Second Pipeline Mapped Out

Walked the Kiwanis trail today and found the famous blue stakes, so I followed them and mapped out the new pipeline until it enters the Frye Farm. Just to make sure, I did not enter into any marked private property and did not encounter any fences - I just followed the stakes from the public walkway shown in the first picture just below until back to the Kiwanis trail.

This gave me the general direction, where this straight part of the pipeline meets the straight portion crossing M52 and passing the residence shown in a picture on a previous post. My last guess was actually pretty close.

 There are 3 bottom holes off Carson, which all seem to be located on the Frye farm. The new pipeline is in red and refers to the elevation profile below the map. I also marked all current bottom holes on Witt Farm (Adrian 1-25), Purse Funeral Home (State Adrian & Purse 2-25), Statton's Landscaping (State Adrian & Stratton 1-24), and Heritage Park (Adrian Raisin 2-30)). Please note that many of these wells exploit several locations by drilling horizontally. Old pipeline from Heritage to Witt in blue

I check out if I could see anything of the two bottom holes in the southwestern corner of Frye Farm and was thrilled that I could get a peak just west of the Kiwanis trail that was not marked as private property and was not fenced in. Please note that I did not step on the open grassland, which is obviously private property...

Unfortunately, there was nothing to be seen. Frye 1-26 may not been drilled yet ??? and Frye 2-26 is in the forest and not visible (or is also not drilled yet???).

 The forest opening in the middle of the picture leads to Frye 2-26 but it goes way into the forest

The Frye farmhouse with a excavator and already assembled pipes for the pipeline.

 Shortly after the above pictures, Kiwanis trail crosses Beaver Creek. The bottom hole Frye 2-26 (Carson 4) is 30 ft. right above the creek. Frye 1-26 (Carson 3) is a little further away but also just 40 ft. above the creek bed. It is very easy for contaminated ground water or surface water to reach the creek.

Frye 2-26 (Carson 4) is 30 ft. right above the creek (see profile above), Frye 1-26 (Carson 3) is 40 ft above the creek bed.

Oils residue above mud in a ditch next to Kiwanis trail close to Frye 1-26

Beaver Creek towards NW as seen from the Kiwanis trail bridge

Rally at the Mackinac Bridge

Despite the importance of the event - only a little more than 300 people showed up. The organizers 350.org in Traverse City did not advertise the event very well - especially within the local communities around the Strait of Mackinac. A 2nd problem was that no press was documenting the event.

Worst thing I was getting to know that the two 60 years old 20" pipes of line 5 are running through the strait are UNSUPPORTED - meaning not lying at the bottom or held up by a pedals tool. With the strong and changing currents in the Strait of Mackinac, the pipeline that is unsupported above the underwater canyon (see Google Earth profile below) is bound to be exposed to a lot of stress - and it is actually a wonder that no major spill occurred yet. The pipelines are owned by Enbridge, and the pipes are of the same size and type as the one that ruptured in the Marshall, Mi oil spill of 2010. Download the full report by Jeff Alexander and Beth Wallace from the National Wildlife Federation: Sunken Hazard: Aging oil pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac an ever-present threat to the Great Lakes (pdf)

 

Location of the two pipelines crossing the strait of Mackinac. Source:

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

 

Google Earth drawing of the approximate location of the pipelines and the depth profile of the canyon at this line. Note the deep canyon, which is thought to be the remainder of a deep river canyon during one of the glacial periods that is now submerged. The red line depicts my guess of how the pipelines are partially on the ground of the strait but hang unsupported over the canyon.

More info and very insightful comments also here.

The speakers that I listened to were

Bill Latka • TC350 – Solutions

The two 20 inch pipes below the speaker's podium are identical pipes that are submerged in the Strait of Mackinac - and burst open in the pipeline accident in Marshall, MI

Cecil Pavlat • Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians- This was the speaker I was most impressed of. He stressed that global climate change is not only harming us humans but all other innocent species on this planet - and that we humans cannot longer hear and listen what Earth is telling us. That we lost our ways - and our purpose in the world - and as I see it are destroyers of the World when we were meant to be Stewards...

 

During his speech - wood smoke was carried around our gathering - and all the sudden - a group of eagles circled above us... as if Earth is trying to tell us that we are not alone in this fight....

Beth Wallace • National Wildlife Federation: Author of Sunken Hazard report - mentioned above

Bill McKibben • 350.org, Author, Environmentalist

Jeff Spoelstra • Kalamazoo River Watershed Council

Oil Train Explosion: Tragic Reminder of High Cost of Fossil Fuel Dependency

Explosion follows recent direct action against oil train transport: "It's devastating that the the thing we were most afraid of happening did."
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

from null Common Dreams, Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. Independent, non-profit newscenter since 1997.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/07

Response to the DT article: Health Department leaving oil regulation toDEQ

While I appreciate any news keeping the public aware of this topic, this article contained factual and implied misinformation that I will address with this response. A copy of this blog post will go to Patricia Bourgeois, Lenawee county health officer, Lou Schineman and Kristy Shimko, Michigan DEQ, and the Adrian city commissioners with the request to comment.

1. I do not think that the county's (or the city's) responsibility ends because a higher entity is watching upon us. If these authorities are not protecting our health and the integrity of air and water as essential resources adequately, then the county's health department(, and the city) are obliged to step in! I will provide good arguments that exactly that is needed.

2. The DEQ is NOT monitoring surface water, ground water or air quality near drilling or processing facilities. There are no baseline tests nor any follow-up tests done that could show changes through the activities of that industry. The burden of proof is once more on citizens to arrange for such tests and to do so - restricting them to only certain certified and very expensive test labs - and requiring commercial lab staff to take the samples - thus even raising costs further - which in the end leads to not many citizens being able to test their - our vital resources.

3. Most site visits and checkups (which do NOT include actual sampling!) are done by the oil and gas companies themselves. The DEQ is understaffed and instead of raising permit fees to have enough money to adequately monitor the activities of oil and gas drilling and processing, it is simply assumed that the oil and gas companies are honest and doing a good objective job in self-monitoring themselves. This is more than wishful thinking as corporations are by law required to maximize shareholder profit even at the cost of externalizing (environmental) costs - meaning having somebody else (often the government) pay the bill.

4. Lou Schineman, district manager of the DEQ’s Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals - or the staff writer Dennis Pelham, or an anonymous editor is wrong (does not know better or is misleading) when they state: "The gas being burned is basically the same as what is piped into businesses and homes and burned in furnaces, stoves, clothes dryers and water heaters". Several publications analyzing flare gases and volatiles found high concentration of toxic and cancerous BTEXs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) and other compounds in flare gases. They partially originate from the oil and gas deposits themselves and come up in the extraction process, or are in drilling aid chemicals or site treatment chemicals. I am more than happy to produce a full list of publications and chemicals upon request. Most of these dangerous chemicals are NOT in the natural gas that we use in our houses - the gas companies are required to take these dangerous chemicals out before delivering the natural gas to the customers.

5. Kristy Shimko - or the staff writer Dennis Pelham, or an anonymous editor are wrong when they say that "the flares are burning methane and nitrogen". Methane yes (about 65% of the flammable composition), but nitrogen does not burn and is as such not flared off. While it is great that the DEQ monitors for hydrogen sulfide, that should not be the only thing they do (see above)!

6. Why is the industry permitted to flare off and WASTE a potential energy resource while POLLUTING the air for SO LONG (more than 6 months)? They should NOT be able to acquire permits to start drilling before they have the infrastructure to collect and market the gases in place!

7. If flares are located on the country-side with maybe one farmhouse close to the flare (I am idealizing here - in the Irish Hills it is often many houses, and unfortunately not only owned by the profiteer of the royalties), it is an entirely different situation within the city of Adrian with quite a few residences around the flare on Witt Farm.

8. In addition to the danger to air and water by the drilling operations and the processing facilities (tank farms), the highest chances of oil and gas spills occur during loading and unloading (e.g. into trucks) as well as during transportation (by pipelines and trucks). Both areas are to my knowledge not regulated by the DEQ - and therefore the county health department cannot depend on the DEQ to safeguard health in these error-prone sectors of the oil and gas business. Looking on the shortcomings of DOT regulations for pipelines (remember the 2010 pipeline accident near Kalamazoo, Michigan?) and trucks (several accidents involving oil trucks every year) - the nearly operational pipeline from Heritage Park (and soon other surrounding drill sites) to the Witt Farm cutting through the River Raisin floodplain, and the increased truck traffic that the central facility on Witt Farm will bring to the city once more wells are connected, the county health department (and the City of Adrian) obviously have to get and stay involved to safeguard the health of our citizens!

Corrections of the Recent Article in the Toledo Blade

As much I appreciate the Blade reporting about the activities of the oil and gas industry in Adrian in their recent article: http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2013/05/13/Adrian-residents-air-concerns-about-oil-wells-in-popular-park.html , several parts of the article were incorrect, misleading or my statements were not properly presented:
1. The structure on the well in Heritage Park is NOT a drilling rig like the one a worker was injured on but a approx. 30 ft. high pressure cap.
2. I stressed to the journalist what a gamble is played with environmental integrity when putting 5 pipes over about a mile 4 ft. underground to pump crude oil from wells in the park to the central processing facility crossing the flood plain of River Raisin, going underneath Beaver Creek and climbing 80 ft up the floodplain bluff to the tank farm. Unfortunately, this did not find its way into the article.
3. My concerns about the air quality around the central processing facility on Witt Farm follow the fact that poisonous and cancer-causing gases and vapors of currently 2 wells are flared off inside of a chimney on Witt Farm - and as soon the pipeline is connected - two more wells from Heritage Park will be flared.
4. In addition, I spoke of Heritage Park not being my sanctuary but a sanctuary for animals, plants, landscapes and ecosystems that are rare or even absent in most of Lenawee County, Michigan today - and especially absent close to the City of Adrian.