PRESTON – It’s been five and half months, and some Preston residents are still waiting for an exposed propane pipeline to be re-buried – or to explode.
According to residents and officials, late June flooding unearthed a roughly 40 foot portion of an underground liquified petroleum pipeline where it crosses the Fly Meadow Creek in the Town of Preston. They’re concerned that heavy debris traveling down the creek could rupture the 12-inch diameter line, emptying the L.P. it’s carrying – at 3,000 pounds of pressure per square-inch – within close range of the nearly dozen homes in the vicinity.
“It’s a big boom waiting to happen.” said Preston resident and volunteer firefighter Chris Lavancha, who is also the town’s safety officer.
The line is owned and operated by the Houston-based Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company LLC, who residents say they’ve been contacting since the problem was discovered by the Preston Volunteer Fire Department in late June.
“They told us they were still waiting for the DEC (New York state Department of Environmental Conservation) to give them the permits to work in the stream,” said Town of Preston Supervisor Peter Flanagan. “But if the pipe gets ruptured by moving debris or a large rock, it could be a dangerous situation.”
A TEPPCO spokesman confirmed the company hasn’t covered the conduit because it is awaiting a permit from the DEC to do work in Fly Meadow, which is a protected trout stream. However, the DEC said the agency didn’t receive the company’s request until 11 days ago.
“They knew about it then (in June),” said Lavancha. “Apparently they weren’t too worried about it. It’s making everybody up here nervous.”
Charles Stein, who lives on county Route 4 less than one tenth of a mile from the site, said over the past few months he’s contacted the gas company a number of times, each day fearing the worst.
“If it leaks, you can’t smell it,” Stein said. “If it gets to the road, or into these homes... they’re history.”
TEPPCO said they expect the permit by next week, and the work to begin immediately thereafter.
“We are still waiting on the necessary permits from the DEC,” said company spokesman Rick Rainey. “That will allow us to begin the process of recovering the line.”
The DEC said that they did receive TEPPCO’s permit application, but not until Dec. 5. The agency added they are still seeking more required information from the Houston company before they can give them the go-ahead.
“The company has supplied the majority of the information we need,” said DEC Region 7 spokeswoman Diane Carlton. “We are waiting for a drawing that shows where they are going to place sand bags to protect a trout spawning habitat. As soon as they give us that drawing we can issue a permit.”
Chenango Fire and Emergency Coordinator Matt Beckwith hopes the problem can be resolved before the snow comes, fearing the spring run-off that will follow it.
“The sooner they can get it covered, the better off we’ll be,” Beckwith said.
Rainey said new measures will be taken to upgrade the pipeline and secure it from exposure in the future. He assures Preston residents the line as it currently rests, even though above ground, is still safe.
The L.P. line running through Preston and Chenango County is part of TEPPCO’s “midstream” operation that runs from Houston to the Albany-area, a distance 4,600 miles. According the companies website, the pipeline has the capacity to delivery 340,000 barrels of L.P. per day.