Summerlin HOA draws lawsuit over pipeline pressure

Richard Brian / File photo

Kern River Gas Transmission Co. of Salt Lake City is suing a Summerlin homeowners association over a plan to boost pressure in a pipeline through Summerlin. The Sun City Summerlin Community Association last year also protested the plan before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, citing safety concerns.

By Steve Green (contact)

Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 | 9:49 a.m.

Summerlin developer files suit to stop gas pipeline expansion (4-14-09)

More news from Summerlin

The owner of a natural gas pipeline running through Las Vegas is suing a Summerlin homeowners association, charging the HOA is refusing to cooperate with a plan to boost pressure in the line.

Kern River Gas Transmission Co. of Salt Lake City has proposed to increase the pressure in its existing regional natural gas pipeline by 11 percent. The increase would be for the entire length of the pipe, which runs 1,680 miles from Wyoming to Southern California.

Kern River filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for Nevada against the Summerlin North Community Association and 4.6 acres of property it says is owned by the HOA.

This is the second such lawsuit pending over the plan to boost pressure in the line through Summerlin.

On April 13, Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Corp. sued Kern River, charging the plan violated a 1993 easement.

Hughes, owned by General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago, complained the plan may raise safety concerns, "the mere perception of which could have an immeasurable negative impact on Summerlin's viability and appeal as a residential community."

After General Growth filed for bankruptcy protection, a judge allowed Kern River to litigate that suit outside of the bankruptcy process and that case is pending in federal court in Las Vegas.

In Friday's lawsuit, Kern River noted it received approval from the U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to boost pressure in the pipeline.

In its applications, Kern River says the increase doesn't pose safety or environmental risks because the higher pressure is well within the capacity of the 36-inch steel pipeline.

But the Summerlin North HOA has refused to cooperate with Kern River in granting necessary easements to boost pressure in the line, Kern River charges.

Attached to the lawsuit is a June letter from the HOA to Kern River indicating the HOA wouldn't sign off on the plan.

"Based on the facts you presented to us, you have in hand permits from the necessary government agencies to allow the increase in MAOP (maximum allowable operating pressure) without the Summerlin North Board needing to execute the previously referenced easement," the letter says.

"The board realizes that an increase in MAOP carries with it a decrease in line safety factor. Inasmuch as the board has no technical competence, it does not want to in any way countenance the proposed increase in MAOP. The board will rely on government oversight in the permitting process to ensure that best practices regarding pipeline operation (and most particularly safety) are adhered to," the letter says.

After receipt of that letter, Kern River tried again but failed to gain the cooperation of the board.

The lawsuit says the HOA board told Kern River on Thursday that the board was rejecting Kern River's plan to amend the easement because the easement prohibits an increase in the pressure in the line.

"Summerlin North will not suffer any harm from the increased MAOP, but Kern River, and particularly its customers and end users of the natural gas it transports, will suffer tremendous harm from any delays," the lawsuit charges.

The lawsuit asserts an eminent domain claim over the land at issue and asks the court for a declaration that Kern River can increase pressure in the line through the Summerlin North property.

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By mred

8/31/09 at 4:26 p.m.

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Check all the pipeline explosions on the web in the last ten years, it never should have taken this route.
By CynicalObserver

8/31/09 at 5:11 p.m.

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Comment Part 2:

(6) In addition to the frailty of aging pipelines, the gas pressure itself is a tremendous concern. According to the woman who was Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control's Enforcement Division in 2000, a high pressure natural gas main pipeline "Transfer Station" is one of the most dangerous facilities in any urban environment. With her, I stood on the ground approximately 1/4 mile from a pipeline company's "Transfer Station" for its main north-south California line, where they bleed the pipeline, test and adjust gas pressure. When they adjust the pressure by testing and bleeding the lines, the ground shakes with the vigor of a 5.5 earthquake.

As a result, it is important to identify where in Summerlin or Las Vegas Valley the "Transfer Stations" for this pipeline are located, because they themselves will be all the more dangerous if pipeline pressure is increased.

Summerlin's developer and homeowners are not "barking up the wrong tree". They are doing the right thing to protect the public's health, safety and welfare.

If Kern River can forcibly increase the gas pressure of their pipeline, using an eminent domain (condemnation) proceeding, despite very real safety issues, then it only goes to show you that your government's elected officials are not doing their jobs to ride herd on these companies conducting inherently dangerous activities.

And for everyone's information, there is another such high pressure natural gas main line running under Valley View Blvd. in the south west of Las Vegas. For those who carefully bought homes outside of the "blast radius", if the gas pressure in that line is increased, I guess you are scr@wed too.
By CynicalObserver

8/31/09 at 5:14 p.m.

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Comment Part 1:

In my once and prior life, my friends and I tried to stop our local school district from building a new school right next to one of these high pressure natural gas distribution mains. During the course of our fight, which we lost, we learned several key facts:

(1) Most companies which own and operate these high pressure natural gas distribution pipelines are not proactive in replacing the pipes when they corrode. Most salty desert soils, like those in Las Vegas, are highly corrosive.

(2) During the last ten years there was a massive, unexpected break of one of these massive high pressure natural gas distribution pipelines in Southern New Mexico. The pipeline blew up, for no apparent reason, immediately adjacent to a camp ground. An entire extended family was incinerated. The "blast diameter" of the fireball was 2400'. It burned for a long time before the gas pipeline operator got around to putting it out. If the explosion had occurred in an urban area, there would have been a huge, expanding fire, ala the Chicago and San Francisco fires of old.

(3) The Federal agency which is supposed to be regularly inspecting these pipelines, but isn't, was incredibly under funded, in terms of inspectors, during the Clinton Administration, and all but shut down during the Bush II administration.

(4) In the event of deaths or property damage arising out of explosions of these high pressure natural gas distribution pipelines, the insurance companies and pipeline operators litigate forever, through multiple appeals, and only settle after an average of 10 years of litigation.

(5) The State of California's Department of Education recently adopted a rule that no new school can be built within 1500' of the right of way for a high pressure natural gas distribution pipeline. They established their rule based on the "blast radius" in the Southern New Mexico explosion.
By FiremanFred

8/31/09 at 5:29 p.m.

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You people should really think about this one for more than a second. Believe me when I say, DON'T LET THESE GAS CORPORATIONS RAISE THE PRESSURE! PERIOD!
If you think they give a damn about you, other than that you better keep making your monthly payments, your fooling yourselves.
Their motto is: If it go boom, we'll just drag it on for years if they sue.
Oh, by the way, I want a raise!
By lvcomments

9/2/09 at 5:56 a.m.

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Pipeline Explosions in the United States
Part 1
Source Wikipedia

1965: Gas Transmission Pipeline, north of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company explodes from stress corrosion cracking, killing 17 people. This accident lead to then President Lyndon B. Johnson to call for the formation of a national pipeline safety agency. (March 4, 1965)

1968: Ruptured LPG Pipeline. Near Yutan, Nebraska. Repair crews responded to a pipeline rupture, thought vapors were dispersed, but ignited a vapor cloud by driving into it. 5 Repairmen were killed. (December 5, 1968)

1969: Low Pressure Natural Gas Distribution System, Gary, Indiana. (June 3, 1969)
1969: High Pressure Natural Gas Pipeline. A 14 inch natural gas pipeline running at 789 psi near Houston, Texas ruptures, causing a massive fire. Construction work downstream of the accident lead to a pressure build up that caused the rupture. September 9, 1969.

1970: Colonial Pipeline Company, Petroleum Products Pipeline, Jacksonville, Maryland, (September 3, 1970.

1970: Port Hudson Propane Gas Pipeline rupture. Phillips Pipeline Company propane gas explosion, Franklin County, Missouri. Leak lead to propane cloud explosion with a force of several tons of TNT. (December 9, 1970)

1972: Rupture of Propane Pipeline, near Butler, Alabama. A road grader in use hit a high pressure propane pipeline. A while after the line was ruptured, a car drove into the vapor cloud, igniting it, and killing 4 people. (June 20, 1972)

1973: Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline rupture. Austin, Texas A Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) pipeline ruptured due to an improper weld. 6 people killed. (February 22, 1973)

1975: Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline rupture. An NGL pipeline ruptured due to previous mechanical damage at Devers, Texas. 4 killed in vapor cloud fire. (May 12, 1975)

1975: LPG pipeline rupture. An LPG pipeline ruptured near Romulus, Michigan, due to previous mechanical damage to the pipeline and over pressurization from operator error at a storage facility. 9 people were injured in the vapor cloud fire. (August 2, 1975)
By lvcomments

9/2/09 at 5:59 a.m.

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Pipeline Explosions in the United States
Part 2
Source Wikipedia

1976 LPG pipeline rupture. An LPG pipeline ruptured near Whitharral , Texas, leading to vapor cloud fire that killed 5 and destroyed 2 homes. Electrical Resistance Weld (ERW) failure is suspected for the failure. (February 25, 1976

1976 Petroleum products pipeline. A front loader hit an 8 inch petroleum products pipeline in Los Angeles, California during a road widening project along Venice Boulevard. 9 were killed, and serious property damage occurred.(June 16, 1976)

1976 Natural gas pipeline rupture. A road grader hit a 20 inch gas transmission pipeline near Cartwright, Louisiana. 6 killed in the following fire. (August 9, 1976)

1977 LPG pipeline rupture. A LPG pipeline ruptured near Ruff Creek, Pennsylvania from stress corrosion cracking. The resulting propane vapor cloud ignited when a truck driven into the cloud stalled, then created a spark when it was restarted. (July 20, 1977)

1978 LPG pipeline rupture and fire. An LPG pipeline at Donnellson, Iowa ruptured from past mechanical damage and improper lowering for road improvements. The vapor cloud ignited several minutes after the rupture. 3 people were killed. (August 4, 1978)

1979 Natural gas pipeline rupture. An anchor handling boat, PETE TIDE II, damages an unmarked gas pipeline with a grappling hook offshore from New Orleans, Louisiana. A fire followed, and the 2 of the crew were missing & presumed dead. (July 15, 1979)

1986 Petroleum products pipeline rupture at Mounds View, Minnesota. Gasoline at 1,434 psi sprayed a residential area around 4:20 am local time, then ignited. 2 were killed, and many homes damaged or destroyed. Confusion by the pipeline company lead to a delay in shutting down the pipeline. ERW failure caused the rupture. (July 8, 1986)

1989 Petroleum products pipeline failure after the San Bernardino train disaster, California. Damage from derailment cleanup caused petroleum products pipelines to rupture, spraying homes with gasoline. 3 killed in following fire.

1989 New York City Con Edison Steam Pipe explosion, rupture 3 are killed in the 3rd ave- Grammercy Park area.

1990 Propane pipeline rupture and fire, North Blenheim, New York, March 13, 1990. Stress from work done on pipeline causes rupture, vapor cloud moved downhill into a town. 2 killed when the cloud ignited.

1994 Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion and Fire Previous damage cause a natural gas transmission pipeline to rupture at Edison, New Jersey on March 23, 1994.
By lvcomments

9/2/09 at 6:03 a.m.

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Pipeline Explosions in the United States
Part 3
Source Wikipedia

1996 Butane Pipeline rupture and fire, near Lively, Texas, August 24, 1996. 2 killed after driving into an unseen butane cloud. Leak was caused by external corrosion.

1997 Pipeline Rupture and Fire, Indianapolis, Indiana, July 21, 1997.

1998 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire, South Riding, Virginia, July 7, 1998.

1998 Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture and Subsequent Explosion, St. Cloud, Minnesota, December 11, 1998.
1999 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire at a gas pressure station, Wytheville, Virginia, destroying a home and motorcycle store.[4] (January 3, 1999)

1999 Natural Gas Service Line and Rupture and Subsequent Explosion and Fire, Bridgeport, Alabama, January 22, 1999

1999 A pipeline in a Bellingham, Washington park leaked gasoline, vapor from leak exploded and killed 2 children and an 18 year old man on June 10, 1999.
2000 Hazardous Liquid Pipe Failure and Leak, Explorer Pipeline Company, Greenville, Texas, March 9, 2000.
2000 Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture and Fire Near Carlsbad, New Mexico This Explosion Killed 12 Members Of The Same Family. Cause was due to severe internal corrosion of the pipeline. (August 19, 2000)
2000 Rupture of Piney Point Oil Pipeline and Release of Fuel Oil Near Chalk Point, Maryland, April 7, 2000.

2002 Rupture of Enbridge Pipeline and Release of Crude Oil near Cohasset, Minnesota, July 4, 2002.

2003 Excavation Damage to Natural Gas Distribution Line Resulting in Explosion and Fire, Wilmington, Delaware, July 2, 2003.

2007 New York City steam explosion, on July 18, 2007.

2007 Propane pipeline explodes, killing two and injuring five others near Carmichael, AL on November 1, 2007.

2008 Natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on February 5, near Hartsville, TN Believed to have been caused by a tornado hitting the facility.

2009 natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on May 5, 2009 near Rockville, IN in parke county about 24 miles north of Terre haute, IN as of right now no information has been released about what caused the explosion. pictures have been released aroung the area showing the damage caused. homes were exacuated in a one-mile area of the explosion no injuries reported.
By Silver

9/3/09 at 12:09 p.m.

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IN SUN CITY SUMMERLIN, THE EXISTING PIPE LINE IS LOCATED PARTIALY UNDER A GOLF COURSE. CHEMICALS FROM FERTILIZER, AND THE HEAVY IRRIGATION TO MAINTAIN GRASS, PROMOTES SOME ADDTIONAL POTENTIAL CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND DAMAGE TO THE EXISTING PIPELINE WHERE THE INITIAL PROTECTECTIVE COATING HAS BEEN BREECHED.
BREECHING OF THE PIPELINE PROTECTIVE COATING COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO SEVERAL CAUSES SUCH AS SHARP ROCKS,SOIL MOVEMENT,PIPE MOVEMENT.
WITH A CHEMICAL REACTION ATTACK ON THE BREECHED PROTECTIVE COATING A PHENOMENON KNOWN AS A "STRESS RISER" IS INTRODUCED TO THE NORMAL HOOP STRESSES AND ANY BENDING MOMENT STRESSES IN THE PIPE. THIS STRESS COULD INDUCE A LOCAL STRESS FAR GREATER THAN PLANNED PERMISSABLE OPERATING PRESSURE AND LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC FAILURE.
By theone1

9/7/09 at 7:18 a.m.

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No in my back yard. We don't want planes to fly over our community. We don't want an interchange near our community. Welcome to the real world (again) Summerlin. You are not that special.