Excerpt:
Spectra Energy's Steckman Ridge Natural Gas Compressor Station sprayed up to 1,629 pounds of used lubricating oil onto fertile farmland and residential property in rural Pennsylvania; crops had to be burned to prevent toxic contamination of consumers. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has misinformed residents for the past six months that the oil residents found coating their blueberries, tomatoes, hay fields is non-toxic....
Citizens Pick Up the Pieces
The emergency shut-down in August was one of four equipment malfunctions that have occurred since the natural gas compressor station became operational last summer. Residents near other compressor stations which process raw gas frequently complain about the chronic and extremely loud "jet like noises" which industry officials admit are a normal part of plant operations. Chronic loud noise can cause birth defects, psychological problems and marked behavioral changes in young children as well as cardiovascular disease and vertigo in adults.
The DEP cited Spectra Energy as violating the federal Air Pollution Control Act and the Clean Streams Law, yet according to facility information provided by the DEP's e-facts website the agency still has not taken enforcement action or given penalties for these violations. Spectra Energy also received a Notice of Violation for not reporting the incident by telephone to the DEP within two hours and not submitting a written report within three days, as required by law. The equipment malfunction was reported to the DEP by terrified residents.
Read the full article by clicking here: Natural gas compressor station coats PA farmland in used gear oil
No comments:
Post a Comment