen in the soil. "But gas companies are reluctant to assume responsibility, stating that there is no proven connection between low-level leaks and the death of trees." October 24, 2007: Gas Blast Rocks NYC Bar
A New York City bar employee was hospitalized with burns after an explosion that was believed to be caused by utility gas, according to an article in the New York Post. The oven in the restaurant blew up as assistant baker Miguel Castillo was setting up at about 6 a.m., according to the Post article. |
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