As the last of the evacuated residents returned to their homes around the site of the August 27 propane line gas leak, Schoharie County officials are asking for thorough investigation before gas can flow through the pipe again.
“I have asked the State Emergency Management Office, the Public Service Commission, and the Federal DOT not to allow the use of the pipeline until a thorough investigation has been done and the integrity of the pipeline has been confirmed,” Earl Van Wormer, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors wrote in a letter that was sent to President Obama and six New York state officials.
“Officials have told me personally that they would pass this along to their superiors. This is not good enough for me.”
Congressman Paul Tonko also asked for answers from federal and state regulatory officials.
The residents of three homes were allowed to return after the last of the gas remaining in the damaged eight-inch, 47-year-old pipeline was purged Tuesday evening, said Rick Rainey, spokesman for the owners of the pipeline, Enterprise TE Products Pipeline.
About 23 people were evacuated from their homes near the intersection of Keyserkill and Stone Store roads at the Gilboa-Broome town line after a gas leak was reported at about 4:26pm on August 27.
After the remaining gas was removed, Enterprise completed the installation of a new segment of eight-inch pipe Thursday night, Mr. Rainey said. Plans are being finalized on backfilling the site “with a soil mixture that will provide sufficient protection and stability.”
As the work is done, Enterprise officials will continue to monitor the area “as an added safety precaution,” he said. State and federal authorities are also on site monitoring the final phases of the repair work and will provide final approval before allowing gas service to resume.
The new pipe will be X-rayed, pressure tested and inspected by state and federal agencies before gas flow will resume, Mr. Rainey said last week.
The company will be required by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which is part of the federal Department of Transportation, to compete certain action items to ensure a safe start-up, Mr. Rainey said.
Area residents will be notified, either in person, by phone, or possibly both, when the line has resumed operations, Mr. Rainey said. Earlier, he said that residents would receive a reverse 911 call informing them when service on the line has resumed.
Once the damaged pipe is excavated and tested, it can be determined what caused the leak, he added.
Though company officials answered questions and described how the line is monitored and tested, that has not satisfied Mr. VanWormer.
The leak was not detected by Enterprise and the company was not aware of the leak until a local resident observed a mist at the leak site and called 911, he wrote in his letter, which also went to Governor Paterson, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Paul Tonko, state Senator James Seward and state Assemblyman Pete Lopez.
“Had a cell phone, engine or lit cigarette sparked in the area, who knows what the outcome could have been,” Mr. VanWormer wrote. “We lost two very dear lives in 1990 [when their was a propane pipeline explosion in North Blenheim] and this weekend we again came frighteningly close to what could have been another tragedy.”
Enterprise TE Products Pipeline earlier this year purchased the company that owned the gas line that exploded in Blenheim.
Mr. VanWormer said he asked company officials why they had not notified emergency services personnel that they were digging in the area days prior to the leak.
Company officials replied that they did not have to, Mr. VanWormer said, but after the 1990 disaster, officials promised they would notify the county “of anything they were working on in our area, no matter the circumstances.”
Company officials said that the line was last checked in 2008 and it took two years to review the data, Mr. VanWormer said.
“We cannot confirm the accuracy of the information we have been given by the company.”
In letters to the federal DOT secretary and the state Public Service Commissioner, Congressman Tonko asked about the work that the company had done at the site prior to the leak and whether regulations had been followed.
“Upon determining that the system had a weakness, and excavating in an attempt to discover said weakness just days before the leak, I am inquiring to determine whether or not TEPPCO [Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company] is required to contact” federal DOT or the state PSC before starting any such work, Congressman Tonko wrote.
“The stress factor that comes with living in a community that plays host to these pipelines is significant, but to have incidents such as the one on August 27 occur in your community over and over again significantly reduces a person, family, small business and community’s quality of life,” wrote Congressman Tonko, who attempted one of the update meetings for residents held at the Middleburgh fire house.
The pipeline, which dates from 1963 and runs from Watkins Glen to Selkirk, is inspected by air, ground and internally regularly, Mr. Rainey said, and pipeline operating conditions are monitored 24 hours a day.