County's gas advisory committee has pipeline concerns
NORWICH – Discussions concerning natural gas pipelines dominated the two-plus hour Chenango County Natural Gas Advisory Committee meeting held at the County Office Building last month.
Chenango County Emergency Management Director Matt Beckwith was on hand to answer the committee’s questions regarding safety issues, such as mapping and tagging pipelines and gathering lines. Town officials from Smyrna and Plymouth, where much of the county’s natural gas activity is occurring, asked for maps so that residents and future property owners would know where the infrastructure was buried.
But according to Beckwith, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prohibits public disclosure of natural gas pipeline locations. While he assured the committee that Norse Energy, Inc., the company currently developing Chenango County’s Herkimer Sandstone reserves, has given him the coordinates – and that both lines and well heads have been assigned 911 addresses – he said disclosing that information publicly could result in it landing in the hands of terrorists.
“Everything’s changed since 9/11,” said Beckwith. “The (whereabouts of) pipelines are considered a high security risk resource in our county because of terrorist threats. They could know where they are.”
The handful of wells that Norse is presently drilling will be included on the maps shortly, he said.
Neither James Bays, supervisor for the Town of Smyrna, nor other members of the committee were satisfied with Beckwith’s explanation.
“This is an exposure greater on the local level than on national level,” said Bays. “I’m growing more and more concerned as we get busy with gathering lines in my town. We want to get maps. We’re thinking we need to mark them every so many feet, more than they are doing. And they need to be deeper. Get it down there, at least four feet into the bedrock.”
“People are moving up here and out of county ... they aren’t going to see new dredging going on now. Awful things happen when folks hit them,” he said.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello concurred, and moved a resolution to the county’s Safety & Rules Committee to publicize the maps of pipelines already in place.
“Why can’t the towns have their own local laws to say where they (the lines) are located?” he asked.
Iannello’s motion was seconded and adopted unanimously by the committee.
Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, weighing in on the discussion, said the New York Public Safety Commission should be required to monitor all infrastructure, not just high pressure lines, and that burial depth for all gathering lines should be to at least four feet. Currently, the PSC regulates lines of a certain size and pressure and only within certain population densities. Counties currently have no control.
“Lines don’t get marked unless companies voluntarily do it as a service to emergency safety and municipalities. There’s not much PSC oversight at this point. It’s a pretty hazardous situation. We need to push legislation to change that, and it needs to be done this year,” he said.
Vickers moved a resolution to the Chenango County Board of Supervisors asking for its support of a Farm Bureau’s initiative already in place on the matter. His motion was seconded and unanimously adopted by members of the committee.
Chenango County Real Property Tax Services Director Steve Harris said local assessors have the legal right to request maps from gas companies when assessing economic units. He said he would be encouraging them to do so next year.
Bays said his town board would be reviewing Norse Energy Inc.’s infrastructure maps in executive session at this month’s meeting.
Chenango County Natural Gas Economic Development Consultant Steven Palmatier said the risk posed to county highway workers and property owners was “much greater than terrorism.”
Beckwith assured the committee that Norse Energy notifies his office of scheduled flaring at well heads.
The Chenango County Natural Gas Advisory Committee is charged with monitoring gas drilling in Chenango County and recommending policies that would prevent its potential effects on public health or the environment.
In related news, the TEPPCO gas line company has notified property owners that hydrostatic testing would be performed on the gas line from Marathon to Gilbertsville within the next few weeks. The company conducted maintenance checks and made repairs to two sections of pipeline in Preston and McDonough in September.
Chenango County Emergency Management Director Matt Beckwith was on hand to answer the committee’s questions regarding safety issues, such as mapping and tagging pipelines and gathering lines. Town officials from Smyrna and Plymouth, where much of the county’s natural gas activity is occurring, asked for maps so that residents and future property owners would know where the infrastructure was buried.
But according to Beckwith, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prohibits public disclosure of natural gas pipeline locations. While he assured the committee that Norse Energy, Inc., the company currently developing Chenango County’s Herkimer Sandstone reserves, has given him the coordinates – and that both lines and well heads have been assigned 911 addresses – he said disclosing that information publicly could result in it landing in the hands of terrorists.
“Everything’s changed since 9/11,” said Beckwith. “The (whereabouts of) pipelines are considered a high security risk resource in our county because of terrorist threats. They could know where they are.”
The handful of wells that Norse is presently drilling will be included on the maps shortly, he said.
Neither James Bays, supervisor for the Town of Smyrna, nor other members of the committee were satisfied with Beckwith’s explanation.
“This is an exposure greater on the local level than on national level,” said Bays. “I’m growing more and more concerned as we get busy with gathering lines in my town. We want to get maps. We’re thinking we need to mark them every so many feet, more than they are doing. And they need to be deeper. Get it down there, at least four feet into the bedrock.”
“People are moving up here and out of county ... they aren’t going to see new dredging going on now. Awful things happen when folks hit them,” he said.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello concurred, and moved a resolution to the county’s Safety & Rules Committee to publicize the maps of pipelines already in place.
“Why can’t the towns have their own local laws to say where they (the lines) are located?” he asked.
Iannello’s motion was seconded and adopted unanimously by the committee.
Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, weighing in on the discussion, said the New York Public Safety Commission should be required to monitor all infrastructure, not just high pressure lines, and that burial depth for all gathering lines should be to at least four feet. Currently, the PSC regulates lines of a certain size and pressure and only within certain population densities. Counties currently have no control.
“Lines don’t get marked unless companies voluntarily do it as a service to emergency safety and municipalities. There’s not much PSC oversight at this point. It’s a pretty hazardous situation. We need to push legislation to change that, and it needs to be done this year,” he said.
Vickers moved a resolution to the Chenango County Board of Supervisors asking for its support of a Farm Bureau’s initiative already in place on the matter. His motion was seconded and unanimously adopted by members of the committee.
Chenango County Real Property Tax Services Director Steve Harris said local assessors have the legal right to request maps from gas companies when assessing economic units. He said he would be encouraging them to do so next year.
Bays said his town board would be reviewing Norse Energy Inc.’s infrastructure maps in executive session at this month’s meeting.
Chenango County Natural Gas Economic Development Consultant Steven Palmatier said the risk posed to county highway workers and property owners was “much greater than terrorism.”
Beckwith assured the committee that Norse Energy notifies his office of scheduled flaring at well heads.
The Chenango County Natural Gas Advisory Committee is charged with monitoring gas drilling in Chenango County and recommending policies that would prevent its potential effects on public health or the environment.
In related news, the TEPPCO gas line company has notified property owners that hydrostatic testing would be performed on the gas line from Marathon to Gilbertsville within the next few weeks. The company conducted maintenance checks and made repairs to two sections of pipeline in Preston and McDonough in September.
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