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Controversial Gas Pipeline Begins Pumping Through Meatpacking District Next Month
By
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 21, 2013
Modified Oct 21, 2013
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 21, 2013
Modified Oct 21, 2013
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Will the Meatpacking District be at risk of getting blown to smithereens when a new gas pipeline begins pumping natural gas on November 1? No, there is nothing to worry about/hope for, the government promises.
The pipeline—which originates in New Jersey, snakes under the Hudson River and enters Manhattan at 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street—has rankled residents who feel that the line's daily infusion of 800 million cubic feet of gas can't possibly be a good thing.
Despite years of protest from concerned residents, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday gave the go-ahead to Spectra Energy to begin pumping, DNAinfo reports. The company has tried to quell fear that the neighborhood will one day go up in a flame of synthetic Ed Hardy shirts and hair gel in the event of some sort of rupture, saying that workers "adequately stabilized areas disturbed by construction" and "restoration is proceeding satisfactorily." Never mind that "adequately" and "satisfactorily" are the most unreassuring reassuring words. What, no "safe-ish?" No "not deadly, probably"?
Spectra's initial plan contained 17 different safety inadequacies, though the company said it has since been revised. The threat of explosion is not a fanciful one: A similar pipeline built in San Bruno, California exploded in 2010, killing four people and injuring 50 more. A Spectra pipe, in particular, was responsible for an explosion at a large Texas gas facility in 2004 that sparked fireballs and led to the evacuation of hundreds of residents within a three-mile radius of the facility.
In any case, even if a freak explosion doesn't kill everybody, surely the radon will.
Tagged
meatpacking district
natural gas
pipeline
spectra
west village
Lauren Evans
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