January 24, 2012

Wrongful Death Suit Filed In Allentown Natural Gas Explosion

Filed under: remote monitoring — Tags: , , , , , , — Ariel @ 9:46 pm

The Allentown natural gas explosion that killed 5 people last year is back in the headlines this week after families of the deceased have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the utilities provider UGI.

The deadly explosion and subsequent fire last February devastated a block of homes near the corner of 13th and W. Allen in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 8 homes were destroyed and 47 others were damaged.

The suit filed against UGI Tuesday on behalf of the bereaved families alleges that in 1992 The National Transportation Safety Board warned UGI in a letter that it was necessary to replace miles of corroding gas pipelines in Allentown. This letter was sent following a previous blast in 1990 that resulted in one death, this previous explosion was less than one mile from the sight of last year’s explosion.

The suit filed by Bethlehem lawyer Christian Perrucci on behalf of the affected families does not name the amount sought, though it is clear that is a greater amount than can be sought in arbitration.

One family was not represented in this lawsuit. The family of William and Beatrice Hall reached a settlement with UGI in June , the amount of that settlement has not been disclosed.

Proper monitoring of outdated infrastructure, such as these corroding pipelines could have given UGI a greater warning that these repairs were in fact necessary, potentially saving lives millions of dollars in damaged property, and the reputation of their company. With all of the available corrosion protection and monitoring systems now available, tragedies such as this one in Allentown should become a thing of the past.

January 19, 2012

Michigan Oil Spill Report Delayed, But Corrosion Confirmed

Filed under: CP Remote Monitoring,remote monitoring — Tags: , , , , , , — Ariel @ 6:37 pm

The federal report that was to detail the causes of the 2010 spill in Southern Michigan that leaked 800,000 gallons of oil from Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc.’s pipeline that runs from Griffith, Indiana, to Sarnia, Ontario in Canada. This staggering amount of oil was spilled into the Kalamazoo River an hour drive east of Grand Rapids. The cleanup efforts are still underway this year, nearly 7 months after the initial spill.

Though the release of the report will be delayed pending further inquiries, the first round of testing conducted on the ruptured pipe indicated corrosion as a probable cause of the spill. This unfortunately comes as no surprise to federal officials who have been monitoring the pipeline, installed in the 1960’s, as a potential spill risk.

Documentation of warnings sent to Enbridge from The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration warning about safety code violations including a lack of proper monitoring for corrosion are expected to be a major point of the report. This could greatly affect popular opinion on Enbridge’s proposed northern gate pipeline, which has yet to be approved by Canadian authorities.

Proper monitoring of pipelines can reduce the risk for these kinds of catastrophic spills greatly. The cost of cleanup, penalties, and reputation damage related to ruptures such as the one caused to Enbridge Inc.  by this rupture can be avoided if pipes are outfitted with cutting edge remote monitoring systems.

Safety standards mandating corrosion monitoring are in place to protect companies’ interests as well as for the protection of the environment. The current estimate for cost of cleanup for this spill is $700 million, though further penalties are expected to be incurred as deadlines set by the environmental protection agency are not likely to be met.

January 10, 2012

Debate Heating Up Over Proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline

Filed under: cathodic protection,remote monitoring — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Ariel @ 7:48 pm

Debate is heating up over Enbridge, an Alberta based company, and their proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gate Pipeline project. The proposed pipeline would deliver crude from Alberta’s oilsands to the major port city of Kitimat, B.C. The crude would then be exported to the Asian markets from there.
Environmentalists contend that the history of pipelines imply that spills are inevitable and virtually unpreventable. Over the years, there have been a significant number of pipeline spills to justify their deep concern. Including a recent spill where Enbridge had to pay $700-million to clean over 1 million gallons of oil from the Kalamazoo river in Michigan.
The Alberta Energy and Utilities reported in 2007 that Internal corrosion was the most prevalent cause of pipeline failure at 57 per cent followed by external corrosion at 12 per cent.

To address the very valid concerns of environmentalists and to prevent a costly (and reputation tarnishing) spill Enbridge has vowed to use the highest grade steel available for their pipeline, as well as to employ an extensive corrosion protection program including a protective coating to the steel and cathodic protection to protect the steel from electro-chemical corrosion.

In looking to corrosion as the biggest threat that will face the proposed pipeline, and building a network of preventative measures and close monitoring, Enbridge hopes to prove the assertions of concerned environmentalists wrong. Enbridge hopes to prove that with cutting edge technology and well laid plans, that include redundant safety measures, devastating spills do not need to be “inevitable” at all.

January 5, 2012

Busy London Overpass Closed Due To Corrosion On Cables

Filed under: CP Remote Monitoring,cathodic protection,remote monitoring — Tags: , , , , , , — Ariel @ 6:41 pm

Transport for London announced the Hammersmith Flyover would be closed until further notice due to a serious structural defect. The flyover, or as we would call it overpass, is a high-traffic key route from Heathrow Airport to central London. The overpass was built in the 1960s and has been under periodic inspection over the last two years . Initially engineer crews believed the structure had years of strength left before any major maintenance work would be needed. However, the internal steel cables that hold spans of the concrete structure together have been severely weakened by corrosion due to the penetration of water.

TfL crews are working around the clock to assess the extent of the damage. In a statement to the British press Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “Our team continues to work night and day alongside the world’s leading structural engineers to fully understand the extent of the flyover’s structural problems.”

The corrosion of steel reinforcements is a threat to aging infrastructure all over the world. Though very strong, the steel cable used for suspension bridges, cable stayed bridges, as well as the internal cables in many structures is very sensitive to corrosion. This sensitivity to corrosion poses a serious threat of failure in these cables, the results of which can be at best very costly, and at worst disastrous.

Careful monitoring of these aging structures can save valuable time and money for municipalities whose budgets are already stretched thin, and can prevent major inconveniences such as this surprise open-ended shutdown of a major traffic artery.