Dallas Township, Pennsylvania held a public comment session recently regarding a proposed Williams compressor and metering station, where two representatives from the company answered questions for the board and public. While Luzerne County has not experienced much in the way of natural gas wells, it has become a desired location for pipelines and other infrastructure, partially because of the existing Transco line.  Read on to see some highlights from the meeting which ended in board approval of the project.

Concerns

The main concern specifically pertaining to this project brought up by residents had to do with security at the site.  Speakers wanted to have a video surveillance system put in place to monitor the site, something not originally planned by Williams because of safety monitoring equipment that will be installed.

This state of the art monitoring system is used at each part of the pipeline. These systems detect changes in variables present in the line, including temperature on a 24/7 basis. All of the data is reported back to a central location, carefully monitored by Williams. If changes occur within the data sets, there are a standard set of procedures that must be followed to remedy the situation, as is described in the following video.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UWkzgKj6wc

Concerns were raised by the Williams’ representatives over the confusion that installing an additional security system could cause, including unnecessarily sending someone out to check the site hundreds of times per day.

Another concern presented by the few individuals in the room not in support of the project had to do with hydrostatic testing, a one time test done to verify the safety and functionality of the pipeline. It seemed like these individuals were trying to create the appearance of a long-term problem out of something that will only be done once and will in fact, ensure the pipelines meets all standards before being used. You can see this explanation in the following videos.

[myyoutubeplaylist -edKrMCKv0s, rh0WSqeBkRU]

Things go off topic

As is the case at most meetings these days involving natural gas in any way, some questions asked were not related to the compressor station project at all.

For instance, one man brought in several pictures of a pig receiver on site, that has caused him some concern because it is in a location where he walks his dog. Despite being told on numerous occasions the pig receiver had nothing to do with this specific project being proposed, he continued to argue that he was still worried about this and refused to accept the explanations given. The first video is an explanation of the pig receiver that was granted approval at a previous meeting, followed by video of the man’s concerns.

[myyoutubeplaylist IlvCVFtqrlk, gYkU_9ui9M0]

The next concern brought up was hydrostatic testing. The few people who didn’t support this project spoke out about this. They aimed to create a problem that was not relevant to the topic. Answering him, the representatives discuss how the hydrostatic test works below. By doing the hydrostatic testing a company can be sure their pipelines are functioning properly. This only is done one time ever and is verifying the safety of the pipeline.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-edKrMCKv0s

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh0WSqeBkRU

Approval

To make their decisions about the project, the board convened two executive sessions. After the first short session, the board asked for  clarification on the security details. Satisfied with the responses given, the board went into a second, much longer session, where they decided upon ten specific stipulations Williams would need to implement for approval, including the installation and monitoring of video surveillance equipment.

1) Williams must install an emergency upstream shut off valve
2) Williams must install check valve downstream of the metering station preventing backflow of gas
3) Williams must install and maintain a 6 foot tall fence with barbed wire on top
4) Warning signs will be posted saying property is owned by Williams
5) Williams must meet with emergency responders discuss traffic effects and to create a response plan if something goes wrong
6) Williams system integrity plan must be followed
7) Williams must construct, maintain, and inspect metering stations to highest state requirements
8) Williams is prohibited from storing hazardous materials at the metering station
9) Williams must install and maintain video surveillance
10) Williams cannot use Fairground Road to access metering station

With Williams acknowledgement and agreement to the stipulations, the board approved the request for the project as can be seen in the following video.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL9cDq0MgU4

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