Common Ground Alliance says, before digging call 811
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Newsboy photo/ Charles Kerr CHARLIE STREET says Tennesse Gas Pipeline does all they can to ensure safety, but it's a twoway street: good neighbors report problems and don't use safety markers for target practice.

Charlie Street probably knows the back roads of Jasper, Newton, Tyler and Sabine counties better than almost anyone. He's one of the technicians from Tennessee Gas who responds to every single call that comes in questioning pipeline safety.

"We have to treat each call as though it's a potential emergency," Street said. "We have to go and see for ourselves, take sniffers, look over the situation, consult with local authorities."

Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a subsidiary of El Paso Energy, held their annual safety meeting for public officials, law enforcement, and emergency personnel at the facility on U.S. Highway 63 West in December.

The original facility at that location was built during World War II, and the original pipeline was laid for one purpose, according to Street: to get natural gas from Texas to the steel mills in the northeast for war production.

"We had families living out here on the property," Street said. "Houses and families with kids lived right on the property. Well, nobody knew much about pipelines then; there was a war and they got it done."

Now, the station in Jasper employs about 15 people and there are operators on site around the clock, but not living there.

About a billion cubic feet of natural gas flows through Jasper daily. It's 92 percent methane, five percent ethane and trace elements, and, yes, it is flammable. But the pipeline has been in place 65 years, with minimal problems and most of them preventable, according to Street.

The simplest form of prevention is to call 811 before digging. 'Digging,' according to pipelineawarensss.org, includes anything that disturbs the earth such as auguring for a fence or dredging ditches; in other words, just about anything more aggressive than planting pansies.

One call - 811

There used to be a confusing array of numbers to call before digging, but this year the Common Ground Alliance began spreading the word to call 811. They ask for 48 hours notice so they can contact all the pipelines, water, sewer, power and communication companies who may have underground lines in your area.

If your digging plans could intersect any underground lines, they send someone to mark the location at no charge to you, on the theory that prevention is always cheaper than repairs.

"We're all neighbors here," said John Ross, area supervisor for Tennessee Gas. "Our purpose (in this training session) is to make everybody aware so we can take care of our people, and this is the way we let you know we're good neighbors and we can depend on each other."

The questions that came up repeatedly were how deep are the gas pipelines, how can we tell, and how deep is safe?

The short answer is, "just call." Street told Jasper County Precinct 1 Commissioner Charles Shofner, "When you get ready to blade a road, call. We'll be glad to come."

After 63 years and all the erosion, floods, logging, construction and earth moving, some pipelines are a few inches deep, some are many feet deep, and safety can also be a matter of use.

"Logging equipment and loads are getting bigger and heavier every year. An 80,000 pound log truck rolling over a 24-inch pipe could be a real big problem real fast," Street said. "We're lucky here. We work real well with the loggers in our area, but (with turnover) we've got to keep training, keep up awareness."

Periodic helicopter flyovers search for changes in surface conditions along the pipeline right-of-way, whether those soil changes are manmade or natural.

Computers and live operators continuously monitor pressure in the lines, and that information is relayed to satellites and control centers like the one in Cleveland, TX. There are automated systems that can shut down lines or reroute gas in an emergency, and back up systems to the back up systems.

The lines themselves are periodically inspected inchby inch from the inside. "Smart pigs" check the lines frequently to spot any anomalies before they become problems. A pig weighs up to half a ton and is fed through the lines just like a load of gas. It may take photos every half a second and/or clean and recoat the inside of the pipeline as it goes.

"But even a smart pig can't tell us how deep the lines are," Street said.

The usual problems only get worse this time of year, according to Street. "Hunting season, more people in the woods, more right-of-way abuse."

He said he's seen where people got their truck stuck in mud and anchored their winch around a pipeline valve to pull themselves out. PipelineAwarness.org says any nick, scrape, scratch, even minor abrasions, can cause corrosion and eventual line failure.

Four-wheelers are another problem. People think the nice, straight pipeline rightof way is a great place to try out their new vehicle- but those deep treads tear up ground and cause erosion.

And then there are the hunters who get a new shotgun for Christmas...

Target practice

It seems like common sense you wouldn't shoot at something with the potential of a bomb, but as a few people in the audience muttered, "This is East Texas."

Street said shooting at the equipment hasn't been as much of a problem as people shooting the bright yellow and orange pipeline markers. That destruction of property could result in up to $25,000 in fines and/or a jail sentence, "but all we really want is for people to realize everything we do is for everyone's safety," Street said.