An explosion in the West Village? Radon in my apartment? The Spectra pipeline is a high-pressure gas pipeline.
It’s nearly three feet in diameter, and this pipeline will carry fracked gas
into New York homes and businesses. Fracking is an extreme method of gas extraction
which has been shown to pollute the water and air. In places where drilling has happened some homeowners have actually been able
to set their faucets on fire. The Spectra pipeline will carry this fracked gas and enter
Manhattan under the Hudson River Park at Gansevoort Street. The builder of the pipeline, Spectra Energy
has a dismal safety record. Spectra has paid tens of millions of
dollars in fines for safety violations including toxic chemical spills,
leaks and explosions. A pipeline of similar size and pressure blew up in San Bruno, California. The blast killed eight people
and burned down thirty-eight homes. Can you imagine this happening in the
in the West Village? The risk of an explosion
is just one of many concerns. The Spectra pipeline will carry
fracked gas from Marcellus shale. This rock formation also has the exceedingly
high concentrations of radon. Radon is the number one cause of
lung cancer in non-smokers. The Spectra pipeline could deliver gas to your home
with high levels of radon. Until now, our gas has come from distant sources
where radon levels are low. The Spectra pipeline was approved
against the will of the community. Five thousand comments
were filed against it. Construction is already under away
with completion slated for this fall. But we’re determined to stop it
before gas flows through it. Forward this video to friends and family. Call your city and state representatives now Tell them to prohibit any increase of radon
trade on in the gas that utilities supply. For more information
and ways to become involved, please visit Occupy the Pipeline dot com.
BOOO ON MISINFORMATION AND FEAR MONGERING – Scientific American just debunked this video… google search for: "Scientific American Fear mongering fracking"
chances are any efforts against a corporation will end in failure. go team obama.
please hire a stylist…
sure.
This will not happen. Gas groups interests and pockets are too big. Bigger and more powerful than anything you have ever encountered in your life. It will take the individual taking steps towards going green before larger corporations with more pull will take notice. Move out of the city, use public transportation or ride a bike. Invest in solar and rain catching technologies. 90% of those in this video are unwilling to do just that, because they indulge in the guilty pleasures of city living.
Maybe you should. lol.
The EPA has separate interests. Fracking companies have lobbied politicians into allowing them to drill and pump chemicals into the grounds. Tom Corbett of PA was one of the biggest advocates of fracking in PA. He's received 100's of thousands of dollars from gas and oil companies that have direct interests with Marcellus shale fracking.
Not in our houses. Maybe at the power plants. And the only reason we use ancient technology to generate energy is because of the influence the petroleum industries have on the government. Wind/Water+Turbines and generators = electricity/energy. Do some research before you talk.
Uhm I encourage you to go watch the movie Gasland
Go learn something and stop being a mindless idiot.
59 persons are from the gas company
Are you against fracking itself, may I ask?
Or are you against fracking only because of its negative consequences?
My point being: If best practices were implemented and industry safety-standards set which didn't allow the leakage of hydraulic fracturing fluid into the surrounding water system, would you be ok with it?
Renewable energy is great, but we aren't there yet.
What makes the current natural gas supply in nyc so much safer? The video didn't explain that at all. It just said "currently we get our gas from MUCH farther away".
Geologists have safely used fracing as a method to increase permeability in bedrock for over 60 years. It's history is long and well tested. Don't let the scaremongers fool you. Too currently, there 3 "explosive, high pressure pipelines" under the city supplying your natural gas. You people are fools if you think hydrocarbons won't be utilized to their fullest.
Though, I agree that we need to develop alternative energy resources: we are on the cusp of a peak- the oil is about gone!
Don't you guys pay around $5 grand a month in rent? Why are you complaining? I'm sure it's easy for you guys to move just about anywhere without a problem. Right now, it's a matter of you guys being picky about your circumstances. You're lucky to have homes in the West Village. Try living in the South Bronx, where gas in our water system is the least of our worries. With all due respect, I don't give a crap about this. I have to worry about getting shot on my way to school.
In all days and ages profitability has been most important, and it is due to profitability that we live in the modern society we're in today. Without it we'd still be living in the stone ages, though I guess we wouldn't have any man-caused environmental concerns…
dwangelo: NY City methane gas radon levels currently are around 1 pico Curie per Liter having decayed from avg. of around 5 when gas left Gulf on 6~10 day trip. Radon in gas for Spectra comes from PA Marcellus where wellhead averages are far higher (36.9 ~ 2,576 pCi/L) and have far less time to decay. Result will be levels in the kitchens and neighborhoods potentially dozens of times higher than today and far higher than anyone really ought to ignore. (Radon forum at Cooper Union May 14.)
This may be helpful to the thread:
nirs.org/radiation/radonmarcellus.pdf
Radon in Natural Gas from Marcellus Shale
By Marvin Resnikoff, Radioactive Waste Management Associates
Executive Summary
Guilty pleasures? Where is your mind wandering? City living is highly efficient from an energy standpoint, RobDrinksMilk, and where is public transportation more readily available?
NYC methane source today is Gulf of Mexico. Radon level there is around 5 pCi/L and this decays to around 1 after the 6-10 day pipeline trip to NYC. PA Marcellus Shale formation gas ranges from 36.9 to 2,576 pCi/L at wellhead and will have very little travel time to decay. Search and read this document for references: radonmarcellus.pdf
The problems facing "alternate energy" are fundamental, deep, and are show-stoppers.
Centipedes? In MY vagina?
Like what?
Tell that to countries like Germany, Iceland, Norway, Spain, France and even China. Most countries are moving that way. Only knuckle draggers in the US continue to deny that green energies will ever work and they are fighting to keep the sane people in the same state of stupid they remain in.
Sometime Robdrinkskoolaid. You just can't fix stupid.
Also, radon is a carcinogen–which I interpret as: any non-zero level of exposure is UNSAFE. It's callous of this Sarah to downplay the real and dangerous effects of this poison.
Methane isn't dangerous at all? You do know it's explosive, right? that's why in very small amounts (see: farts) people can light it on fire. It also displaces oxygen and can asphyxiate you, as happens to farmers working around open sewage pits and can happen in other places like small apartments as Owen mentioned are prevalent in New York.
I agree Tim- this video actually weakens the argument, mixing in exceptionally rare dangers and omitting key facts- good if only the uninformed watch it (since that's who made it). I have 25+ years professionally drilling (and fracking) natural gas & oil wells. I'm no fan of the industry (for other reasons) but most of the time I come across people pushing for a cause, collecting signatures, giving warnings… it's all for the wrong reasons as it relates to gas, fracking, and the environment.
Start a petition on the white house's petition page
Lol.. "fare". Stopped reading there
NYC resident here and i don't buy your fear tactic. I'm all for clean renewable sources but you obviously have an agenda you are campaigning for and its not to warn people how their beautiful houses will suddenly combust. Those poor poor people. gimme a break.
anti-pipeline new yorkers can go take a poop inside their own butts.
down with the pipe lines!
and ZariNation please don't twist people's words around especially when you know what they mean and they mean well.
I'd care more if they found engaging people to put in the video…
This pipeline really isn't that bad for New York. The EPA, the Department of Energy and another third party have all said that there is no health risk related to radon gas. Also, the gas line in California that blew up was built in 1956 and was poorly maintained. This gas line will actually be one of the safest in the country.
This is just a scare tactic made by stupid people who like to complain and feel important.
Derp… because you actually know what Radon is and is perusing a career in Chemistry Unlike others. Radon will cause cancer , you should do your research and know that these companies care not about the people who purchase their product but only the money they find profitable
First of all your grammar is atrocious, to the point that your comment is nearly illegible. Second, I am not disputing the danger of radon. I am disputing the danger of radon in this pipeline. As I said in my previous comment, the EPA, Department of Energy and an independent company have all certified that there will be minimal radon in the pipeline and it will not pose any health risk.
Is this real or some Kony type propaganda
That is not a good idea for about a billion other safety reasons, radon or no. Go to the landlord with a heat complaint and he/she will likely hop to compliance to avoid the city getting involved. If they don't hop to get a ceramic heater and you can get reimbursed for the extra electricity.
Wow!
Introducing a pitch-black approach
Taste the horns of the future
Swallow the sulfur of the new order
To resist is to non-exist
This is almost as good as a Joh Stewart segment…
Do any of you even investigate anything before commenting. This entire video is misinformed garbage. Go look into any of the peer reviewed, scientific studies dealing with "fracking", none of the shit they contend in this video is true. Pseudoscientific nonsense, @ best.
In you can't tell the difference between a Kony type campaign and this, you're a fool.
You just have to look into who's benefiting from campaigns like this to understand if it's corporate propaganda or genuine activism. This seems to be genuine since it is brushing against what a the powerful want.
LMFAO "5000 Comments have been filed" Nice try
The only reason this is an issue is that it's coming in through the west village. 80% of all natural gas comes from hydraulic fracturing, and if people still want their stoves to work then it has to come onto Manhattan from somewhere. You wouldn't be hearing about this if they routed it through Harlem.
"Radon laced". Pardon me while I laugh. Do you actually know what Radon is? It's hardly harmful.
So many hipsters
Yet they provide evidence, evidence that shows outcome of something like this.
Famous last words, also unlikely to listen to someone who insults others, call it a pet peeve.
I'm sorry the moment someone says Libtards I assume they are a 4 year old child. I mean do you conservatives think you are clever? On the point you made I agree but grow the hell up. Jesus you are all the joke of America because of this bullshit. Stop making stupid puns and stupid fucking jokes and grow up.
I knew that had to be a lyric. Not a bad song.
They probably already reside over high pressure distribution natural gas lines. What a crock. Oh well, let them freeze…they are building a new pipeline to NYC because the demand for heating homes can't be kept up with.
NYC already gets gas from the Marcellus and any naturally occurring radon or radium decay products in the Marcellus gas comes off in the propane fraction that is not sold for heating homes (which is 97% methane). Radon has a half life of a few days and decays into products that can be removed by filters anyway…filters which are used every 30-60 miles on the pipeline at compressor stations used to push the gas forward. Sigh. There are so many things wrong with this video.
methane is very safe and clean . it's alot better than coal and needs no huge trucks lumbering through the streets.
fearmongeig at it's worst. probably this fear-mongering is being pushed by other heating sources.
0:26 has been shown to pollute water and air. true but not the complete truth , this is only in a very very small fraction of the tens of millions of fracking wells that have been drilled in the last 50 years. that's right fracking is not new. only the gas layers are thousands of feet away from water sources. do your own research and learn the whole truth. not the lies being told here. the usa has 100,000 times more methane than saudi arabia has in oil energy units.
0:42 dismal safety record??? 17 violations out of how many thousands of projects and how many years??this does not tell the entire story and we have no way to know the severity of the violations. so to say 17 violations is alot is a lie.
5,000 comments out of how many of the probablyl hundreds of thousands of people that live in that area. see how not telling the whole story paints an incomplete picture that makes it appear that people don't want this, or that it is a bad thing?
that's what i'm thinking
That's propaganda at it's finest. They only have to tell their side of the story. The better to incite an emotional response, instead of civil discourse.
What fucking evidence? 17 incidents? Out of what? thousands of projects/jobs? Radon has a half-life 3.8 days which then it is just easily removed by filters that are in the compressor stations. All this video show is upset green-piece idiots that don't do any research. This video is trying to elicit an emotional response without and real hard evidence. This is biased and useless.
That is technically not a lie, just unclear. A lie is presenting false information knowingly. 17 is just a number. They chose to add "a lot" but that is obviously just their opinion on if that number is high or not. Just because you disagree with their opinion on what a "lot" is that does not make them a liar.
(I am not agreeing or disagreeing with either you or the video I just hate people being stupid and like to correct mind numbing mistakes when I see them. Ignore me if you want!)
Also I would point out, ANY violations are a lot. Violations are, guess what, NOT supposed to happen. That is called "competence" perhaps you have heard about it? Businesses, like people, are supposed to follow the laws. "Violations" are literally "violations of the law" so severity is a non-issue. Who cares how severe it is? We don't judge law like that for determining guilt (only punishment). Don't be a violator. Defending violators for making violations makes you look like one. (Just saying.)
exactly what I said about the radon! 17 isn't bad at all…especially for a large company like Spectra and we don't even hear if they are serious/non lol
Yea but some violations are less serious than others…it could be for having a muddy walkway or one too many steps without a handrail…versus any number of very serious offenses that could be an immediate hazard to life and limb. OSHA could literally walk into ANY business and find dozens of violations if they wanted to.
So yea, severity does matter. Non-serious violations won't kill anyone…
YES that is fine. Okay. But "17 violations" is in and of itself not a lie. YOU are arguing that OUR ignorance of the severity somehow means that they couldn't have been severe? I argue that OUR ignorance of the severity means we can't fucking know, can we? What if all 17 violations resulted in a worker's death? Would you still be defending them? Point is, no one here KNOWS what those violations are so you CANNOT deny the EXACT OPPOSITE of your argument being equally as possible. (Pointless.)
I wasn't arguing either way. They could be serious they could be nothing. It's public record anyway…they say 2011…we could go to OSHA's Establishment Search Page and search citations under "Spectra Energy" from 1/1/11-12/31/11 easy enough haha…as a matter of fact, I just did…and found only four…all for construction, and yes…serious (trenching and excavations). The rest are probably Spectra contractors and they lumped them in there to make their number sound better.
I hope the price in rent drops in nyc and all the hipsters move out if this gets through.
so bogus.
Don't fuck with New York water man! How else are we going to make the best pizza and bagels?!? =/
Very sensationalist, please provide sources and actual amounts. Thanks
Oh my God, this video is A COMPLETE LIE. As usual the radical enviro nuts use the fire from a water faucet to push their agenda. Of course, that town has had that issue for decades PRIOR to fracking.
Of course, they offer no proof. Just ridiculous nonsensical BS. None backed up by facts. In fact, so much of this is debunked lunacy it's almost comical.
This is the biggest cry for attention I've seen since Kony 2012. More than half of the things these people say are pure lies. Yes, the Spectra pipeline exists and does transport gas to New York City, but it isn't even close to being as dangerous as these people make it. These people are the ones you see at cafes downtown asking to see a Vegan-only menu.
I believe the word you're looking for is UNinhabitable.
all these liberals are pathetic
After doing my research I found only 14 violations from 2006 to 2012 (pipeline related). So maybe you should stop being ignorant, or you can put me in my place by citing a list of OSHA reports that make up the "17 violations" in 2011.
I'm just saying back your stuff up with facts, not angry rants that can't stand on their own. It's the only way you're going to argue against the facts.
Btw retromex55 is right, and it's all done as a preventive measure to save lives.
The evidence that shows Fracking results are never desirable, but glad to know the intelligence and eloquence of person I am talking too.
Yes, I agree with the evidence-based reasoning, thank you. Also, regarding the radon — NYC is less than 12 hours away from some of the Marcellus frack fields, which is much less than the 3.8 day half life of radon. As for the the supposed filters in compressor stations, I'd like to know more about that. While you can filter some of radon's daughter products, radon itself is a nobel gas. I have never heard of filters that actually filter radon. So NYC residents are indeed exposed to a risk.
This is absolutely insufferable. Even if you can manage to get past the boring ass monotonous voices and horribly dressed actors, you're still left with a misguided, overly-ambitious, and overly-pessimistic argument. I really want to see these so called "17 violations in 2011". There have only been 14 from 2006-2012. Maybe if you weren't stating so many things out of context it'd make more sense. You're the kind of people who are so eager to use your "freedom of speech" that you cant stfu.
Uhh not neccessairly, if you looked at scientific peer reviewed articles on hydraulic fracturing there is A LOT of evidence stating the implications of contamination of ground water as well as affecting the environment negatively.
Source:
PubMed
You're definetely right
I don't like bad things happening where I live.
I don't like bad things happening where I live.
When some new clusters of lung cancer pop up in Manhattan, we'll know who to blame.
I want you to answer me this question. Are the people going against this video are right? Or are the people in the video and the people that agrees with the video are right? I really wanna know about this guys, because we are less than a week away to this pipeline is complete and I don't want to be the one or anybody living in NYC suffering from lung cancer from weeks to month's after this is completed.
so your telling them the only way to get nat gas is to risk blowing up. wow that is stupid. uh there are other ways of getting gas. did you even pay attention to the video. this company fucked up people's lives and homes and this is your attitude toward it. how about we make multi million dollar companies pay heavily for the violation or better how about re have stronger regulation so people can have a safe environment. oh but your probably against safety.
one thing in the research that is not pointed out, is one violation and carry multiple faults. the violation for corrosion counts as one violation even though it is in different locations.
Once you see the girl at 1:11 you will see what kind of morons these people are.
How do you propose transporting a flamable gas from one location to another with zero risk of explosion? Yes, pipelines explode. Not very often, but it happens. Airplanes crash too. Also, not very often.
The thing about gas pipelines is that newer ones are a lot safer than older ones and the one in San Bruno was built in 1956. If you think relying on New York's existing, old pipelines is safer, you are dead wrong.
Natural gas has radon in it. This is true of pretty much all natural gas. Whether this gas has more is pretty insignificant. The amount is tiny. It's a lot less than if you live in a house with a dirt floored basement.
If super concerned about it, you can cook with electric.
I would not be concerned, really. It raises your risk by such a tiny amount it's not worth worrying about. The stress might give you a heart attack though.
Um… that's how natural gas is produced. If you don't like it, start heating with coal, which, I assure you, is much much worse.
Why did they tell us how many safety violations instead of just saying BOTH how many TOTAL as wall as how many failures?
:24 is a perfect example of how they are trying to state two facts together to create meaning, even where there is none.
"In places where drilling has happened, some homeowners have even been able to set their faucets on fire."
Notice that they don't say that it's because of fracing, rather that it's just taking place near it. They don't mention that this happens to water wells any time there are deposits of natural gas near it, whether fracing is being performed nearby or not. This "problem" is as old as piped water wells.
This video certainly pleased Spectra's board of directors.
Thank you!
wow this is crazy this powerful ritch ppl obviously dont care we should all get together and revolution go to war to protect our water, inviroment our ppl
These people are hysterical idiots.
Occupy the Pipeline lost that battle. But we will win the war.