The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Wednesday released findings of a study addressing the safety of natural gas pipelines.

Olivia Horn, President of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, discussed why the organization addressed the issue of pipelines.

“Pipelines are a problem in Pennsylvania,” Horn said. “We have miles and miles of unregulated, large diameter, high pressure pipelines carrying natural gas to remote areas of our Commonwealth. There is a lack of dedicated training for emergency responders to deal with natural gas explosions. New infrastructure poses additional threats to environmentally sensitive areas. The public is unaware of the existence of pipelines, pipeline hazards, and responsible behavior around such lines. We can no longer afford to keep pipelines out of sight and out of mind. These concerns and others pose potentially explosive problems for all of us.”

Horn explained that the study was conducted with a private donations and a grant from US Department of Transportation. She said Lycoming County was chosen as the site of the study due to expanding natural gas infrastructure in the county and its geography.

The study offers more than 60 recommendations and she highlighted the following:

-- Establish comprehensive regulations that encompass the entire transmission system along with publically accessible maps;

-- Develop emergency or hazard response contingency plans;

-- Provide greater authority, funding, and manpower for the Department of Environmental Protection;

-- Adequately enforce permit requirements; and

-- Standardize best practices of pipeline design and construction

“We trust the data collected and the resulting recommendations will serve as the basis for improving citizen awareness and minimizing future impacts of unconventional gas exploration in environmentally sensitive Lycoming County,” Horn said. “Do we have problems with pipelines in Pennsylvania? Yes. We believe so and we hope you do too. We believe grassroots efforts by the League and others can be part of the solution. We hope you will join us in building communication, protecting pipelines and safeguarding our communities in the days ahead.”

A copy of the study is available online.

This is the second new report on pipelines to be published in the last 45 days.

On December 11, Patrick Henderson, the Governor’s Energy Executive, issued a report on the 1,727.8 miles of natural gas gathering lines in the Commonwealth making 16 recommendations to tighten regulatory and other requirements over the lines.  (Click Here for more details.)

1/28/2013