Gas Compressor Failure Leads to Production Delays at Kentucky Industrial Sites

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3500 workers were idled at the Toyota Plany alone...

Published Saturday, January 29, 2000, in the Herald-Leader

Engine loss leads to temporary gas cutback

CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU

A compressor engine failed early yesterday morning in a natural gas pumping station in Stanton, prompting Columbia Gas to ask its large-volume customers to avoid using gas for a few hours.

No gas escaped from the system, but the loss of the engine caused pressure to drop below levels needed to supply more than residences for a few hours.

The failure was detected at about 3:30 a.m., and gas company officials had the pressure back up by midmorning.

Among those affected was the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Georgetown, which delayed starting its production line for about 31/2 hours yesterday.

Its 3,500 workers were given training sessions or told to conduct general cleanup around the plant during the downtime.

``We used the time to do things we don't always have the time to get around to,'' said Toyota plant spokesman Tom Harris, who said the production line started up about 10 a.m., instead of its normal start time of 6:30 a.m.

Gas officials asked industrial and large-volume users in Lexington, Versailles, Georgetown, Winchester, Frankfort, Paris, Cynthiana and Maysville to avoid unnecessary use of the gas so residential service would not be interrupted.

Gas company spokesmen could not say how many large-volume customers complied with their request yesterday.

Link:

http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/012900/localdocs/29gasline.htm

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 02, 2000

Answers

Gas company spokesmen could not say how many large-volume customers complied with their request yesterday.

They all did. They're not stupid. They didn't want to do anything that would harm the community or their own industrial processes. Besides that, they write off any damage or lost production on their insurance. Anyway, it's a wonder that weren't some major problems here - especially with start-up (pressure-up). Very fortunate.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 02, 2000.


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