Don’t ever let anyone tell you pipelines are safe.

This is a list of Pipeline accidents in the United States. Printed out in 10 point Ariel it comes to 55 pages of accidents. I put it in the PDF form below for effect.

  Click the Wikipedia link for updates.

Back burner of global warming

Everyone puts out of their minds the fact that several nations have weapons of mutual annihilation aimed at each other and at ready for immediate use. 

Global warming is on its inexorable march; a march that if not modified will not destroy life on earth but which could make life on earth for humans impossible.

Our military knows that global warming is an extreme national security threat. A major war caused by the effects of global warming seems inevitable.

What everyone appears to put out of their minds is that a sure fire end to global warming is "nuclear winter". I guess that's why they call it "unthinkable".  

SEE:

 Violence And Tail Risk

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 17, 2011 

Hillary Clinton's State Department Oil Services and Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

Some Urban Stormwater Solutions

A stormwater retention basin under a parking area was recently proposed for the Marriot Hotel in Coatesville.

There is a stormwater infiltration basin under the “Main Street at Exton” mall and Wal-Mart parking lot.  

Villanova University also has a parking garage with a stormwater retention basin under it. You can see it from the railroad.

We have intuitions and corporations in Chester County involved with state of the art stormwater management.

Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership VUSP

Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering VCASE

Brandywine Conservancy Environmental Management Center

Stroud Water Research Center

Green Valleys Association Welkinweir

Cahill Associates Environmental Consultants

Millions of dollars is still millions of dollars even if it does smell of batshit.

There was an article in the Washington Post:


Climate-change science makes for hot politics
By Joel Achenbach and Juliet Eilperin, Published: August 19

There were further comments on the article and the topic on Climate Progress:

Washington Post Labels Global Warming a ‘Wedge Issue’ — But Doesn’t Seem to Know What That Term Means
By Joe Romm on Aug 20, 2011 at 12:50 pm

Neither article asks why the Republicans suddenly switched from climate science to batshit crazy climate science denial. I think the primary reason for the sudden (in just 4 years) switch is the infusion of millions of dollars from totally batshit crazy billionaires like the Koch Brothers into the GOP campaign coffers.

Our Fracking Gashole Governor is a dirty energy warrior

“This is a last ditch effort by dirty energy to eliminate green energy by flooding the energy market with cheap gas.” Mark Ruffalo

"Quietly but systematically, the administration has all but shut down the state Department of Environmental Protection's Office of Energy and Technology Deployment -- the state's primary energy office -- and removed directors and reassigned staff in the Office of Energy Management in the Department of General Services and the Governor's Green Government Council. 

It has also forbidden state executive agencies from signing contracts that suThe changes will put more than 100,000 "green jobs" in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries at risk, according to Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future -- PennFuture - "

READ MORE AT: 

Corbett quietly turning off the lights on renewable energy

Sunday, August 14, 2011

By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ALSO SEE:

Mark Ruffalo on fracking: ‘Gas is a bridge to nowhere’ [VIDEO]

BY CLAIRE THOMPSON

14 JUL 2011 1:12 PM

Easy way to “cool” the USA (just change the numbers)

It was difficult to find information about “New Normals”. I suppose that’s because our nation’s news is slanted toward climate change denial. Maybe if Rupert Murdoch goes to prison that will all change but until then we can expect to not hear the words “global warming” in a weather forecast.

You can find information about “New Normals” here:

Updated Statistics Show the “Normal” US Climate is Getting Warmer 

Published: June 29th, 2011

To make his unemployment numbers look less bad Ronald Reagan changed the way unemployment is calculated. Someone working 30 hours a month at McDonalds is now fully employed. If someone gives up looking for a job he or she is no longer unemployed.  Like magic, unemployment numbers went down.

There is a simple way for Republicans to confuse the hell out of people saying it’s too darn hot; just change from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

 115 degrees Fahrenheit magically becomes only 46 degrees Celsius.  Instant cooling.

She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.

“This is a non-commercial attempt to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless 'consumers' are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/).”

CLIMATE REALITY

Climate Reality Project 

VIDEO: GLOBAL WARMING, IN THREE ACTS

Meadows in Coatesville?

I tried to do something like this in Coatesville a few years ago and it requires a revision of our codes to allow something on a lawn longer than 6 inches.  

Coatesville has lots of steep slopes which makes grass impractical.

It would also be a very low cost major improvement in stormwater management and add to groundwater recharge.

No one was even slightly interested.

Kennett Square promotes the advantages of meadows

Published: Saturday, July 02, 2011

Also See:

How El Paso is beating the worst drought in a generation

Sound water management has put the border town on the Rio Grande leagues ahead of its neighbours, but robust growth rates mean local farmers and ranchers are still losing out

Most flyfishermen know that warm water produces "dead zones" in freshwater. And every stream monitor knows the primary reason why; the warmer the water the less dissolved oxygen is in that water. Fish and other marine animals suffocate warm water.  

Huge hot water dead zones have been appearing in the Ocean for decades. Within 20 years most of the oceans of the world be dead. 

O by the way, the oceans produce most of the oxygen we breathe. Anyone up for colonizing Mars?

World’s oceans in ‘shocking’ decline, report finds ‘speeds of many negative changes … are tracking the worst-case scenarios’

By Joe Romm on Jun 21, 2011 at 4:48 pm

Fires in Arizona

I have more than a passing interest in the fires in Arizona. My nephew and his wife are backpacking where near the Arizona / New Mexico border. They had to decide whether to just go home or alter their plans somewhat. There are no communications or cell phone service where they were going.




Science connects climate change and wildfires. Why won’t the media? 

BY MILES GRANT
14 JUN 2011 6:12 PM

Are the Marcellus Shale drillers changing Pennsylvania's forests, farms, towns, rivers and lakes into an uninhabitable industrial wasteland?

I believe that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Constitution was ignored by the Corbett Administration and Pennsylvania Republicans.

As Senator Andy Dinniman states below. “Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution states, ‘The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people."

But I believe that the damage and destruction that the drilling operations can do have been grossly underestimated.

I believe the drillers exploiting our forests and streams for profit on the international commodity markets for sale to China, Japan and other countries will change our Commonwealth into a vast uninhabitable wasteland if we continue to follow the lead of Governor Corbett and his Department of Community and Economic Development CZAR C. Alan Walker.

Daily local news

OPINION

The Marcellus Shale and the Pennsylvania Constitution

Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011

WILL THE SPARROWS POINT, MD LIQUID NATURAL GAS TANKER DOCKING FACILITY CHANGE FROM AN IMPORT DOCK TO AN EXPORT DOCK? HOW WOULD THAT AFFECT CHESTER COUNTIES PIPELINES?

The Sparrows Point Liquid Natural Gas tanker dock was planned before the Marcellus Shale gas discoveries.

The gas was to be transported from foreign (Russian?) gas fields by LNG tanker through the tanker docking facility and on to homes and businesses in New England.

I believe the Liquid Natural Gas facility at Sparrows Point, MD owned by AES Sparrows Point LNG, LLC will probably change their business model and the planned pipeline expansion through Chester County will send gas from Pennsylvania to Sparrows Point, MD and on to China and Japan.

I do not know how that will affect the proposed expansion of pipelines through Chester County

THE FERC AUTHORIZATION OF THE SPARROWS POINT LIGUID NATURAL GAS TANKER TERMINAL FACILITY AT SPARROWS POINT, MD AND ASSOCIATED AUTHORIZATIONS OF THE MID-ATLANTIC EXPRESS PIPELING ARE IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

The petitioners are asking for a review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders authorizing the AES SPARROWS POINT LIQUID NATURAL GAS FACILITY in Baltimore County, MD and a review of the certificate for the associated Mid-Atlantic Express Pipeline through Maryland and Pennsylvania.

At this moment the petition is in abeyance.

United States Court of Appeals

For The District of Columbia Circuit

NO. 10-1028

Petitioners

Brandywine Conservancy

Bradford Glen Homeowners Association at Victoria Crossing

The State of Maryland

v.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

ALSO SEE: 

Cove Point Terminal Eyes Switch to LNG Exports

Press Action

Monday, June 06, 2011

Pennsylvania’s Rivers, Forests and Air Would Pay the Price

By Press Action

Don’t be surprised if Dominion Resources Inc., the diversified energy company based in Richmond, Va., becomes the next company to request permission from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to convert its liquefied natural gas import terminal to an export facility.

Dominion officials are on the record as saying the company is considering installing natural gas liquefaction facilities at its Cove Point LNG import terminal on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The construction of liquefaction infrastructure would give Dominion the ability to export natural gas—most likely natural gas volumes produced from the nearby Marcellus Shale—from the Cove Point facility. Dominion already has a large-diameter natural gas pipeline that delivers gas away from the Cove Point LNG terminal. This pipeline could easily be converted to transport gas in the opposite direction, from wells drilled in the Marcellus back to the Cove Point facility.

"A Colossal Fracking Mess"

VANITY FAIR 

A Colossal Fracking Mess

The dirty truth behind the new natural gas. Related: A V.F. video look at a town transformed by fracking.

By Christopher Bateman•

Photographs by Jacques del Conte

WEB EXCLUSIVE June 21, 2010

Is our PA Marcellus Shale gas going to China?

Gas is sold on the international market to the highest bidder. The stuff coming from Gov. Corbett about Marcellus Shale being for PA residents is more than just a little smelly.

“Once deemed too costly to extract, shale gas has turned around U.S. dependence on foreign gas imports. Just a few years ago, the United States was building scores of expensive facilities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), looking at booming long-term demand forecasts and wondering which countries would supply the huge volume of imports it needed.

Instead, the United States is turning import facilities into export terminals, because its shale gas reserves are estimated to be big enough to meet domestic demand for 30 years. This is an American dream that China wants to emulate.”

FROM:

REUTERS:

Special Report: China set to unearth shale power

WILL THE MARCELLUS SHALE EXTRACTION COMPANIES BECOME CHINESE COMPANIES?

“In June, China Investment Corp, Korea Investment Corp and Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] were among investors in Chesapeake's preferred offering.

‘We recognize that the center of the financial world is gravitating more and more to Asia and we think it's prudent to begin to develop relationships with investors in Asia,’ Mobley said”

FROM:

REUTERS

Chesapeake may attract Asian investors to assets

Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:22pm EDT

Natural gas prices set to jump with exports

By Lou Kilzer, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, June 12, 2011

What would a terrorist attack on a Liquid Natural Gas Facility or LNG Tanker near a residential area look like?

“In Sector 8, the attack scenario could produce the following consequences:

• Approximately 3,000 deaths and 10,000 injuries from severe burns in the first few minutes of the pool fire with numbers escalating due to sympathetic fires and untreated burns. Deaths will be concentrated among residents of Providence. 

• Approximately 3,000 homes destroyed among the 10,085 contained in the Orange Ring, with hundreds of others damaged. Homes in Providence, East Providence and Cranston will be affected. 

• Possible sympathetic detonations of chlorine tanks, liquid propane gas tanks, kerosene tanks and oil stored on ships and piers. A chlorine leak or explosion could add significantly to death and injury. These risks merit further analysis. 

• Destruction of the tanker and KeySpan facility, piers and port facilities, the Narragansett Bay Commission, the Allens Avenue Fire Station and local businesses. 

• Damage and/or blockage of I-95 and Allens Avenue, which could impede evacuation and first responder access to victims. 

• Eleven schools at risk. 

• Telecommunications equipment, power infrastructure, parks and hospitals (including Rhode Island Hospital, the local trauma center) at risk. 

• In the long run, tourism, home values and the state economy could suffer from a terrorist incident. 

No amount of resources can mitigate much of the death, damage and injury expected within the Red and Orange Rings. 

Consequence Management resources can only be optimized and improved to triage structures that can be saved, evacuate the population and treat the wounded. “

FROM:
LNG FACILITIES IN RESIDENTAL AREAS
A Security Risk Management Analysis for

ATTORNEY GENERAL PATRICK LYNCH

RHODE ISLAND
by Principal Investigator

Richard A. Clarke

Focus on Floods

It looks like we’ll have flooding from the coming storm. It’s good to keep in mind that a flood can happen in any low lying area. Flooding in the railroad underpasses near and in Coatesville occurs when the storm drains are overwhelmed by the volume of stormwater. Sgt. Martin Brice was honored for "going above and beyond the call of duty" when he “jumped into floodwaters to rescue an older man who was trapped in his van.”

Don’t drive on a road covered by water. Water looks benign, that is unless you have experienced the weight of moving water on your body.
Two very good websites for floods in the Delaware Valley are:
Focus on Floods
And
The National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

"Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)"

Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)
Utility recruited students from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades
Saturday, January 22, 2011
By GRETCHEN METZ
Staff Writer
"SCHUYLKILL — Students from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades have completed their assignment to produce plans to redo the landscaping around Aqua Pennsylvania's Pickering facility.


The water utility recruited Williamson students about two months ago to design the landscaping for a section of the treatment plant. The request, however, came with a twist: the plantings used must get their watering from nature, not Aqua."
MORE HERE:

Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)