9 June 2008
Lionel Milberger
1. At the time of this writing, I know of NO governmental, publicly available industrial or other specification which governs or controls the quality of natural gas coming to our homes in pipelines.
2. Further, likewise, I know of no such specifications which control the quality of natural gas that is burned at gas fired power generating plants.
3. Impurities in the gas pipelines can include CO2, H2S, water, mercury, chlorides, mercaptans, odorants and many other things.
Can you believe this? This is the heights of deregulation!
Comments please.
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Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Although you may not believe there are plenty of specs that control the quality of natural gas flowing through the pipelines to both commerical and residential customers including power plants. Producers and operators cannot sell their natural gas unless it meets these standards. These standards include, but are not limited to <4 ppm H2S, 1-2% CO2, 7 lbs of H2O per MM SCF, and many more. I am sorry that you are wrong.
Excellent, then litemize and list the specifications that are publically available so that we can get a copy of them.
Mr. Milberger, pls see Article 4, beginning on page 11 at the link below.
http://www.oneok.com/ong/pdf/rate_schedule/2000.pdf
Mr. Anonymous poster:
Do not even try to pretend that the TCEQ is doing a good job of protecting Texans. You ass is SO busted!
Same goes for the Texas Railroad Commission.
Ref Anonymous poster (1:51 PM). The document you reference is a “Rates Schedule” which seems to be rubber stamped by the PUD (of Okla. I assume). (I assume that this PUD is a part of the OCC, the Okla. Version of the RRC in Tx.) Although article 4 does mention some contaminants, they are the normal text book items which do one of the following: Limits corrosion to the piping and pipeline equipment, insures that the gas will ignite when it goes to a burner, and that the gas does not self ignite in the pipeline. In other words this just protects the pipeline company, not necessarily residential consumers. BTW, it allows a whole bunch of total sulfur compounds!
Further, testing for compliance with these items is not mandatory. See Section 7.7. Testing can be done if one of the parties feels like it. So the proof of compliance with article 4 does not seem to be mandatory!
It’s interesting that Section 101 (of this Rates Schedule) (for Residential Service) does not appear to include any limits for contaminants!
Also see section 6.4 which clearly shows that other contaminants can be in the gas stream including PCB’s.
This document is not the signed agreement between the Company and Customer. Interesting document for information only. Do you have one of these signed documents that are public?
Got any other places to look?
L
All of this information is out there you just got to get better at looking for it. Make some phone calls Atmos might be a good place to start. Analyses on the gas are performed way more frequently then you would expect as neither company wants to get ripped off doing business. As for the "whole bunch of total sulfur compounds" it allows for only 319.8 ppm for 100 sq. ft or 168,000 ppm total for an entire year based on EPA estimated home usage for 2008 (52,429 scf). Car exhaust can be up to 2,500 ppm. But, if you're still so concern about it turn off your gas and start burning wood or go to all electric setup. The TCEQ has been out inspecting oil and gas facilities with the ir cameras from the helicopters and issuing citations so they doing something. It's not easy when most of Texas' economy revolves around the industry. If Texas didn't have the oil and gas industry it would be in the same boat as the other states. The industry and the Barnett shale has buffered the Texas economy/mindset from that of the rest of the US.
To Anonymous at 12:34 above. Your numbers do not make sense. Looks like the original posting remains correct. Also, the TCEQ is nationally noted for being a VERY pollution friendly state agency! Also what kind of air pollutants can you identify with a IR camera? The TCEQ is also noted for almost NEVER finding anything! Also make some of Atmos's testing public.
IR cameras will actually detect the following pollutants as well as many other pollutants:
1-Pentene – 5.6g/hr
Benzene – 3.5g/hr
Butane -0.4g/hr
Ethane – 0.6g/hr
Ethanol – 0.7g/hr
Ethylbenzene – 1.5g/hr
Ethylene – 4.4g/hr
Acetic Acid (C2H4O2)
Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2)
Dichlorodifluoromethane "FREON-12" (CCl2F2)
Ethyl Cyanoacrylate "Superglue" (C6H7NO2)
Ethylene (C2H4)
Heptane – 1.8g/hr
Hexane – 1.7g/hr
Isoprene – 8.1g/hr
MEK – 3.5g/hr
Methane – 0.8g/hr
Methanol – 3.8g/hr
MIBK – 2.1g/hr
Octane – 1.2g/hr
Pentane – 3.0g/hr
Propane – 0.4g/hr
Propylene – 2.9g/hr
SF6 (Sulfur Hexaflouride) – 0.026g/hr
Toluene – 3.8g/hr
Xylene – 1.9g/hr
The sulfur compund numbers add up in my book based on the 20 grain limit of sulfur compounds. I could provide the mathematical proof if you need it. Just to let you know I'm just as liberal as the rest of you. I stumbled upon this site and noticed that the orignal blogger was convinced that there were no gov't or public specs on natural gas, but there are. These gas companies aren't trying to poison their customers. A dead customer isn't going to help business and many of the gas company employees are also customers and you don't want to harm your own employees. The TCEQ tends to follow the federal guidelines with few exceptions. With the vast size of the state, the number of o&g production facilities, and o&g boom of the last 10 years its just too much for them to handle. I'm sure they would love to really regulate pollution, but the o&g industry made Texas what it is today and you can't change that.
I spoke with TCEQ about the IR cameras and they asked me to alert them when a fresh waste pit appeared so they could check for VOC. I did as requested and the person ignored me. What happened? Maybe his master, the industry, whistled.
If TCEQ uses these cameras, I want to see the results. Who is the keeper of the results?
To Anonymous of 1:48. An IR camera will detect any material that emits infrared radiation (light) in the range of capabilities of the particular camera. It will not, however, quantify or identify the particular materials. Now, make no mistake, the ir camera is very valuable in identifying possible emission sources which are not visible to the naked eye. Most materials emit more ir light when they are at elevated temperatures. You may want to stick more to your PR type capabilities.
Good thought TxSharon. If you find out any results, I hope you will let us know. I can't seem to get the TCEQ to tell me anything either! Kind of went silent!