Houston operator of ruptured gas pipeline fined in 2011 inspection

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Houston operator of ruptured gas pipeline fined in 2011 inspection

From Associated Press:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal inspectors found several violations during their most recent review of Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission system, which includes the pipeline that burst last month in the Arkansas River.

Spectra Energy was cited during the 2011 inspection for three violations, including failure to inspect sections of pipe for corrosion, and was required to pay a civil penalty of $134,500, according to reports by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The 24-inch pipeline ruptured May 31, and roughly 4 million cubic feet of natural gas flooded in the river.

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Weymouth News - Our View: Weymouth compressor station would do harm to residents

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Weymouth News - Our View: Weymouth compressor station would do harm to residents

From Weymouth News - Wicked Local

Spectra Energy, a Houston based firm, hopes to build a large compressor station on a tiny strip of land in Weymouth near the Fore River Bridge. That compressor station, which would be pressurizing natural gas with over 10,000 horsepower, has been vehemently opposed by many in the North Weymouth community.

The reason why is simple. Compressor stations are noisy and dirty. They have the ability to lower the quality of life with foul smells and rumbling noises, especially in the case of an emergency shutdown. They are also dangerous.

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Spectra seeks large increase in horsepower for Weymouth compressor station

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Spectra seeks large increase in horsepower for Weymouth compressor station

Source: Wicked Local – Weymouth

Residents and town officials have voiced concerns about Spectra Energy's plan to construct a compressor station in North Weymouth, but the opposition does not seem to be discouraging the Houston based firm from planning to increase the facility's horsepower from 7,500 to 10,900.

 

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Weymouth: Officials Submit Resolution Opposing Natural Gas Compressor Facility→

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Weymouth: Officials Submit Resolution Opposing Natural Gas Compressor Facility

From WATD 95.9:

The Weymouth town council unanimously voted Monday night to send a resolution to local state and federal officials and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC, opposing Spectra Energy Algonquin Gases proposal to install a natural gas compressor, right next to the Fore River Bridge.

“We’re a very highly dense neighborhood, very highly populated and we already have a lot of industry there, so if an emergency were to occur, we would be in a very difficult situation if we had to shut down Route 3A.

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Weymouth: Hundreds Turn Out To Oppose Natural Gas Compressor Proposal→

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Weymouth: Hundreds Turn Out To Oppose Natural Gas Compressor Proposal

From 95.9 WATD:

The state Energy Facilities Siting Board hosted a hearing Wednesday night at the Abigail Adams Middle School in Weymouth, regarding a proposal to build a natural gas compressor near the Fore River Bridge.

Weymouth Mayor Sue Kay said the neighborhood could be severely impacted in the event of an emergency at the compressor station

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SPECTRA’S Open House; Or How Not To Engage Businesses and Residents

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I have lived in Weymouth, MA for most of my life. I grew up in the area and have fond memories of playing on the beach during the summer and eating seafood at local restaurants with my parents. It’s a densely populated area with mostly small businesses crowded along Route 3A which ferries people from the South Shore to Boston. The areas beyond 3A are mostly residential until you get to the next town square.

Having grown up here I thought I was always I knew what was happening in the area. So it came as a shock to me when I heard a Natural Gas Compressor station was being planned right next to the busy Fore River Bridge. Even more shocking is that I first heard about it not through the town or the company building it, Spectra Energy, but from a 350MA newsletter. So to learn more about this Compressor station I went to Spectra’s Open House for Weymouth residents on March 19th.

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Spectra Energy compressor station offline while engineers investigate Searsmont gas release

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Spectra Energy compressor station offline while engineers investigate Searsmont gas release

SEARSMONT — A team of engineers remains at a Spectra Energy pipeline compressor station in Searsmont attempting to determine why a pressure valve blew Dec. 31, sending a tower of gas 100 feet into the cold night air. Meanwhile, the station has been shut down, while gas continues to run through the pipeline to other compressor stations in Maine.

“Engineers are on the ground reviewing it,” said Spectra spokeswoman Susan Waller, from the company’s Houston corporate office, almost a week after the incident shook residents awake within a 10-mile radius just before midnight New Year’s Eve.

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Multiple injuries reported at Branchburg gas pipeline facility flash fire→

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Multiple injuries reported at Branchburg gas pipeline facility flash fire

From NJ.com:

BRANCHBURG — A flash fire at a natural gas pipeline compression facility sent two construction workers to local hospitals and caused minor injuries to about 13 persons, authorities said.

"At about 7 p.m. (Thursday) we had a flash fire at a construction project at our natural gas compression station," Chris Stockton, a spokesman for the Williams Corporation, operator of the Transco Pipeline. "Two individuals were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, there was no damage to the station, and it occured on a non-active piece of pipeline."

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DEP: Compressor station shows signs of explosion

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DEP: Compressor station shows signs of explosion

From WBNG.com

Brooklyn Township, PA (WBNG Binghamton) Pennsylvania DEP officials say there is evidence of an explosion at a gas compressor station that caught fire late Tuesday night in Brooklyn Township.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has sent air quality inspectors to look at the Williams Compressor Station.

The compressor station in the 100 block of Turnpike Road in Brooklyn Township, near Montrose, caught fire shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday.

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