To the Editor:
(Erieville, NY – Oct. 2014) This facility is on the Firetower Road in Erieville and is owned by the Dominion Corporation. It is on the pipeline going to the proposed compression station in the Sheds-Georgetown area.
The operation starts out with flames shooting in the air and then the fumes. The noise volume is unbearable and took place Monday morning, Sept. 28 (sic).*
Miriam Barrows, Erieville
Editor’s note: Health Department officials report they met with Matthew Simmons, corrosion technician from Dominion Transmission. He stated that they were doing maintenance on the transmission line station. A new 10-foot section of pipe and a new valve were replaced, and they were waiting for the epoxy to dry to finish wrapping the line.
According to Simmons, crews had to isolate the section they were going to work on then blow off all the gas inside the line. Compressed air was used at a higher pressure than the line itself to safely remove all the residual gas. This could have been done at the Morrisville station, but Dominion chose to do everything from the Erieville station out of safety for the public, as Morrisville State College has two dorms and a hospital in proximity to the station.
They had blown off the gas Friday, Sept. 29 (sic)** to start the work but had to recharge the line for the weekend due to a large power plant in the Albany area requesting extra volume and had to start over again on Monday***. As of press time, the work was to be finished and backfilled by close of business Friday, Oct. 3, along with all cleanup and site restoration to be completed, also.
Environmental Health Director Geoffrey Snyder reported his office contacted Dominion, who explained it was necessary to relieve pressure within an isolated section of pipeline prior to purging the section and performing work on pipeline. He said FERC was aware of and required this for occupational safety reasons to prevent potential for explosion. The activity has been completed and Dominion reports there was no adverse impact on air quality.
*Sept. 28, 2014, was a Sunday.
**Sept. 29, 2014, was a Monday.
***From the chronology deduced from the information provided, it is presumed the date reference is Monday, Sept. 29
Here we go again—-I would like to know —was this the 1st time Dominion did maintenance on the transmission line station? I highly doubt it!!How long has this station been here on Firetower Rd?Did they just built it that day you people saw these pictures? How come you people never said or commented on this before? How come we haven’t seen these pictures before if this station is supposed to be so bad with our air quality?Is it because all the controversy on the new compressor in Georgetown?Wow–you can’t please you people—if Dominion never did the maintenance on this station–you people would complain that Dominion wasn’t doing the necessary procedures that are required to maintain this—-now they are maintaining the station & you STILL complain….can’t PLEASE you people at all….stop complaining & Thank Dominion for keeping their stations maintained… Thank You Dominion!
I can tell you that the air quality was affected, as the gas smell was so strong in my home, 2-3 miles North West of the station that I thought I must have left my gas burner on with no flame and it made me feel ill. The noise was so loud that when I stepped out of my car to take pictures for a few seconds I thought my ear drums were going to burst.
It is correct that we did not address this problem before, even though we have experienced the blowoff many timnes. We were ignorant of the pollution involved and have learned much through the involvment in the anti Hydrofracking drive. The whole program is being put in place by this lack of information by the oil and gas companies and the goal of the anti Hydrofracking groups is to give information to the public so that they can make an educated decision to protect their water, air and health.
I have lived in Erieville all my life andthe gas company has been doing this for as long as i can remember. With no ill effects. Its a part of living in the country.
Peter Spaulding