Re: Natural Gas Explosion in New Mexico Kills 10 ---Again

["ruth_weiner" <ruth_weiner@email.msn.com>]

Re the NM pipeline disaster: The family killed and injured by the explosion
was camped under  a bridge that carries the pipeline over the Pecos river.
They were about 200 yards from the leak and right in the path of the
fireball.  Where they were is not a designated camping area.  There are
usually warning signs at intervals near pipelines (Warning -- gas pipeline)
but I think this indicates that such warnings should be emphasized far more
than they are.   I also think this is an indication of risks faced in the
modern world.  We pipe natural gas around the country, including into homes.
Pipelines are never going to be perfect; although both technology and
inspection techniques are a whole lot better than they used to be.  The
point is very well taken that this risk should be no more nor less
acceptable than other similar (even similar in the quantitative sense)
risks.  This was a far greater risk, both in probability and consequence,
than the TMI risk, and much greater than the TMI consequence.  Is Salem
UNPLUG going to propose banning the use of natural gas?

Ruth Weiner
ruth_weiner@msn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: RadiumProj@cs.com <RadiumProj@cs.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Sunday, August 20, 2000 7:43 AM
Subject: Natural Gas Explosion in New Mexico Kills 10 ---Again


>A "minor" news note over morning coffee brings us back to the subject of
>nuclear vs. alternate fuel cycle risk comparisons. As has been repeatedly
>noted by proponents of the Salem Unplug and the STAR anti-nuke initiatives
>commented to Radsafe of late, natural gas use has been promoted vs. nuclear
>for power generation until some indefinite time when "renewable" sources of
>power come into their own. See the following link to an AP news story about
>an underground natural gas explosion 20 miles from  Carlsbad, NM which
killed
>10 campers [so far, more having been horribly burned]  hundreds of yards
away
>from the point of the pipeline explosion which left a huge crater.
>
>Click on link below for Natural Gas Explosion in New Mexico Kills 10
><A
>HREF="http://newsroom.compuserve.com/nr/story.asp?idq=/apo/National/Nationa
l_1
>52.ASP&CoView=&PV=NAT">Click here: News</A>
>
>Questions to consider:
>Once again we are reminded that every form of energy has its price
>--economic, environmental, climatic, and strategic. Every energy cycle will
>have accidents which lead to loss of life in mining, transportation, use,
and
>waste disposal. Is any one energy cycle absolutely "safe"?  Are
>"environmentalists" like Norm Cohen likely to rush out news releases
calling
>for a moratorium on all uses of natural gas because another pipeline
>explosion has led to loss of life? Should they?
>
>This most recent underground gas pipeline explosion 20 miles from Carlsbad
>makes a point that gas running in a sealed pipeline 20 feet underground has
>been found to be much more of a hazard to real people than the hypothetical
>risks 10,000 years into the future of burying nuclear wastes underground in
>an engineered repository. Will this unfortunate natural gas accident
>influence the vocal activists who claim to base their actions against all
>things nuclear  on concern for health and safety of the general public?
>Should the sincerity of many of the critics of theoretical nuclear safety
>risks be called into question? Should the lack of balance in their focus
only
>on theoretical radiation risks from nuclear power vs. larger radiation
risks
>as with radon in natural gas used in unvented domestic uses, and in
accidents
>with transporting gas by pipeline and by LNG tankers be called into
question?
>
>Will the public every realize they're being constantly manipulated by
>antinuclear scare tactics and one-sided, unbalanced presentations of risk?
>
>Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
>email: radiumproj@cs.com
>[802] 496-3356
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