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26 Sep 18 - 12:05 PM (#3952958) Subject: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu Did you all hear about this one? The location is north and slightly west of Metropolitan Boston. The Merrimack River connects these cities; most, if not all of these towns had river mills during the Industrial Age, so a boom-and-bust economy cycle is part of their history. An awful mess to clean up. Amazing there were not more fatalities. "It looked like Armageddon" |
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26 Sep 18 - 12:08 PM (#3952959) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: Donuel the pressure in the pipes was 20 times too high. This problem can be caused via hacking. |
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26 Sep 18 - 01:29 PM (#3952978) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: Iains From the clip I assume it was a series of domestic mains that were overpressured. I find it surprising no safety valves were triggered by an overpressure of 20 times normal or that in line pressure transducers did not trigger shutoff valves. My first thoughts are a system design fault. A 20fold increase above normal should initiate a shutdown long, long before that level of risk is reached. I will stick with off grid cylinders. "As gas flows through the system, regulators control the flow from higher to lower pressures. If a regulator senses that the pressure has dropped below a set point it will open accordingly to allow more gas to flow. Conversely, when pressure rises above a set point, the regulator will close to adjust. As an added safety measure, relief valves are installed on pipelines to vent gas to the atmosphere where necessary.." From the American gas Assosiation |
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26 Sep 18 - 01:59 PM (#3952987) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: Joe Offer Here's a pretty good analysis of what happened: The Merrimack Valley is a fascinationg place to visit. It's north of Boston, near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The towns of Lowell and Lawrence now have excellent museums that tell the story of the once-prosperous textile industry. The mills are almost all shut down now, turned into alternate uses or left abandoned. But there are lots on interesting old buildings to see, and I've wandered in the area a number of times. One mill that didn't shut down, is Malden Mills in Lawrence. Even after a devastating mill fire, it survived by coming up with an insulating fabric called Polartec. Our beloved Mudcatter Barry Finn lived not far away in Derry, New Hampshire. -Joe- |
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26 Sep 18 - 02:51 PM (#3952998) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: Iains An interesting article Joe. I am still surprised it happened. I am used to an international framework where any pipelines or electrical distribution systems are only worked on with a permit to work system, where every aspect of the job is itemised, studied and documented with permissions renewed every shift change and signed off. Piper Alpha was eerily similar. I thought the change in the regulatory framework after that disaster was worldwide. It certainly was in the exploration side of oil and gas. I find it hard to believe it did not occur on the downstream side as well. Replacing a section of pipe without its previously installed checkvalve is criminal negligence in most places. |
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26 Sep 18 - 07:00 PM (#3953050) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu This story is going to run for a long time, because it is going to be a long time before the survivors can move on with their lives. They are represented in Congress by Senator Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts congressional veteran (years as a US Representative), who spoke to the press. Markey had insisted that Columbia Gas, the utilities provider, listen to his questions. Markey says -- assuming we believe Markey (sorry if I sound cynical) -- that Columbia Gas's representatives' every answer was: WE CAN'T SAY. Needless to say, Senator Markey is not amused. Nearly fifty miles of pipeline, and that part of Massachusetts has a lot of homes and businesses concentrated along those fifty miles. |
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27 Sep 18 - 11:02 AM (#3953173) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: leeneia Surely there is a state agency which regulates natural gas lines. What do they have to say? |
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28 Sep 18 - 02:24 PM (#3953445) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu The other companies in the area that supply heat utilities are hearing from some of the households in the vicinity -- these are families whose houses were not damaged, but their heat has been cut off since the gas explosions. It's ironic. Many older residences thereabouts began, of course, with coal heat and wood-burning fireplaces, a century ago, or longer. Then, conventionally, the conversion was made in these houses from coal to home-heating oil in boilers in the basement. More recently, newer homes have utilities with either natural gas, or electricity, taking care of residential heat. Homes that are not so new, however, started out with home heating oil, then converted to natural gas. And now, the home-heating-oil companies are seeing a remarkable increase in inquiries from customers who used to have natural gas heat and are considering home-heating oil again... |
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30 Sep 18 - 02:58 PM (#3953883) Subject: RE: BS: MA natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu Latest talk-radio soundbite of news update has a whole team of inspectors from that natural-gas company, going door-to-door in the affected residential areas, examining the appliances connected to the gas, such as stoves and ranges. Slapping big old red CONDEMNED stickers on some of them. |
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01 Oct 18 - 09:39 AM (#3953988) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: leeneia That soundbite doesn't add up, keb. Aren't they concerned about the hot-water heaters and furnaces as well? If not, explain. Is a whole team of inspectors somehow more irritating than a partial team of inspectors? Slapping? Big old? Is there not one employee who acts with normal courtesy? Would the radio show prefer that the gas company allow people to get hurt by damaged stoves? |
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01 Oct 18 - 12:39 PM (#3954036) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu Since leeneia asked, here is a link to the televised story (different than the radio soundbite). Inspections underway, city of Lawrence, MA |
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01 Oct 18 - 12:43 PM (#3954039) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: Stilly River Sage That clip wasn't dated, but the blasts happened about Sept. 13, 2018. You're not talking about new explosions, correct? |
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01 Oct 18 - 01:28 PM (#3954055) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: Jack Campin Chasing around domestic appliances checking for safety violations looks like blaming the victim. The problem was way upstream of that. We had a supply breakdown in our village when a complicated valve broke - it had been made in Russia and Transco had no spares in the UK, so getting one flown over took time. But at least they didn't have the chutzpah to imply we were burning their gas wrong. (Watch for a lot more episodes like that post-Brexit when getting EU-made machinery spares gets a lot more complicated). |
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02 Oct 18 - 07:49 PM (#3954292) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: leeneia I suspect the inspectors were looking for appliances whose controls had been damaged by the extra-high pressure. |
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04 Oct 18 - 11:44 AM (#3954627) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu If I read this feature right, then the charity in question never did close down, although there are some misleading headers here and there. The Cor Unum charity is known for hot meals. After the explosions, the meals had to be cold for a while, but they kept the charity open and kept handing out food and meals of whatever kind they could scrape together. Now the Cor Unum kitchen has been converted to tanks of propane gas, and the charity is cooking again. Cor Unum, Lawrence, Massachusetts |
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17 Nov 18 - 11:07 AM (#3962069) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu A day late and a dollar short is not amusing to those recovering from the September disruptions. Just got a news sound-bite on WBZ 1030 AM radio, the news station for Boston -- the big one, with the signal that can be heard states away. Now the nights are cold enough for pipes to freeze. And the pipes are freezing in those trailers/caravans into which homeless families have been directed while their homes, rendered uninhabitable by the September explosions, are seen to. There are quantities of these trailers with homeless families in them. They have complained about both the frozen plumbing and the fact that they feel as though they are living inside matchboxes. Last night, the town's mayor -- was this Lawrence, or Lowell? -- spent all night in the grounds with these families. When the radio station asked if the mayor would offer a statement, the station got the response that the mayor had lost his voice as a result of last night... |
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07 Dec 18 - 03:33 PM (#3965318) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu Eight hundred people still living in what is termed "alternative housing." Columbia Gas is announcing its successes by measurements of how many locales have been "re-lit" since the explosion. This leaves out the buildings that were destroyed, obviously. |
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07 Dec 18 - 03:37 PM (#3965320) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu As for the utility company's meeting with the district's congresswomen and congressmen, the company's President, with the CEO, walked out mid-meeting and never came back. |
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07 Dec 18 - 03:43 PM (#3965321) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu From NPR, an analysis of what caused things to go wrong in the first place. |
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07 Dec 18 - 04:32 PM (#3965323) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: Iains Not reinstalling the pressure transducers to monitor for overpressure in lines going to the point of use is a major oversight. The procedures in place were woefully inadequate and I suspect the gas company will be heavily censured. The National Transportation Safety Board probably pulls no punches when it comes to allocating blame. It will be interesting to view their final report. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/PLD18MR003-preliminary-report.aspx https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/11/15/ntsb-recommendations-columbia-gas-massachusetts-explosions-pipelines-nisour |
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27 Sep 19 - 02:30 PM (#4010824) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu … and here is a five-page abstract of said NTSB report. Just in time for ANOTHER gas leak in the same city, this morning, with the fire company going from house to house evacuating the residents -- "run, don't walk!" Public Meeting of September 24, 2019 News Update: "this is a different situation from last year" |
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27 Sep 19 - 04:58 PM (#4010848) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu More about today's scare in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Wall Street Journal |
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29 Sep 19 - 04:33 PM (#4011113) Subject: RE: BS: Massachusetts natural gas co.: explosions From: keberoxu Everybody is dusting themselves off, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, after the scare over the weekend. No explosion this time, and no damage that I heard of. But it scared the heck out of the whole town. If I understand correctly what I read, the odor of gas was reported by several sources. The culprit was a valve. Here the reports differ somewhat. One report says that when the pipeline was reconstructed in 2018, there was this one valve that should have been disabled. Another report says that the valve was painted the wrong color, the color blue, which erroneously indicates a water valve and not a gas valve, and somebody opened it thinking it was water … |