RICHMOND — Residents who live near a natural gas pipeline thought something catastrophic was happening.
“The noise sounded like a thousand jets flying overhead, and the smell of gas around my house was overwhelming,” said Susan Lockwood. “One close neighbor said it was so loud, she thought we were under a nuclear attack.”
In reality, the Nov. 29 incident was a safety release valve relieving pressure from a gas buildup, according to the pipeline company and Richmond Fire Chief Steve Traver.
It’s known as a “blowdown.”
Kinder Morgan spokesman David Conover told The Eagle this is a rare event.
The blowdown lasted about 40 minutes, according to residents, and had Lockwood frantically calling police and trying to find a phone number for Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., the Kinder Morgan subsidiary that runs the pipeline, as her home filled with the smell of gas.
She said she was further alarmed as she began making calls.
“When I called, no one knew about it, including Kinder Morgan’s Agawam office,” she said. “When I called the police, he told me to calm down. I held up the phone so he could hear it.”
Lockwood, who lives on Swamp Road, about three-quarters of a mile from the pipeline, said she is concerned about the length of time it took to stop the event at the Dublin Road valve station near the Beagle Club.
The valve, or “pigging” station, is one control hub for Tennessee Gas’ stretch of Berkshire County gas transmission line that enters north of here at the New York State border and runs down through Sandisfield before heading into Connecticut.
Traver told The Eagle that firefighters were first at the scene and closed off a small section of road, and that the pipeline company had technicians there in 20 minutes. He said that had there been a danger to residents, the 911 alert system would have been activated.
The Berkshire Eagle – Heather Bellow -12.27.17
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
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