A River Runs Through It…

2007 is proving to be an unpredictable year on the weather front. After practically the hottest April on record, May has proved to be a bit of a wet blanket. The Environment Agency, in particular, must be breathing a sigh of relief.

April’s hot weather prompted them to urge the public to conserve water, amid fears of a drought this summer. In response to this, pipeline action group the Safe Haven Network were quick to point out their hypocrisy; National Grid’s contractor Nacap Land and Marine have an application lodged with the Agency to extract thousands of gallons of water from major Welsh rivers like the Tawe, Loughor and Lliw to “hydrostatically test” the pipeline.

In plain english, this means they will pump thousands of gallons of water from our rivers and run it through the pipeline at extremely high pressures. If any section of the pipe ruptures under this pressure (given the rust, this wouldn’t be surprising…) then National Grid have a problem. And their contractor Nacap Land and Marine JV (Dutch contractor Nacap BV now owns former partner Walter Lawrence) already has a dodgy reputation when it comes to polluting rivers…

Given April’s weather and the possibility of drought, rumours have abounded that maybe Nacap weren’t going to use water after all – one, rather far-fetched suggestion was that they would use Nitrogen instead – surely that would make it “Nitrostatic testing”? While it's true that an order has been placed for Nitrogen to be used in the pipeline - it's more likely to be earmarked for "Pigging", whereby a guage will be propelled through the pipeline to scan for any defects in the welds or inner lining. As another key safety check, Pigging will certainly be carried out on most, but not necessarily all of the pipeline, as we shall later see...

In light of this rumour, a supporter of the Network contacted the DTI for clarification. The response, now forwarded to yours truly, was as follows…

“Dear ----

As far as DTI is aware the pipeline will be hydrotested, as the name
indicates, with water. I have no idea where the suggestion for nitrogen
to be used to test the integrity of the pipeline originates. National
Grid nor its Works Contractors have sought DTI's agreement for another
means of testing of the pipeline.”

Regards

Gary

Gary Mohammed
Manager, Power Station and Pipeline Consents
Department of Trade and Industry.

As self-proclaimed champions of the Welsh environment you’d hope the EA will do the right thing when it comes to these applications. A company with a known pollution record has applied to extract water to test a pipeline which will only contribute to the huge problem of Climate Change. As last year’s Stern Report pointed out, Gas Transmission and Distribution is the single biggest source of Carbon Emissions in our economic system.

Unfortunately there’s another rumour going round (with a rather stronger basis in fact) – and that is that the EA’s dedicated pipeline team are being paid for by National Grid…

He Ain't Heavy, He's My "Sister"!

Phase 2 of the pipeline is well underway, and National Grid's heavy lorries are harassing the small villages of the Amman and Tywi valleys, causing much danger and distress to the local population.

And in the time-honoured spirit of an area renowned for the "Hosts of Rebecca", local Llandybie town councillor "Rebecca" Bowen took matters into his own hands last Friday.

For those of you who don't know "Plaid" councillor Bowen, he was campaign manager for a candidate who stood for campaign group Stand Your Ground in the recent Assembly elections, a group who have declared a "United War on White Collar Fraud, Corruption & Skullduggery".

Frustrated at being unable to obtain a copy of the local Traffic Management Plan from the local council, and suspecting Skullduggery was at play, Councillor Bowen laid under a heavy lorry in protest.

Two hours of this protest ended when Councillor Bowen was allowed to view the plan at the constructor's offices. Nevertheless, he was cautioned by the police.

You may think he was cautioned by the Fashion Police, but nay, it was Dyfed Powys Police. He was then free - to continue on his merry way!

Let's see if they print it...

Dear Editor,

I read with some dismay that yet again Neath Port Talbot councillors and planners have chosen to ignore the justified and real concerns of the people of Cilfrew and the surrounding area, and vote in a majority to approve National Grid’s application to build a gas pressure reduction station outside their village. As is well known by now, this station is part of a much larger strategic infrastructure project to bring LNG into Milford Haven and pump it under very high pressures to its ultimate destination – the main gas network in England.

To do this, another gas station is being constructed to the north of Swansea, next to the old steelworks site at Felindre. This station, known as a Compressor, will, when completed, be three times the size of its cousin at Cilfrew. It will be fed by not one pipeline, but three, and will sit next to a 400kilovolt electrical substation. It was put for approval before Swansea council at the end of last year and voted through, under very dubious circumstances. Members of the public were forbidden from attending the site visit for “security reasons”.

Given the fact that these stations are being fed by pipelines running at unprecedented pressures, members of the public have every right to be concerned. A few weeks ago, a fire in close proximity to a much smaller pressure reduction valve on an industrial estate near Basildon, Essex, saw emergency authorities and National Grid engineers cordon off the area and erect a 2 mile square exclusion zone. Such a zone, centred on the much bigger Felindre Station, would encompass the Swansea North substations (power supply for much of the Swansea area), the proposed Felindre Strategic Business Park site, Morriston Hospital, and part of the M4. Have planners and councillors in Swansea really thought through the implications?

There may or may not be a valid strategic justification for this whole pipeline project. But when safety concerns and inconsistencies about this project remain unanswered, and parts of this project pose a possible risk to key facilities of strategic value to us, the people of South Wales, we have every right to object, and in the strongest possible terms.

Your Sincerely,


Jim Dunckley.