
Last night (November 12, 2018), Caroline Hughes and I had the privilege of presenting information about the Citizens’ Risk Assessment (conducted by Quest Consultants) and the associated Canary software to the Uwchlan Township Board of Supervisors. Uwchlan was one of the townships that helped pay for the risk assessment. Caroline summarized the Quest report, making the case that the dangers of the Mariner East system are even more serious than we had previously realized, with the potential for deaths more than 2,000 feet from the pipeline and with the likelihood of a leak somewhere across the state every 2-3 years.
Following that, I described additional work I had done with the Canary software concerning the degree of hazard from a potential rupture of the 12-inch “bypass” pipeline in the vicinity of Shamona Creek Elementary School. Sunoco’s plan to bypass the incomplete parts of Mariner East 2 using an old, repurposed 12-inch pipeline was announced too late to be part of Quest’s risk assessment report, but the Canary software gave us the tool we needed to make our own assessment.
Our slides can be found here:
We were followed by a presentation by Dan Daley of E. B. Walsh and Associates, in his role as Township Engineer. He showed his company’s excellent work (much of it done by Ashley Hickman, an engineer who took Quest’s training course on the Canary software), analyzing a number of variables that Sunoco might be able to adjust to reduce the area affected by a leak or rupture. These included the time it would take to shut down the flow in the pipeline, reducing the pressure in the pipeline, and changing the rate of flow. Changes like these could have some benefit, but Daley’s data showed that the benefit would be very limited—and it remains to be seen if Sunoco is even willing to consider making any changes.
The slides attached here show the results of my work related to the extent of the potential hazard at Shamona Creek, but they don’t tell much about the details of how the work was done. However, the process was nearly the same as the analysis I did at Glenwood Elementary School, so please refer to that blog post if you are curious.
Hi, George,
I have a question and a suggestion:
1. What was the reaction of the board of supervisors?
2. On the map I recommend you label the pipeline like you’ve done elsewhere.
See you soon!
On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 8:18 AM Dragonpipe Diary wrote:
> galex49 posted: “Last night (November 12, 2018), Caroline Hughes and I had > the privilege of presenting information about the Citizens’ Risk Assessment > (conducted by Quest Consultants) and the associated Canary software to the > Uwchlan Township Board of Supervisors. Uwchlan” >
LikeLike
The board of supervisors was very supportive (which makes sense, considering that two of the three were elected last year based in large part on their pipeline opposition).
Good point about the map. That was actually a mistake: I included that map in the slide instead of a different version that did include labels for the pipelines and the location of the school. Too late to change that now, I’m afraid.
LikeLike
Thank you for all the remarkable work you are doing on behalf of all those living within 2000 ft of the pipeline. May I forward this to people in my own community, Lynetree, right above Michelle Drive and post it on the Nextdoor list, which encompasses Exton Station and other surrounding neighborhood
Maybe it will wake up and activate more homeowners.
With sincere gratitude,
Deborah Forman
Sent from my iPhone
>
LikeLike
Thanks for your kind words. Please feel free to forward or link.
LikeLike