OT >>> (Oil Topic) After oil spill, Sunoco submits plan to upgrade 2 pipelines

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After oil spill, Sunoco submits plan to upgrade 2 pipelines

phillynews.com

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 12, 2000

Answers

what is interesting about thsi is the defacto denial that the pipeline that leaked ruptured from high pressure. That suggests to me that some pointed questions may be being asked..

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 13, 2000.

After oil spill, Sunoco submits plan to upgrade 2 pipelines

By Sandy Bauers

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Less than a week after an oil spill at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Sunoco has submitted a plan to federal officials to modernize two 50-year-old pipelines, the one that ruptured and another one nearby.

More than 70,000 gallons of oil leaked into a large pond on the refuge, also known as Tinicum Marsh, last Saturday. Officials have blamed the leak on a three-inch crack in a weld that joins two pieces of pipe at a bend in the line.

"We've got a plan that we like the looks of. They're going to be giving the community essentially what is a brand new pipeline," said Richard Felder, associate administrator of the Office of Pipeline Safety, a division of the federal Department of Transportation.

The two pipelines run under Philadelphia International Airport, and plans already called for rerouting them to allow for construction of a new passenger terminal.

However, yesterday a Federal Aviation Administration official expressed "dismay" that Sunoco went ahead with construction of the rerouted pipelines "beyond the point" for which it had received conditional approval.

In a letter to Alfred Testa Jr., an airport official, Robert B. Mendez, manager of the FAA's Airports Division, said the conditional approval was a result of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's concerns "about the potential inadequacy" of Sunoco's "proposed leak prevention, detection and spill response measures for the new pipeline."

Sunoco spokesman Gerald Davis said the plan submitted to the Office of Pipeline Safety addressed those concerns and met all requirements. He said he could not comment on the letter because he had not seen it but added that Sunoco had acquired all the necessary permits and did not proceed with any construction beyond what had been approved.

Bradley Campbell, the EPA's regional administrator, said he was pleased that the FAA has recognized that Sunoco "needs to implement stricter safeguards before this pipeline can be used."

"The FAA is making clear they're holding the bar high and are united with us on insisting that Sun implement appropriate safeguards on this pipeline," Campbell said.

Sunoco officials faxed the pipeline update plan to the federal pipeline safety office yesterday, as cleanup at the spill site continued. At last count, 70,100 gallons of oil had been removed from under the 10-inch-thick ice of a pond in the refuge, which incorporates the largest freshwater tidal marsh in the state.

Much of Sunoco's plan calls for replacing all the "mitered" joints in the pipes, which are an outmoded method of pipeline construction. The weld crack occurred at one of those joints.

Mitered joints are constructed similar to the way a picture frame is made. Two pieces of pipe are cut on an angle, then welded together to make a bend.

The steel pipes are 24 inches in diameter with walls that are a half- inch thick.

Today, bends in lines are constructed using pre-made elbows, into which straight sections of pipe are fitted and then welded. It is roughly comparable to - but vastly larger than - household plumbing.

The Sunoco plan calls for replacing all the mitered joints on the line that ruptured and an identical line next to it. There could be several dozen such joints because the line changes direction and elevation many times.

Sunoco also may eliminate some joints by reconfiguring the lines so that there are fewer bends.

Davis said Sunoco did not yet have cost estimates for the new plan.

The pipes run for three miles from the crude oil off-loading docks on Hog Island to the Sunoco tank farm.

The new joints - rounded and smoother - also will allow Sunoco to run computerized internal inspection devices through the lines.

Called "pigs," these instruments run on batteries and have computerized instrumentation that measures the thickness of the pipe walls - declining thickness being a sign of corrosion and weakness - and other aspects of pipe integrity.

Sunoco's plan also includes steps to restart the line.

As part of a pressure test, the line would be purged of any lingering oil and filled with water, which then would be brought to a pressure of 350 pounds. The line is designed to operate at 300 pounds of pressure.

If the pipes and joints hold, the line would then operate at 125 pounds of pressure. Before it ruptured, the highest pressure was 150 pounds, according to Sunoco.

"This is a tremendous safety margin for the community," Felder said.

Felder said plans call for the work to be completed by April 2001.

Three more Sunoco pipelines run through the refuge, taking oil from the tank farm to the Sunoco refinery on the Schuylkill. Although those also have mitered joints, they are smaller, measuring 10, 12 and 16 inches. These also will be inspected.



-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), February 13, 2000.


Thank you for the copy/paste Hokie. =)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 14, 2000.

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