November
27, 2012
Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling
Secretary
New York State Department of Public Service Commission
Empire
State Plaza
Agency
Building #3
Albany, New York 12223-1350
Re: Concerned Residents of Windsor C.R.O.W.
Scott
B. Clarke, Chairperson
249 Dodd Road
Windsor, New York
13865
Dear Secretary Brilling,
This letter is being presented to the NYS Public Service
Commission by a substantial number of concerned residents of Windsor or C.R.O.W. (www.crowwindsorny.blogspot.com)
regarding the Dunbar Road
compressor station now owned by Williams Partners of Oklahoma and the serious
problems local residents are having with it.
Soon after the July 23, 2012, Dunbar
Road compressor station explosion—causing a
150-foot to 200-foot fireball and very loud explosive noise that shook nearby
homes and scared residents in the immediate area—there was a regularly
scheduled Town of Windsor
board meeting on August 1st. Many, but not all, concerned West
Windsor residents attended this meeting with questions, concerns, and comments
for the three Williams representatives—Mike Dickinson, Manager of Operations
for all Williams compressor stations in the Northeast; Dave Thompson,
Supervisor of North Operations; and Helen Humphreys, Senior Corporate
Communications Specialist—who showed up almost
30 minutes late. After listening almost an hour to unconvincing explanations
about what had happened at the compressor station and why, these residents left
the meeting very dissatisfied with Williams’ mostly evasive answers. United in
a cause, the group called Concerned Residents of Windsor (C.R.O.W.) was formed.
This letter addresses the July 23rd
explosion/fireball at the compressor station and four major areas of serious
concern that C.R.O.W. has with it: noise, odor and air quality, original and
revised construction specifications, and water drainage issues.
July 23, 2012 Explosion and resulting fireball (See photo
enclosed)
- C.R.O.W.
takes exception to Williams Partners’ downplaying the impact of the
explosion and the resulting 150-foot to 200-foot fireball when numerous
residents said it sounded like a jetliner crash. Contrary to the minimal
coverage reported in the local newspaper, many nearby residents were
shaken by the frightening incident—as were their houses—and angry that
they had been left in the dark by Williams Partners about what had happened.
- Equally upsetting is just
why Williams would be venting natural gas during a severe lightning storm
that everyone in Broome
County knew was
coming as early as several days before. Company representatives at the
August 1st town board meeting said the workers in the
compressor station had no way of knowing that a bad storm was upon them
because the facility has no windows. With answers like this one and others
they were given at the August meeting, concerned residents were left to
wonder if they would ever get a straight answer from Williams on any of
the serious issues they have with the compressor station. Questions like:
How often does venting of natural gas occur? Are local residents informed
about such venting? Would flaring off excess natural gas at the compressor
station be less harmful to surrounding residents than venting it?
- Williams
Partners’ reps have said that the compressor station isn’t manned from 4:00 PM to 7:00 AM on weekdays and not at all on
weekends, but rather is monitored from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
C.R.O.W. has very serious concerns about just how quickly Williams can
respond to dangerous situations such as the one on July 23rd at
5:45 PM, when the
station is supposedly unmanned. Have there been any staffing adjustments
made or other precautionary measures taken since this incident?
- When
local fire companies responded to the explosion and fireball, they did not
know what to do but direct traffic on Dunbar Road. Why wasn’t there
a Comprehensive Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) in place before this very
serious incident occurred? Has a CEAP been developed and shared with local
residents? What are the current evacuation procedures?
·
It is C.R.O.W.’s understanding that Williams Partners
is working with staff from the Public Service Commission and the Office of Gas
Safety at the PSC to fully investigate the incident. C.R.O.W. would like to be
a part of the investigation to help insure this doesn’t happen again.
The group is aware that Williams Partners owns the Lathrop compressor station
in Susquehanna County, PA, where on March 30, 2012, there was also an explosion—making
that two serious incidents in less than five months. It is no wonder that there
is concern about their safety track record.
Noise
generated at the Dunbar Road
compressor station is a major problem and has become a “quality of life” issue
that could seriously impact property values in the area
·
The noise survey done by Hoover & Keith
Inc., an acoustic engineering company from Houston, Texas,
indicated that the compressor station in West Windsor
failed to meet decibel criteria of the Windsor
town ordinance at five of the ten locations surveyed. The follow-up survey in
August showed that a number of the areas still needed to be resolved. This last
survey also implied that Williams Partners will be able to further reduce
decibel levels by installing exhaust silencers on compressor units one through
three, although the company cannot predict with certainty the degree to which
these additions will reduce decibel levels. Williams Partners states it is
committed to achieving compliance of its existing and additional compressor
units. C.R.O.W., however, agrees with Town of Windsor Supervisor Randy Williams, in his
letter of August 6, 2012,
to the PSC where he states, “Based upon the neighbor complaints regarding
the fire, noise levels, odors and water problems, there is already an
environmental impact that may not currently be within the parameters prescribed
by the Town and the Commission. Adding 50% more compressors to the current
number of compressors will not aid in the current issues, but rather add to
them”.
·
C.R.O.W. wants to know who is responsible for
monitoring noise levels coming from the compressor station, how often readings
are taken, and what locations are being monitored. Are readings taken only at the perimeter of
the compressor station property or are they being recorded, as required by the
town’s noise control ordinance, on nearby residential properties where owners
have made complaints?
·
C.R.O.W. is aware of a World Health Organization
study of negative health impacts on residents from compressor station noise,
including Low Frequency Noise (LFN) in a frequency range of 25-32 cycles per
second. Is Williams Partners doing
anything to mitigate noise in this frequency range, which is below the
threshold of human hearing?
·
At a March 16, 2011 Town of Windsor public
hearing on site plan approval for the Dunbar Road Compressor Station, representatives
of former compressor station owner Laser Midstream LLC—later called Laser
Northeast Gathering Line—verbally agreed to be in compliance with the town’s
recently approved noise control ordinance. One resident asked the important question, “Will
we hear it (the compressor station) when it’s fully operational?” The answer given by the Laser rep was “No”.
Williams also agreed to be in compliance
with the local noise ordinance when they took ownership from Laser at the
beginning of this year. Then why is it
that many local residents have continued to hear noise coming from the station,
sometimes quite loud. If Williams
Partners isn’t operating the station within the parameters of the town’s noise
ordinance, why was it given a Certificate of Completion? Shouldn’t fines and
civil penalties be applied?
·
C.R.O.W. wants to know what noise problems were
identified in the April 2012 H & K survey, how they were resolved, and what
problems remain.
Air
quality and odor problems related to the Dunbar Road compressor station are another
major concern of area residents
·
In a letter dated August 16, 2012, and addressed to you from Sam
M. Laniado, attorney for Williams Field Services Company, LLC, he stated that
repairs had been made to a dehydration filter system which he declared to be the
source of complaints about odor.
However, some residents still report odors in the air. C.R.O.W. wants to know if records of water
vapor venting referred to by Mr. Laniado are being kept as well as maintenance
logs of filter system malfunction and correction. Are these records available to residents?
·
C.R.O.W. is informed that the PSC Office of Gas
Safety is responsible for addressing air quality issues and would like to know
if any air quality testing has been or is being done on emissions from the Dunbar Road
compressor station. If so, what are the results? C.R.O.W. has heard accounts from
area residents of noxious smells, burning eyes, and excessive, non cold-related
coughing, symptoms they were not experiencing prior to the compressor station
going online. If Williams Partners says unequivocally this is not from natural
gas leaks or emergency venting, then what other emissions are being released
from the compressor station and related equipment? Are there any releases of
chemical pollutants, such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX)
as have been found being emitted from natural gas well sites and compressor
stations in Texas
by Wolf Eagle Environmental. These
“fugitive emissions” compounds can cause irritation to the upper respiratory
tract and eyes, sore throats, dizziness, headaches, and more.
Differences
in the original, revised, and as built construction plans and specifications
for the compressor station are a major concern for C.R.O.W.
At Laser Midstream’s informational
meeting at the West Windsor Fire Station on May 19, 2010, Windsor residents were presented with a
detailed artist’s rendering of the Dunbar
Road compressor station project. Sometime subsequent to this meeting, project
design plans were produced first by Keystone Associates of Binghamton, N.Y. and
then Pro Plus, Inc. of Houston,
Texas, that indicate significant
changes from the design originally shown to Windsor residents. C.R.O.W wants to know when these changes
were made, by whom, and why they were done without public input. Several specific areas of change are of
concern to residents.
·
Keystone’s design (as shown on sheet #C100,
dated September 28, 2010, project #1781.16210) indicated that the rock cut
behind the compressor building would start about 90 to 100 feet horizontally from
the base of the building and slope upward (towards the east) at roughly 26o
to the horizontal. Such an angle would deflect noise coming primarily from fans
on the rear side of the building in an upward direction. As constructed, there
is roughly an 8-foot high vertical rock cut about15 feet behind the building, creating
a plateau upon which the exhaust silencers for the diesel exhaust are placed.
This plateau extends from the silencers to the second rock cut at least fifty
feet to the rear and is at an elevation of at least 1538 feet, not the 1530
feet shown on Keystone’s plan. The second vertical rock cut varies in height but
is at least 15-20 feet high before meeting the hillside. Both these vertical
rock cuts act as sound barriers that reflect the sound from the three, 13-foot
diameter fans behind the building laterally rather than upward, thus increasing
noise levels to the surrounding community. According to General Construction
Conditions, note #5 on Sheet C220 of Keystone’s plans, there should be written
authorization from “the engineer” for any design change. Who authorized the
rock cut modification and why?
·
Another problematic revision has to do with the
inadequate height, length and placement of the earthen berm. As was
visually presented by Laser Midstream at its info meeting in May 2010, the berm
was shown in front of and parallel to the long side of the building and wrapping
around its southern side to blend back into the original ground at the same
height as the top of the building, which is 25 feet from finished floor to the
top of the roof ridge. Residents were
told that the berm would help hide the building since it was of the same
height. The existing berm doesn’t look
at all like it did in the original drawing. It now is solely parallel to the
long side of the building with the top of the berm at an elevation of 1540.0 feet or 8.5 feet above the
building’s finished floor elevation of 1531.5 feet. This does little to hide the building or to
help in noise abatement.
·
A third issue is that site work at the
compressor station has apparently been done by Williams Partners without the
necessary SPDES permit from the New
York State DEC.
Laser Midstream had received permit #GP-0-10-001 to construct the
compressor station, but Williams is apparently only now—in mid November—in the
process of reapplying for the necessary permission for site work even though
they took ownership of the pipeline and station from Laser in early 2012. This information was provided by Ellen Hahn
of the DEC office in Syracuse
when Mark Lippolis met with her and Williams’ employee Julie Nichols at the
compressor station on Thursday morning November 8, 2012.
·
Mark Lippolis, a member of C.R.O.W. and retired
Civil Engineer with the NYS Dept. of Transportation, went on a tour of the
compressor station on August
23, 2012, and has spoken numerous times with Town of Windsor Code Enforcement Officer Dave Brown,
and Corey Strub and Jim Austin from the PSC about these highly troublesome
revisions. To this date, no good answers
have been received by him or C.R.O.W. to these questions and issues. We at C.R.O.W. hope to be included in a
meeting with the PSC, Williams Partners and town officials to review all of
these problematic issues.
·
C.R.O.W. would like to know what firm provided
construction supervision and inspection to assure the design plans were
properly adhered to. Helen Humphries of
Williams Partners was asked this by Mark Lippolis but she was unable to provide
an answer.
Drainage
issues related to revisions in the original layout of the Dunbar Road compressor station have
caused serious and unresolved problems.
·
Town of Windsor
Supervisor Randy Williams has sent numerous
correspondences to the PSC requesting help or guidance on this issue. In his April 16, 2012, letter to
you he wrote: “At the Town’s April
4, 2012 meeting, Mr. Kelly Pennay (421 Dunbar Road) came and spoke to the
board. Mr. Pennay had a water/drainage problem at his property before the
compressor station and berm were installed. To help address this problem, a
larger pipe was installed, which made the water manageable. However, now the
water is a problem again. . .Mr. Pennay’s belief is that the berm is diverting
the water from its normal drainage pattern, and this is causing the problem.
The water is so voluminous that it is covering the road. This is a concern for
the Town. We have contacted Williams on the water issue; however, we believe
that this is a large issue with serious ramifications. We ask the PSC to please
investigate the water issue and take whatever actions are necessary”. This
is what C.R.O.W. asks for too!
·
Kelly Pennay has repeatedly told the Windsor
Town Board that the two creeks coming down the side of the hill below the
compressor station are no longer functioning as they did before it was built.
Now one of the creeks that once handled part of the water runoff has been
closed off and the other creek, which runs through Pennay’s property, produces
such an excessive increase in water flow that even a long mild rain is causing
flooding in his basement and undermining the foundation of the garage portion
of his home.
·
Supervisor Williams addressed this issue again
with the PSC in a letter dated August
6, 2012. In response, he received a copy of a letter dated August 16, 2012, addressed
to the PSC from attorneys for Williams Field Services Company, LLC stating that
“Williams was made aware of a drainage issue with a property bordering the
compressor station to the southwest. As a follow up, the affected compressor
station area was re-graded, a mud pond was filled, a pile of soil was removed
and the area was subsequently seeded on July 9, 2012”.
The letter goes on to say, “These measures were taken in an attempt to
reduce the amount of water entering the bordering property”. C.R.O.W. wants
to know why neither Williams Partners nor the PSC have, in all this time,
contacted Mr. Pennay, despite his having initiated contact with both. As stated
above and to Williams’ representatives at the August 1, 2012, Windsor town
board meeting, Mr. Pennay believes berm changes made to the original layout
plans he saw at Laser’s May 19, 2010, public information meeting are seriously
exacerbating his drainage problems. C.R.O.W. wants to know why these revisions
were made.
C.R.O.W. commends Windsor Town
Supervisor Randy Williams for communicating with the PSC in writing about various
concerns reiterated and emphasized in this correspondence. He has repeatedly
suggested to West Windsor residents living
around the Dunbar Road
compressor station that they send public input on these important issues directly
to the PSC. C.R.O.W. has taken his advice
in bringing its concerns to the attention of the PSC and hopes it will result
in a meeting of all parties to resolve these issues.
The members of C.R.O.W. believe that
the burden of proof for compliance with local and state laws should be with
Williams Partners and we are asking the PSC to hold them accountable. C.R.O.W.
appreciates, in advance, your attention and response to these important issues.
Respectfully submitted,
C.R.O.W. committee members
Scott B. Clarke Kelly
Pennay
Linda Pierson Rebecca
Reed
Eileen Ruggieri Mark
J. Lippolis
Peter Ruggieri
Cc:
NYS Gov. Andrew Cuomo, NYS DEC
Commissioner Joseph Martens, Broome Co. Executive Debbie Preston, NYS Senator
Tom Libous, NYS Assemblyperson Clifford Crouch, NYS Assemblyperson Donna
Lupardo, Broome Co. Legislator Scott Baker, Windsor Town Supervisor Randy
Williams, Windsor Town Supervisor elect Carolyn Price, NYS DEC Storm Water
Specialist Ellen Hahn, Town of Windsor Engineer Ron Lake, Town of Windsor Code
Enforcement Office Dave Brown, Williams Partners Northeast Manager of
Operations Michael Dickinson, Williams Partners Supervisor of North Operations
Dave Thompson , Williams Partners Senior Corporate Communications Specialist
Helen Humphries, NYS PSC reps Corey Strub and Jim Austin.
