Sunday, January 22, 2012 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 13¢ @AS Continued from Page 1 Residents notified Humphreys said residents, township officials and the Dal- las School District were noti- fied of the ongoing work at the site just before it was complet- ed in early January. Some resi- dents expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of notice that was received, as Humphreys hand-delivered letters to near- by residents a day before work was set to be completed. “What I'm worried about is that both gas companies will be in Dallas Township, and it’s ve- ry easy to say sorry, but if my house blows up, I don’t want to hear sorry,” said Wayne Dottor, a Fairground Road resident. “They’re not good at keeping their word.” Humphreys said Williams has increased its “courtesy commu- nication” due to residents’ on- going concerns, and has met with county emergency man- agement officials to determine a line of communication as well as emergency response plans. County involvement Stephen Bekanich, Luzerne County emergency manage- ment director, has dealt with the Williams company for a number of years because the Williams-owned Transco inter- state pipeline, located in mu- nicipalities throughout the county, was built in the late 1950s. The Springville line sends natural gas from wells in Sus- quehanna County to the part of the Transco line that runs through Dallas Township, which then sends the gas to market. I'l have all the confidence all é world in Williams - they’re not a fly-by-night company, and they’ve been in the area for a long time,” said Bekanich. “There are Williams pipelines in the county. We've dealt with them on previous emergencies, and they’ve been very profes- sional.” Bekanich also said the county emergency management offi- cials recently met with Dallas Township emergency manage- ment officials to discuss a line of communication that would be appropriate in terms of the pipelines. “If there is any type of routine work being done, such as main- tenance, I wouldn't be notified about it, nor would I want to be,” said Bekanich. “I would be getting those types of calls hun- dreds of times a day, and I don’t have the time or the personnel to be fielding those types of calls.” Bekanich said the only time Williams would contact the county emergency manage- ment agency and the county 911 center would be if there is out- of-the-ordinary work being done, or if gas was to be re- leased. He said Dallas Township offi- cials would need to take it upon themselves to ask for routine notifications from Williams. Humphreys said Williams fol- lows the mandated procedures as spelled out by the Pennsylva- nia Hazardous Material Emer- gency Planning and Response Act of 1990. The law The law outlines the require- ments companies must follow to coordinate emergency prepa- redness with local first respon- ders. According to the law, compa- nies must notify state and local emergency management if there is an accident or incident that results in the release of a hazardous material, which in- cludes a laundry list of details about the incident. The county officials must “I have all the confidence all the world in Williams - they're not a fly-by-night company, and they've been in the area for a long time. There are Williams pipelines in the county. We've dealt with them on previous emergencies, and they've been very pro- fessional.” Stephen Bekanich Luzerne County emergency management director then notify the fire chief in the local municipality in which the accident or incident took place and with all the aforemen- tioned details. An emergency preparedness council, which was formed as part of the act, regularly con- venes to discuss the effective- ness of the law’s notification process, and makes changes ac- cordingly. Bekanich said this law ap- plies to any company that deals with hazardous substances. He said any time a company trans- ports a chemical or substance in larger than usual amounts, that company must report to the county emergency manage- ment agency the details of the materials and pay a fee in sup- port of a hazardous materials emergency response plan. “It depends on what business it is,” said Bekanich. “In some cases, (companies) do notify us and in some cases they don’t.” Humphreys also said in cer- tain situations at the site, such as out-of-the-ordinary repairs and tests, Williams will contin- ue to provide the township and residents with information to quell concerns. “Awareness of the (natural gas) industry has been height- ened, and this is an opportunity to provide information to peo- ple, and we will continue to want to do that,” said Hum- phreys. Chief also involved Chief Gathering LLC is an- Staying Home Has Never Been Easier! 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She said Chief doesn’t have the manpower to answer resi- dents’ individual questions at any time, but the e-mail notifi- cations will provide the same information to a multitude of interested parties so staffers don’t have to repeatedly answer the same questions. Gittens said the company meets with landowners regular- ly and sends out letters to let them know what’s happening, but said it’s also important for anyone who might be affected to know what’s going on and to squash potential concerns. The e-mail notification sys- tem has yet to be developed as the company has not yet broken ground for its 30-mile Wyoming County Pipeline Project. Com- pany officials said the pipeline is set to be completed by Au- gust. The Transco line has a com- pletely different series of re- quirements to follow, as the line runs through multiple states. The Transco line to which both Chief and Williams will connect runs from New York to Texas. Transco weighs in Chris - Stockton, a Transco spokesperson, said Pennsylva- nia does not have any specific notification requirements re- garding routine maintenance on the line, including the vent- ing of natural gas, but the com- pany does notify many agencies despite the lack of require- ments to do so. He said the state does have a notification requirement in terms of air quality, which is on- ly done when a certain amount of gas is released. “As for emergency planning purposes, there are no require- ments in Pennsylvania for noti- fication,” said Stockton. “Ev- erything we do, we do purely on the principle that it’s the right thing to do and it’s the best company practice.” Stockton said Transco con- tacts the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Emergency Manage- ment Agency, both of which al- so contact local authorities. Stockton also said Transco con- tacts county emergency offi- cials about proposed work on the line. He continued that other noti- fications, such as to landowners and neighbors of the pipeline, 3 a Sor There's Still Time To Have A Be Dazzling Smile PS For Valentine’s Day! A ¥ Dr. Gary Nataupsky Riverside Commons, 575 Pierce Street, Suite 201 Kingston * 331-8100 * www.dr-gmn.com We Accept CareCredit me are made on a case-by-case ba- sis. “Depending on where we're at and how many neighbors will be affected, we’ll go door-to- door with letters, letting resi- dents know that if they smell gas to not be alarmed,” said Stockton. Other companies Other companies are re- quired to notify customers, resi- dents and township officials in the event of emergency work. United Water, located in Dal- las Township, provides custom- ers with rapid-dial phone calls whenever an emergency or out of the ordinary work ensues. Bob Manbeck, a United Wa- ter spokesperson, said the com- pany has utilized this method since 2006 and found it to be the most effective form of com- munication, as long as custom- ers update phone number changes. He also said the company posts information to its website regularly to keep customers and interested parties in- formed. In the past, residents had concerns about noise at Pulver- man Enterprises, located on Lower Demunds Road, but president Randy Mark said the company has resolved those is- sues. He said the operation of the manufacturing plant has not changed. In the event of an ex- pansion or any type of work that may affect neighbors of the facility, Mark said he would send notifications to residents and the township. He said the company is not required by law to notify resi- dents of its work. 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