Similar Pipes, Different Rules
Second in a four-part series.
When the owners of the Tennessee natural gas pipeline decided to expand the pipe in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania's northern tier, the federal safety rules they had to follow filled a book.
For this interstate transmission line running north from the Gulf Coast, the regulations covered everything from the strength of the steel to the welding methods to how deep the pipeline must be buried.
Also in Bradford County, another company - Chesapeake Energy - is building a pipeline the same size as the Tennessee line, 24 inches in diameter. And it's designed to operate at even higher pressure - up to 1,440 pounds per square inch.
But for this line, in this rural section of shale country, there are no safety rules at all.
Because the second line is classified as a "gathering" pipeline, carrying gas from well fields to transmission lines, safety rules are less stringent. And because that line is in a rural area, it's totally unregulated.
Bill Wilson lives in neighboring Wyoming County, another crossroads for the new generation of powerful Marcellus gathering lines. He made a study of pipeline rules in his role as president of a group of landowners who negotiated gas and pipeline leases.
He says the calculation that balances safety regulations against population numbers treats rural residents as "collateral damage."
"It's all about money. You know that as well as I do," he said.
This loophole in the law, a legacy of the industry's influence in Washington, has been evident for decades, but the mighty Marcellus gas strike in Pennsylvania has changed the rules.
The new wells, using the technique of hydraulic fracturing, generate tremendous torrents of gas that need big pipes, running at pressures far greater than traditional gathering lines.
That has federal regulators and some members of Congress once again pushing to extend safety rules to the 200,000 miles of gathering lines in rural America - with gas and pipeline companies pitted against them.
"I believe when a pipeline is put in the ground, there has to be some regulation," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose agency oversees pipelines through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA.
"Someone has to have some enforcement over them, some oversight on construction and safety - but also transparency, so people in these communities know when a pipeline is going through their front yard," he said.
This high-stakes battle - now playing out in Harrisburg, as well - has engaged politicians, environmentalists, and legions of lobbyists, arguing over arcane details in law offices, committee rooms, and before the state Public Utility Commission.
As Pennsylvania takes its place among the major gas-producing states, it is perhaps appropriate that a key figure in these regulatory debates is a congressman from Pennsylvania - Bill Shuster.
When Republicans gained control of the House in the 2010 elections, Shuster became chairman of a subcommittee with oversight of pipelines. He's hesitant to add rules that might slow natural gas development - including ones on gathering pipelines.
"If there's a glaring problem out there, we ought to take a look at it, but I haven't heard there's a problem," he said. "If it's not broke, why fix it?"
Gas and pipeline companies say that the oversight gap has no effect on public safety, and that their new gathering lines in the Marcellus are "state of the art."
Chesapeake Energy says the 24-inch line it is building in Bradford County, like its other pipelines, meets or exceeds all safety regulations.
"I would be surprised to find anybody building gathering lines out there that are not up to the highest integrity standards," said David J. Spigelmyer, vice president of Chesapeake and chairman of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the leading industry trade group.
Though the industry insists accidents on gathering lines are rare, the stakes are high when the pipes do rupture. In recent years, they have blown up in Texas and Oklahoma, killing workers and burning one woman in her home.
"It doesn't matter what you call this thing," said Richard Kuprewicz, an engineer and consultant for the Pipeline Safety Trust. "You've got high diameter and high pressure - guess what? There needs to be more regulation."
But industry representatives, here and in Washington, are once again pushing back. Bills pending in Harrisburg say the state rules can't be tougher than the federal ones.
"It simply increases the cost of doing business in the area without really accomplishing much," said W. Jonathan Airey, a lawyer for the industry. He and others say the money could be better spent on protecting the public in more populated areas.