HISTORY
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LNG PIPEINE IN WALES
Two new terminals to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) have been developed on the outskirts of Milford Haven by South Hook LNG and Dragon LNG. The LNG will arrive by ocean-going tanker. On arrival at the terminals it will be transferred ashore into LNG storage tanks and then converted back into natural gas for onward transportation through National Grid's gas transmission system.
To connect the new terminals, and to reinforce the existing national gas transmission System, National Grid have built two new pipelines. The pipelines, which are 1220mm in diameter and 316km in length, carry natural gas as used in the home and run underground from Milford Haven to Aberdulais, near Neath, and from Felindre, near Swansea to Tirley in Gloucestershire.
The gas pressure in the pipline is 94 bar (1.363 pounds per square inch) and can be compared with a pressure washer. In addition to the pipelines, a number of above ground installations are required. Construction work has been completed on all except one of these.
Final commissioning is due to be carried out once the gas begins to flow from the terminals at Milford Haven.To enable the pipelines to operate at full capacity, Nation Grid need to build a new pressure reduction installation (PRI) near to Tirley, in Gloucestershire. In December 2008 a planning application was submitted to Tewkesbury Borough Council for permission to build a new PRI on land to the east of Flat Farm in Tirley. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction will take approximately 15 months.
LATEST NEWS
National Grid intends to build a Pressure Reduction Installation in open countryside in Gloucestershire and they have announced that they want to do this on land to the east of Flat Farm, near Tirley. They lodged a planning application for a site with Tewkesbury Borough Council in December 2008. Tewkesbury BC hope to decide whether or not to grant planning permission at a meeting of the Planning Committee on 11th August 2009.
Active Safety Campaigns
CAPRI - Campaign Against Pressure Reduction Installation - see Menu.
'NO to 94 BAR'
This is another active group with concerns about the high pressure proposed for the pipeline - see their report in the LIBRARY (Menu).
See LINKS in Menu for access to the Nation Grid website.
July 2009
Report from the Brecon Beacons
Being on the Brecon site for a month takes you on a still but motionful journey through bureaucracy, human interaction and intervention, passion, apathy and so much spirit that words fail to reach. Any journey travelled is an experience by a union of people which, despite changes from day to day in its size and variety, is always secured by a strong bond. You experience the highs and lows of people that are so naturally in touch with their surroundings; who live in the outdoors, their life is protesting. But it is so much more than that. It is a way of being that so many see as escapism from responsibilities, but responsibilities that have been built upon falsities of city life and its’ expectations. Where actually city life is where people go to escape the real world. The city exists upon a false realism, a hyper reality that we have created which detaches us from our natural state of being and from our understanding of our surroundings and our interactions with one another on a more basic but intuitive level. Living on protest sites deals with the reprocutions of city life, and aims to instigate a more sustainable way of living that avoids the ripples we release turning into tidal waves in places we cannot see and have no connection with.
When I first arrived at the site there were only 3 people there, but after putting out an eviction call (as it was thought at that time that eviction was imminent), more people arrived. On arrival the greetings are always ones of welcome and appreciation, no matter who you are or however long you plan on staying. One of the most warming things about the protest sites is the gratitude, sincerity and immediate sense of friendship gained. As soon as you arrive you are part of a unit where trust is paramount, but everyone is accepted unless they prove themselves to be detrimental to the group.
Currently there are thought to be only 60 permanent tree protesters living on sites across the UK, of which there are 6: Camp Bling, Nine Ladies, Titnore Woods, Brecon, Bilston Glen, Tara Valley. At the moment Brecon and the pipeline protests are receiving the most attention and dedication as the threat and gravity of the pipeline is so huge.
“National Grid have made plans to create a 120 mile pipeline to supply 20% of the supply of gas in Britain. The pipe will transport Liquid Natural Gas (LNG, gas that has been cooled to liquid form at -161oC) from Milford Haven in Pembroke, South Wales, to Tirley in Gloucestershire. The route will go through Pembroke, Camarthen, the Swansea Valleys, Brecon Beacons National Park, Hay on Wye and Ross on Wye.”
Right now construction work is taking place on either side of the site. Blockades and actions have been carried out against the work, but the sheer size of the project and the vast amounts of money involved is too great a force to stop. The best we can do is to put them off certain areas of ecological importance, try to get them to reconsider the size of the project and increase their costs. We believe that because of all protests that have taken place along the 120mile route of the pipe, that National Grid will be facing a 36million pound fine for not meeting their deadline of completion in October.
“National Grid’s Health and Safety Report can be seen on their website, in short there have been 72 members of the public injured (including fatalities) directly linked to their operations and 196 uncontrolled gas leaks within the last two years. This new pipeline is much bigger and faster than any other, they have admitted to having no experience in a pipeline of this size, the gas is odourless and a hole has been guaranteed to form within thirty years.”
We also hope that our protesting and attracting attention of the media and the locals will force National Grid to be more aware and active in the prevention of accidents and leaks which threaten the lives and safety of locals and wildlife surrounding.
The significance of this fight and of the lack of knowledge people have of it (not just in Wales but the whole of the UK) is very hard to take in. The amount of money being pumped into this destructive tunnelling is horrifying, considering the government’s aims for carbon reduction and the relatively small amount of money that is being spent on renewable energy. It’s cool to be green but only in our own social capacity, which doesn’t actually encompass the indirect consumption we fuel. The horrifying danger of this pipe existing and the fact that its construction was permitted really brings home the lack of trust we are able to place in our government.
You can get involved in the protests or raise awareness of its atrocity. Simply by telling one friend about this you will be helping. We are not about trying to force our opinions onto people, but we aim to instigate thought into the way we live our lives, what we can believe and how we can improve the state of what we have been destroying for so long where right now the reprocutions aren’t visible but soon will be.
For more information on how to get involved please go to www.fightthepipe.co.uk, www.risingtide.org, www.indymedia.org, www.climatecamp.org.uk, www.campaigncc.org, for a more in depth report of what’s going on on the Brecon site please go to www.myspace.com/flagsoffreedom
Written by Claudia Moseley.
(i) & (ii) taken from www.fightthepipe.co.uk
A close look at a big risk
The news of a 197-mile (316km) long high-pressure gas pipeline is relatively new to most people, if they have even heard about it, as many still haven’t. For some of us though the story goes back nearly 5 years.
There are many reasons to be concerned about this pipeline. National Grid are taking many risks in attempt to monopolise the European Gas Industry, the pipeline is not a necessary development and will not benefit the residents of the UK, yet it is causing a great deal of upset to thousands of people. Why should you be concerned?
National Grid have successfully kept the development of this pipeline quiet, several years ago the government was put into a worrying position over the gas situation in the UK, it was realised that Britain now has a shortage of gas and that gas supply would have to come from external sources. With this panic in mind they basically told gas companies to do what ever they could to do ensure a good supply of gas.
National Grid’s plan is to create a 197-mile (316km) pipeline to supply 20% of the supply of gas in Britain. The pipe will transport Liquid Natural Gas from Milford Haven in Pembroke, South Wales, to Tirley in Gloucestershire. Gas will be transferred through a single 48" pipe at high pressure (94 BAR = approx 1,400 lbs per sq inch), which has never been tried before in the UK. The route will go through Pembroke, Camarthen, the Swansea Valleys, Brecon Beacons National Park, Hay on Wye, Ross on Wye and Gloucestershire.
This is the biggest extension since the late 1960’s with a cost of £800million for the pipeline and £6 billion for the terminal at Milford Haven.
So what is Liquid Natural Gas or LNG? It is a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases found in porous geological formations beneath the earth’s surface. The principal component is methane. Natural gas is a fossil fuel formed when layers of buried plants and animals decompose over a long period of time. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel is odourless and colourless.
To transport it the gas is liquefied, by reducing its temperature to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure. It remains a liquid at -116 degrees Fahrenheit and 673 psig. In volume, it occupies 1/600 of that of the vapour at standard conditions. Once brought into the terminal the gas is warmed and pumped into pipeline.
Two gas terminals are being built in Milford Haven in West Wales where gas ships arriving at Milford Haven, eventually at the rate of six a week will come from Qatar and, in the case of the smaller terminal further into the harbour, Malaysia. Milford Haven will see around 600 LNG dockings each year under these plans. Ships carrying LNG will start arriving at Milford Haven by the end of 2007.
Planning permission for the gas terminals was granted between 2003 and 2004. At the same time, worries about the risks of LNG prompted the formation of a pressure group called Safe Haven.
Why should this development come through the heartland of rural Wales? Reports suggest the terminal and re-gasification plant should be sited offshore and brought in somewhere along the Bristol Channel. This shows that corporate interests are at stake and even vie with each other to determine that the route of the pipeline does not go through their land.
The answer is that Qatar, which has the third largest reserves of LNG in the world after Russia and Iran, is the staunchest ally of the USA in the Middle East. Coincidentally the LNG company operating out of Milford is owned by the US giant Carlyle group, whose involvement with the Bush Neo-cons is well documented, and who stand to make enormous profits.
In the USA it is illegal to put an LNG harbour within 5 km of a human settlement. The campaigning organisation point to recent recommendations from the USA that these terminals should be sited away from populated areas because of the particular hazards posed by this fuel. A tanker fire, which could be caused by collision in the narrow waterway or by terrorist activity, could result in a 'pool' fire that could cause second-degree burns at a distance of two miles. LNG plants and tankers contain such huge amounts of highly inflammable and explosive fuel that they are considered ideal terrorist targets.
A tanker fire resulting in a 'pool' fire (gas on water) is probably the most dangerous type of event according to US experts, such as Jerry Havens, professor of chemical engineering at Arkansas University, and James Fay of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A test 10,000 gallon LNG pool fire resulted in a cylindrical fire 50ft diameter and 250ft high. Each tank/hold on a typical LNG tanker would be about 6.5 million gallons (i.e. 650 times bigger than the test fire) and there are usually five or six tanks/holds on a LNG ship totalling 33 million gallons (i.e. 3,300 times bigger than the test fire). Also the fire would be more intense than a petrol fire.
James Fay, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says LNG pouring from a tanker at minus 160 degrees Celsius would pool over a large area. If ignited, it would generate such intense heat that it could burn someone up to a mile away. It's this calculation, which prompted Safe Haven's claim that LNG in Pembrokeshire could endanger twenty thousand lives.
According to an authoritative US government 'General Accounting Office' (GAO) report a tanker fire would cause second-degree burns within one minute at a distance of two miles (3km). The Petroplus terminal is approximately only one mile from Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven town and two large oil refineries. The proposed Exxon terminal is only one mile west of Milford Haven town, and the waterway shore to shore is only one mile wide.
Despite the odd grounding and collision, no LNG tanker has ever suffered a serious leak. But in Boston where the two airliners that destroyed the twin towers took off on 9/11 a terrorist attack is the real worry. LNG tankers entering Boston harbour have strictly enforced moving two-mile exclusion zones around them due to collision and terrorist risk.
As in Britain, America's reliance on LNG is increasing rapidly. More than twenty terminals are proposed, and most have run into heavy opposition. Fifty miles south of Boston is the city of Fall River. It could certainly use millions of dollars from a new LNG terminal, but many citizens are fighting it. Opponents of the LNG plant voice the familiar concerns about safety. But they also say that Fall River, which also has two coal-fired power stations, has suffered enough from the energy industry. They want a different future, as do the people of Milford Haven and those all along the route of the UK pipeline.
The two LNG terminals in Milford Haven would be the first in possibly a number of schemes in ports around the UK. Due to the serious fire risk onshore, LNG terminals have been successfully opposed in Italy in 2001 and the only two LNG terminals currently proposed for the US are offshore installations.
The HSE was unable to complete a risk assessment of a ship-based spill on LNG on a jetty due to a ‘shortage of data’ The HSE eventually decided (after some confusion) that these concerns were outside its remit and thus it did not have to address them. It said responsibility lies with the Milford Haven Port Authority. The Port Authority say that they have done a risk assessment of all water-based dangers and are happy with the Petroplus facility. Harbour master Mark recently said: “I would be a fool to say nothing could happen, but what we have to do is manage the risks to a tolerable level.”
Once the LNG has docked it will then be warmed up to a gas and pumped through miles of pipeline under the ground near homes, schools and workplaces at an unprecedented high pressure.
The pipeline is being built in two phases. Phase 1 is almost complete and phase 2 is likely to be finished by the autumn. There has been many set backs along the way for National Grid and some feel that they will be struggling to get the pipeline running by October 2007, the date the project must be completed by. For each month past the deadline, National Grid will pay £2-£6million, up to a maximum of £36million if the project isn't completed by March 2008.
The first pipeline, phase 1, is 75-miles (120km) long. It starts at a new Above Ground Installation (AGI) at Herbrandston, west of Milford Haven, and adjacent to the South Hook LNG import terminal. It passes north of Milford Haven to another AGI to the east of the town at Waterston, close to the site of the second new terminal being developed by Dragon LNG.
The pipeline heads north from here, passing to the east of Haverfordwest, crossing the A40 and running in parallel with it in an easterly direction before passing to the south of Narberth and St Clears to reach Llangynog. Here National Grid will need to construct a block valve site. Llangynog is the approximate mid-point of this pipeline.
From here the pipeline continues southeast, first crossing the River Towy and then the M4 north east of Llanelli, it then passes through the compression station at Felindre where phase 2 will start from before heading eastwards to cross the River Clydach. The pipeline continues eastwards, running through Trebanos finally connecting with the existing National Gas Transmission System to the north west of Aberdulais in the Vale of Neath, at another new AGI at Cilfrew, where pressure will be reduced so gas can flow into the pipeline network serving south Wales.
Consent to construct the Milford Haven to Aberdulais natural gas pipeline was granted in December 2005. Main construction work began in March 2006, and the majority of the pipe was installed by the end of the year. Testing will take place during 2007.
On one side of the Tawe Valley, Cwmtawe, in Welsh, is a village called Trebanos. In the recent past, the local geology has been deemed so unstable that some residents of Trebanos have been refused a mains gas supply. To the surprise of many local people, National Grid's plan for the village was to use explosives to make way for its pipeline. In November last year, the DTI announced that it had ruled out any blasting in Trebanos, forcing the local route of the pipe to be prepared using a much slower technique known as "pecking". A letter from the department to National Grid said that Alastair Darling, the secretary of state for the DTI, had opted to "err on the side of caution". Councillor Huw Evans said the ruling proved "that local politics can work". The BBC reported that National Grid was "disappointed".
At what was previously a farm in Trebanos, the pipeline has started to be laid, adjacent to the disgusting mess that National Grid are creating. Another sign can be seen entitled “Mynydd Gellionnen, An Uncommon Common” The sign gives information on the rare habitat that is this area of land, going on to describe its beauty. “In summer, Mynydd Gellionnen comes alive with colour, thousands of delicate and tempting flowers that bees, beetles, butterflies and moths take advantage of…” This is such a beautiful area of unspoilt land and National Grid are ploughing their way through it.
In November 2006 activists opposed to this project squatted the pipeline at Trebanos with the landowners permission. National Grid had misinformed an elderly landowner, leading her to believe that the pipes would be of normal size, as she has encountered before. Before she realised National Grid had dug up half her land and placed monster pipes in her garden. The activists remained in the pipe for 10 days until threat of arrest hung over the landowner.
Inspired by the initial protest, camps sprung up at Milford Haven, Trebanos and Cilfrew, with locals and activists regularly disrupting work. January saw a number of actions; Residents of Milford Haven pitched a tent along the closed public footpath that crossed the construction site. Several activists went to the construction site in Alltwen. Where they climbed onto a crane preventing work for 5 and half hours. National Grid showed their concern for their “safety is paramount” policy by starting the engine and moving the crane where one activist was attached by his neck, see the footage.
In Trebanos National Grid came back to their construction site after the Christmas break to find it housed two tents, over 10 protesters and three dogs. One tent was continually manned day and night, in miserable weather for 17 days until its eviction. Later on that month workers arrived at the construction site to start their destructive work only to find that during the night the fencing blocking the footpath had mysteriously moved, re-opening the site. The first hour of the workers day was spent re-arranging the fencing. At the end of the month five people were arrested on the Trebanos construction site for picnicking on the illegally closed footpath.
Residents who fought the gas pipeline terminus being built in Cilfrew celebrated a High Court victory for a while earlier on in the year. A judge had struck down a decision to grant planning permission as unlawful. The controversial scheme was given the green light by Neath Port Talbot Council’s planning committee in September last year by a 13 to 12 majority.
But four councillors did not cast their votes because they had attended an earlier protest meeting against the project - although they adopted a neutral stance and did not go on a site visit.
At London’s High Court, Linda Ware, of Main Road, Cilfrew, spearheaded a judicial review challenge, arguing the councillors were wrongly advised not to vote. The quartet were told that if they did take part, it could lead to complaints to an ombudsman or legal challenges. In the High Court Mr Justice Collins said the councillors should not have been warned not to take part.
When councillors voted again recently however the vote was more emphatic with 22 councillors backing the application and 14 voting against. David Mercer of Transco, which is building the pipe, said after the meeting: "The plant is absolutely safe, as the meeting heard the Health an Safety Executive are entirely satisfied. "I do understand the residents concerns but we have already moved this installation further away from the village."
The second pipeline, phase 2 is 122-miles (196km) long. It will leave Felindre in a north westerly direction, crossing the River Loughor and then going north, following the A483 from Ammanford to the north west of Llandeilo. It will then cross the River Towy, traverse the north west of the town and follow the A40 north east, crossing the River Towy again to the north of Llangadog.
The pipeline then travels east towards Brecon, before turning north to follow the A470 and A438 to Hay-on-Wye. It travels south east in the direction of the B4348 to where it crosses the A645, continuing south east to re-join the existing National Gas Transmission System (NTS), at a new Above Ground Installation (AGI) at Treaddow, near the existing Peterstow compressor station.
It then moves eastwards, north of the M50, passing under the M50 near junction 3, and continues eastwards to connect again with the existing NTS at a new AGI to be built at Corse, near the existing AGI at Tirley, between Newent and Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
Brecon Beacons National Park Authority published a robust 70-page impact report. detailing its continued concerns regarding plans for a major new gas pipeline, 20 miles of which is proposed to run through the Park. The report, which provides details of the Authority’s views on a wide range of issues relating to the plans, including the pipeline’s effect on farmland, wildlife, woodlands, hedgerows, rivers, water table, geology, archaeology, rights of way, traffic, local economy and a whole host of other issues, is a response to National Grid’s published Environmental Statement for the 122 mile Felindre to Tirley pipeline.
Some of the 20 miles cutting through the National Park goes directly into part of the newly designated Geopark area, containing some of the most spectacular geology in the world. Brecon Beacons National Park Authority says, “We believe that this pipeline contradicts UK policy on sustainable development. Transco has scrapped earlier plans to run the pipeline through the south of the Park and the World Heritage Site owing to the number of environmental designations there. However, this new route still has to fulfil the rules of sustainable development, i.e. meeting economic, environmental and social needs – and we don’t believe that it does.” The Park Authority also says “We are also concerned by the speed at which the pipeline is planned to be constructed, which is going to make good quality restoration of the landscape very difficult to achieve.”
The pipeline is also to run through a section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, which is a Site of Scientific Special Interest. Just opposite the Brecon Tree Camp there is a beautifully maintained area with a sign that reads: “You are about to walk through an environmentally sensitive area that is classified as a SSSI. The area hosts a wide range of flora and fauna, and is a wildlife habitat for many species, including the otter, thank you for your help in aiding us to conserve this special environment.” The footpath from this sign leads to the Tree Camp. A little further up this path are badger sets, owl’s nests, and other habitats, ancient woodlands, untouched land and a stream. All of this will be destroyed in order for this pipeline to go ahead.
There are many other areas that National Grid are destroying, National Grid even believe that they can resort it back to its original natural beauty. It will take roughly thirty years for the land to develop back to what it was pre-national grid and another thousand years for the trees. There will be a corroding gas pipeline running beneath the surface of the National Park. Any damage to this pipe will affect the land surrounding it.
Earlier on this year permission was given to route the gas pipe through the park. Mrs Mary Taylor, Chairman for Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said; “Naturally, we are extremely disappointed at today’s decision. Throughout the entire pipeline process, we have maintained a clear and consistent position that we do not believe it is appropriate to route a gas pipeline through the National Park. As a National Park we have a clear duty to protect the fragile landscape of this area, which is of extreme national and international importance. We have raised many detailed concerns regarding this huge project infrastructure but we will continue to work closely with National Grid and their contractors to try to ensure that the best quality standards of environmental restorations are achieved.” The National Park Authority said “We are the only National Park in the UK to be awarded exclusive membership of the European Geopark and the UNESCO Global Geopark network, and a large section of this pipeline intends to disrupt some of most sensitive environmental areas in the UK, including Fforest Fawr Geopark, our precious mountain uplands and special areas of conservation, like the Usk and Wye Valleys.
In January, protesters set up a tree camp in part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The protesters are trying to prevent the destruction of the beautiful ancient woodland and Sites of Scientific Special Interest. The tree site is in direct route of the pipeline and therefore eviction is necessary before the pipeline can continue. This site has become the new home for several protesters and there are many visitors supporting this tree camp. The camp is on the A40 approximately 5 miles west of Brecon. The people at the Brecon camp desperately need more donations of equipment, food and money. They also welcome other activists who want to stay and get involved.
Being on the Brecon site takes you on a journey through bureaucracy, human interaction and intervention, passion, apathy and so much spirit that words fail to reach. You experience the highs and lows of people that are so naturally in touch with their surroundings, who live in the outdoors, their life is protesting. Living on protest sites aims to instigate a more sustainable way of living that avoids the ripples we release turning into tidal waves in places we cannot see and have no connection with. On arrival the greetings are always ones of welcome and appreciation, no matter who you are or however long you plan on staying. One of the most warming things about the protest sites is the gratitude, sincerity and immediate sense of friendship gained. As soon as you arrive you are part of a unit where trust is paramount, but everyone is accepted unless they prove themselves to be detrimental to the group. Currently there are thought to be only 60 permanent tree protesters living on sites across the UK, of which there are 6; Camp Bling, Nine Ladies, Titnore Woods, Brecon, Bilston Glen and Tara Valley. At the moment Brecon and the pipeline protests are receiving the most attention and dedication as the threat and gravity of the pipeline is so huge.
In February, a group of activists went to raise awareness about the pipeline in Brecon Town Centre. They were joined by Rhythms of Resistance samba band who played alongside the stall and handed out flyers. Rhythms of Resistance also went to raise awareness at a car boot sale in Clydach the following day.
Work in Brecon started in April, nearby the Brecon protest site there has been spottings of protected species, badgers, owls and bats. National Grid will recklessly destroy their homes, they have been informed and they seem to care very little about it.
At the end of the 197-mile pipeline National Grid is seeking to site a gas pressure reduction installation (PRI) on about 6 acres of land with 12 chimneys, each 8.5 metres high in Corse near Gloucester. Initially 20% of the whole of the UK's gas supply would pass through the proposed PRI though this would inevitably rise towards 40% or more in the future. The gas pressure needs to be reduced from 94 BAR to 75 BAR before joining the existing small installation in Tirley. National Grid says, that it has carried out a risk assessment of the PRI at Corse, but it cannot prove it, because the exercise was never consolidated in a documentary form. That is remarkable.
As the proposed site would be un-manned and protected only by CCTV cameras and low-voltage electrified fencing, the risk of a malicious damage by terrorists is high. The site is unsuitable for adequate protection for the local communities and for the supply of up to 40% of the UK’s gas in the future. It would become a focal site for a would be terrorist to create a small explosion resulting in a massive local gas explosion while cutting off nearly half the UK’s source of gas for some time.
The site is close to a busy and dangerous road junction. There have been a great number of accidents on this road. The very prominent position, the floodlights, chimneystacks and high noise levels during venting will further distract drivers. In the event of an emergency at the PRI, which occurs on average once a year. The plant will be turned off remotely and a warning will not be possible with the gas released at full speed (94BAR) over a period of about 15 minutes. Many, many tonnes of gas will be released into the atmosphere beside the road. Imagine the implications of a spark from the road.
The local council rejected plans for the PRI and recently there has been a public inquiry. Villagers stepped forward to protest against the plans. Residents told the public inquiry that worries over safety, noise and visual impact were reasons to ditch National Grid’s plans for the pressure reduction installation. More than 10 councillors, environmental campaigners and residents took the stand at Corse and Staunton Village Hall to air their views at the inquiry.
Carole Magloyden, chairman of the Corse and Staunton Parish Plan Committee, had compiled the opinions of the people of Corse and surrounding villages. “I can categorically state that no one I’ve spoken to in Corse, Staunton, Hartpury or Upleadon supports the proposals,” she told the hearing. “There is significant mistrust of National Grid among the residents of our community who not only perceive it as a large corporation with no regard for local people or the rural environment, but have suffered directly from the corporation’s lack of consultation, misinformation and lies.” Carole outlined main areas of concern from her point of view, including worries over damage to the rural environment, visual intrusion and light pollution, noise and the danger of having such a large plant so close. She said: “The risks are wholly unacceptable to our community. “We are being asked to put our homes and indeed our lives at risk and for what? To save National Grid money, no more and no less.”
Other speakers included Dr John Heap, of Church Lane in nearby Eldersfield. He said: “Evidence produced in the recent terrorist trial at the Old Bailey in London included disks containing the maps of the national network of gas pipes and it’s above-ground installations which would have been used as targets for disruption of national energy supplies, and at the same time put communities like ours in immense danger.” Submissions were also made by residents, including farmer Phillip Burford, Tewkesbury borough and Gloucestershire county councillor Philip Awford, Tirley parish councillor Margaret Dale, Mary Newton of the Forest of Dean Friends of the Earth and Brian Parsons, who lives at Linkend Road, Corse Lawn.
The Public Inquiry ended in May. The Inspectors have indicated that they will submit their reports and recommendation to the Inspectorate on or before 17th August, or earlier if possible. The report and recommendation will then be sent to the Secretaries of State for decision.
Recently Radio 4 featured a story on this project on the You and Yours programme. The Guardian ran a big story on this after visiting the Brecon tree camp, Trebanos, Milford Haven and other areas affected by this. The Sunday Times has mentioned it and it has been in the local press in Wales and Gloucestershire since last year.
Earlier this year there was a march and rally in Trebanos to raise awareness and show opposition to the project. Claire Hall from Bristol’s Rising Tide cycled the route of pipeline giving out leaflets and talking to local residents. Along the route she met many people, most knew very little about the issues regarding the pipeline, including farmers who felt they had no choice but to give up their land to National Grid.
Despite all this most people in the UK have no idea this is happening. National Grid has insisted on ploughing on with this project regardless of public opinion. As this project has gone so far now those opposed to it understand it will not be stopped but they will carry on with the fight until the bitter end. The main aims now are to educate people about this pipeline so as future projects will come up against far more opposition much earlier on in the planning stages and to disrupt things for National Grid as much as possible so as they realise we will not let them just steamroller over our land with unsafe, ill thought out projects.
There are four main concerns open to debate on this project, environmental, climate change, safety and political issues.
Environmental:
The pipeline will have a massive effect on farmland, wildlife, woodlands, hedgerows, rivers, water table, geology, archaeology, and a wide range of flora and fauna. The area is a wildlife habitat for many species, including the otter, and bats, which are both protected species.
Areas of the effected land will be unsuitable for agriculture and trees cannot safely be planted within 10 metres of the pipeline route. The construction of the placing a pipe underground involves the land being ripped away, cutting down of trees and scaring away the natural inhabitants, it will take approximately 30 years for the land to be restored into its original condition and 1000 years for the trees. And of course if the pipeline blows up, that’s goodbye to South Wales.
National Grid will have on our rivers this summer. They want to hydrostatically test the pipes by pumping gallons of our river water through them. This year is expected to be the hottest yet and water will be a limit resource. National Grid, Transco and Nacap are neglecting serious issues.
Climate change:
National Grid are overlooking the impacts that this development will have on the climate change issues that are currently of such great concern. The pipeline is a “quick-fix”, temporary and “unnecessary” development to resolve the European gas industry problem. The gas problem will continue after the pipeline is safe to use, what will happen then?
The money that would have been saved from not doing this project could have gone into more economical, environmental, long-term alternatives. But then Britain wouldn’t have power of all the European gas. 1000 years of forest for 30 years of gas!
We need to limit global warming to a 2-degree increase, more than a 2C rise and we risk runaway climate change. Achieving this means rich countries like the UK cutting emissions by around 90% by 2030, not 60% by 2050, as the Stern report says. A 90% cut in 25 years is going to require not just new technologies, but different cultures, different economies and different expectations, in short, a different way of life.
This pipeline project will delay the transition from fossil fuels by decades at a critical moment in human history. It is a bogus solution. Talking about gas as a transition fuel is a distraction from what we urgently need, an end to the fossil fuel growth economy and a switch to clean, decentralised, renewable energy. By the time this gas pipe reaches the end of its life we will be past the year we need to have 90% cuts.
In 60 years time when all the gas has run out, people will ask why was a company allowed to destroy historically rich and ecologically diverse landscapes for such a short lived financial return This whole project is totally unnecessary. We can solve our energy needs and climate change by adopting energy efficiency measures. In this light such massive investment in wasteful technology is absurd and distracts us from the need to create long-term renewable solutions.
Safety:
There are several major safety concerns regarding this pipeline, National Grid have admitted that they have no experience of dealing with such a big pipeline.
The operating pressure (94 BAR) combined with the size of the pipes (48") is unprecedented in the UK, Europe or US near residential property. National Grid has no experience of working at this very high pressure near residential property. Gas pumped through at this speed is designed to travel in straight lines. This pipeline arches, curves and changes in height, therefore pressure points will be created, weakening the structure of the pipe. Its safety remains a mystery, which they have refused to investigate.
Dr Richard Furness, is an engineer with more than 30 years of international experience in pressure systems. He states "The problem with high pressure such as that proposed by National Grid is not just corrosion of pipe walls over time but small pinhole leaks developing which allow gas to seep out and accumulate over time. This is my concern here. Hydrostatic testing which is all National Grid proposes doing for safety checks, will not detect micro-pore defects. It means that people all along the pipeline, within 2 miles of the buried line are potentially at risk. The consequences are unimaginable". He added, "In the USA, reportable gas incidents or explosions involving gas pipe lines occur more than once a week. There were 88 incidences in 2003 and that number is rising".
This new pipeline is much bigger and faster than any other. The Health and Safety Executive have promised us a hole in the pipe within 30 years. So when the odourless gas leaks out of the hole and an unaware passer-by lights up, turns on their engine or switches a light on, we’ll have a huge explosion, expected to kill everyone within half a mile!
National Grid’s Health and Safety Report can be seen on their website, in short there have been 72 members of the public injured (including fatalities) directly linked to their operations and 196 uncontrolled gas leaks within the last two years.
National Grid’s lack of safety policies have already endangered the lives and homes of Trebanos residents, whereby they intended to use explosive in order to move rock. This area of South Wales is situated along a fault line and is prone to landslides, the results could have been horrific if it wasn’t for Trebanos locals quick thinking and reporting the case to the Department of Trade and Transport, who instantly stopped the work. The area of Trebanos was deemed to unstable to house normal gas lines to the resident’s homes, it is now to accommodate a 48inch pipeline. Safety checks will be too expensive, therefore it’s likely they will check several sections of the pipe and take an average estimate of the whole pipeline. This will create the perfect safety statistics but in reality the pipelines safety and integrity will be decreasing and having the inevitable detrimental effect on the surrounding area and its inhabitants. Within 30 years a hole is guaranteed to have formed within the pipeline and is unlikely that National Grid will have the adequate safety checks in place to detect and deal with it in a timely fashion.
They have, so far, intentionally endangered the lives of at least two protesters, nearly causing one to be hanged (you may have seen the footage) and the other was hospitalised. Two people working on the gas pipeline have been taken to hospital following an accident on site near Ammanford. A spokeswoman for the National Grid said it was believed one had a broken leg and the other a foot injury. A spokeswoman for Swansea NHS Trust confirmed two people had been admitted on Friday morning. She said one was in a serious but stable condition although the injuries were not life threatening. She added the other was expected to be discharged following treatment.
About a month ago, a man who was visiting the tree camp in Brecon was helicoptered to an intensive care unit after being struck by a Land Rover. Two suspects, described by the local press as "pipeline workers", were later arrested and released on bail. National Grid says it has "no comment to make, as this is a matter for the police".
National Grid’s “Safety is Paramount” policy seems to come after profit, success, monopoly and deceit. Corrosion has already been seen on the welds in the South Wales pipeline. In many places the routes have passed perilously close to dwellings and electrical cables.
In 1999, a family of four were killed in Scotland when a low-pressure gas pipe exploded by their home. Massive corrosion in the pipeline, and a failure on the part of National Grid/Transco to keep adequate records on what kind of pipes were being used, led to the explosion. National Grid were fined £15 million (a UK record) by a High Court following an inquiry. It was found that National Grid breached Health & Safety regulations.
In Nigeria in August 2005 eleven people died and aquatic life completely destroyed when a 28-inch Liquefied Natural Gas underground pipeline exploded. The incident resulted in a wild inferno, which engulfed an estimated 27 square kilometres. The disaster was caused by a leak in the pipe.
In Belgium in July 2004 a major natural gas pipeline exploded, killing more than 24 people and injuring 131. The blast catapulted bodies and debris as far as 500 meters. The disaster was caused by a leak in the pipe that was 36 inches in diameter and running at 71BAR pressure.
In Algeria in January 2004 a huge explosion at a key gas installation killed 23 persons and injured 74. The blast was felt for kilometres.
In Colorado in March 2003 a construction worker severed a 36-inch gas pipe and was killed in the blast. The explosion sent an orange plume of flame hundreds of feet into the air. Authorities had to wait for several hours after the fire was out to get to the dead man, as the temperature of the ground was more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
In New Mexico in August 2000 a 30-inch diameter natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured killing 12 campers who were 1.2kms away. The force of the rupture and the violent ignition of the escaping gas created a 51foot-wide crater about 113 feet along the pipe. A 49-foot section of the pipe was ejected from the crater in three pieces measuring approximately 3 feet, 20 feet, and 26 feet in length. The largest piece was found about 287 feet northwest of the crater. The accident was caused by internal corrosion.
The most horrific European rail accident of recent years happened in Russia in 1989 when an underground LNG pipeline leaked and was not detected. The explosion erupted beneath two trains carrying more than 1,200 people near the town of Ufa, killing about 645 people. The trains were vaporised.
Here is a link to a video of a LNG pipeline explosion in America. America, incidentally, have smaller pipes (36 inches) which run at lower pressure (71 BAR) and which for safety reasons are kept far away from inhabitants. The website is amazing, with some very disturbing information.
The top five causes of pipeline accidents are:
• Corrosion and ageing characteristics - defects or anomalies in the pipe material not detected or acted upon.
• Operator inattention or error – remote controlled station.
• Computer and instrument monitoring system malfunction.
• Shut off capability insufficient or wrongly deployed.
• Leak detection insufficient. Minutes, hours or evens days.
Stress Corrosion dynamics:
• Stress corrosion cracking is a major cause of pipeline rupture.
• It is at micro-level within the grain boundaries of the pipe material.
• Cracks form and propagate at right angles to direction of applied stress at stress levels much lower than those needed to fracture.
• Many defects are caused during construction.
• Lower pressure and thicker pipes significantly reduces the risk.
A news article has been written looking into the worrying effect of the increased amount of Quake Fears over the Pipeline. National Grid defend themselves by saying “We would not construct the pipeline if we didn’t think it was safe for people in the vicinity.” Yet now attention has been drawn to this problem National Grid have to re-evaluate to see if all risks have been properly assessed.
Once again National Grid show their incompetence for developing such a huge, destructive and dangerous project. Would you bet your life on National Grid creating a safe pipeline?
Buncefield illustrates that accidents do happen in spite of all Health & Safety regulations being in place. National Grid admits that they have no specific safety data whatsoever to support its assertion that the pipeline would be safe. A leak from a 48” gas pipe at 94 BAR will hurl out about 25 tonnes of gas per second, whether caused accidentally or maliciously. In 15 minutes, a fireball of a minimum of 22,000 tonnes of gas would result ~ much larger than the explosion at Buncefield, many of the local population and livestock would be incinerated. Central Government have indicated that in light of Buncefield more careful attention would be given to approval for potentially dangerous installations near residential properties.
Natural gas facilities have been favoured terror targets internationally. Over the past two years, gas and oil pipelines have been attacked in at least half a dozen countries. The Old Bailey was told on 22nd March 2006 that terrorists linked to an alleged Al-Qa’eda gang, which plotted a bombing campaign in Britain, tried to buy a radioactive bomb from the Russian mafia. The gang was also said to have discussed attacking Bluewater shopping centre and Gas and electricity facilities. One of the "potential bombers" was Waheed Mahmood who had been working for a contractor hired by National Grid and was accused of having a CD Rom on his home computer with details of the UK’s gas pipeline network. The QC in the court stated this was of "significance".
Political:
This whole affair represents the steamrollering of public participation.
The intention of this pipeline is to monopolise the European Gas Industry not to serve our country with a safe, sustainable and reliable fuel. National Grid have misinformed landowners leading them to believe that the pipeline will not cause much damage or disruption to their land. They have bullied people into selling their land through compulsory purchase orders. They have the given the public very little information regarding the pipeline and the first that most people know about it is when the machinery turn up outside their garden. They have bypassed environmental impact assessments and taken short cuts with safety. They have overruled national parks and Sites of Scientific Interest. They have illegal closed footpaths and behaved aggressively to those who object. It is a major worry that the public trusts this company, when the company is behaving with such deceit.
We ask whether this is a case of the forces of multi-national commercial interests, being dressed up as National Gas requirements. Farmers and landowners, still struggling to recover from the aftermath of foot and mouth and changing economic circumstances are being offered large amounts of compensation for disruption. Essentially this pipeline will only be fulfilling a useful purpose for around twenty years, which seems a heavy price to pay when you consider that thereafter the land affected will be rendered sterile and only fit for pasture and grazing.
It has been confirmed that all farmers and landowners along the proposed route have been issued with land purchase contracts offering an agreed sum of money and an additional bonus if the contracts are signed within 6 weeks. Consent to buy the land will allow National Grid the rights to lay and keep a gas pipeline, together with the necessary temporary working strip to enable National Grid to lay the pipeline.
The terminal and the gas pipe will help open up new markets and some people will make huge amounts of money. Welsh lives and countryside have often been collateral damage in the hunt for power and profit. In Aberfan in 1966, 144 people, mostly children, died in a disaster caused by the National Coal Board’s shocking disregard for safety. The coal board wriggled out of full costs of the clean-up operation. Parents were grudgingly given £500 per child as compensation. No NCB employee was sacked, demoted or even disciplined.
As has been said time and time again in numerous media stories, they wouldn’t put a pipeline like this through Surrey!
Update – July 2007 – On 19th June a large number of police and High Court officers moved onto the tree camp at Brecon. They closed the main A40 road to traffic in the early stages. One arrest was made quite soon into the eviction and during that day there was another five arrests. Three people were left at the tree camp overnight. The bailiffs went home for the night and resumed eviction the next morning. Two of the remaining protesters were in a tree-house and one was just sat in a tree with an umbrella. There were police and security guarding the site. The last three protestors were evicted and taken to the police station. Meanwhile three angry protestors broke back into what was the tree camp and were arrested. Twelve arrests were made over two days, nine people got cautioned and three were taken to court.
All the protesters belongings were taken off site and they had a month to claim what is theirs. Protestors, local support, press and any other spectators were kept in a pen, too far away to offer any support. Throughout the two days the protestors remained upbeat singing and laughing although their home was being destroyed. It was a very emotional sight.
National Grid started work on the field right next to the camp and striped the land as the eviction was taking place. Really just adding insult to injury to the people that are trying to defend this beautiful land.
Written by Sam Wilkinson.
