The thing that is so heartbreaking about the DCP Midstream big tank project is the discord that has been created amongst the people of Searsport. We have a developing situation considered potentially dangerous by many of the residents. They formed a coalition and together they set about researching and learning as much about this project as possible. They have acted like any reasonable group of citizens would.
They worked to initiate a moratorium vote that will give the community additional time to fully understand the effect of the project. The opponents have taken this citizens’ initiative and morphed it into a sideshow that spreads propaganda portraying anyone who votes for the moratorium as against jobs, tax relief, progress, and yes, firemen.
That’s what makes this whole mess so heartbreaking. Reasonable citizens have asked to have more time to better understand the effect of this project, and in asking they have naturally wondered if, due to the tremendous size of the project and the potential hazard of distributing LPG to numerous trucks daily from a storage facility larger than just about anything on the East Coast (23 million gallons), whether our volunteer fire department can handle this size scale.
What makes this so heartbreaking is that the opponents have spun this very reasonable question into insinuations that those in favor of the moratorium don’t trust their fire department. And thus, the discord began.
Ironically, this is a situation wherein one might expect that the chief of the fire department would actually be leading the citizens’ initiative because it would be the prudent and wise course of action. The thing is this, there was no need for it to have ever gotten this much hype except that DCP Midstream is a soulless corporation that uses people as tools to get what it wants.
At a recent selectmen’s meeting, the superintendent of the water district spoke about how the water district is remaining neutral on the DCP project but then went on to explain how DCP came to town a year ago and “invested” $1 million to $2 million on its application process and has also committed to paying $1 million for its own water (which will benefit Mack Point) if the company gets the approved go-ahead. He further explained how unfair it is of us a community to put the “open-for-business” sign out, let DCP invest in our community, and then hit it with a moratorium. What nonsense! DCP Midstream is the manipulator, not the citizens of Searsport.
A year ago DCP worked behind the scenes to influence how a particular height ordinance would be presented to the people at the town meeting in order to ensure it wouldn’t raise any red flags. Searsport residents voted for a change to what was widely understood to be intended to accommodate the new crane. At the last minute, embedded in that ordinance change was also the OK to put in a 137-foot-high LPG storage tank.
It was a clever manipulation by DCP and the town officials fell for it. Next they began the public campaign about jobs and at first it was all about hiring local Searsport residents. With push back it has now morphed into local “Maine” jobs.
The company is also hitting on the tax relief card, which is highly questionable. If this is truly a plus for our town’s economic development, then let’s get the economic impact study done. The moratorium gives the town additional time to look into it as well as to investigate potential hazardous safety risks and ensure that everything is in order.
DCP Midstream is to blame for the discord in our town. It is in such a hurry to get this project moving, that it has strategically created the tension and the made up issues. It has never been unreasonable for a group of citizens to thoughtfully analyze and investigate new development in their community. It’s what any civil community would do. It’s only inconvenient for DCP Midstream, and thus, the creation of the message to “vote no” on the moratorium.
That’s why this mess is so heartbreaking. I’m voting yes on the moratorium on March 10. Yes for due diligence. Yes for common sense. Yes for measured prudence.
Suzanne Farley lives in Searsport.
I say bring on the jobs and cheap propane, and besides I cant see it from my house, lol.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/5-hurt-in-propane-explosion-near-Mukilteo-3356473.php
Watch it.
maybe you will think differently when your property values plummet.
So this isn’t about exploding propane or the rapine of corporate plutocracy – it’s about your money.
Activism about the installation of the tank isn’t about the danger of accidental conflagration, a terrorist act, or extra truck traffic. It’s about people who don’t like the what the tank will look like or the visceral longing of unfulfilled and empty-headed people for a cause celebre and the celebrity that comes with it. Mostly, it’s about self-centered property owners who are more worried about property value than the well-being of a families in need of a good-paying job.
Thank you so much for your civil commentary.
I think the headline writer was looking for the word “sow” as in to scatter or place seed in or on the ground. Where are the BDN proof readers?
You’d think an agricultural state like Maine would know this one…
Sow, PR1492, is that the most important and significant thig about Ms. Farley’s well written post?
Absolutely not – and she did not write the headline. I am just an old fashioned f**t that has little tolerance for mispellings and the misuse of vocabulary by people who should know better, as in the editorial staff of the BDN and some of the folks that post on this site. So sorry if I offended you.
What’s “heartbreaking” is that a soulless group of elite snobs and their extremist environmental lackeys don’t give a damn about jobs for the middle class. It’s time working people stood up to the extremism of those who would prevent them from the dignity of employment and food on the table.
Jeez, can’t you read? There is no one in the TBNT group that is an elite snob and does not want our neighbors to have good jobs.
They are a broad cross-section of people who are concerned about their town.
Right or wrong, to mindlessly accept a project of this size without wanting to see the details is ridiculous.
If it was a windmill in the center of your town, Milo, you would be asking questions.
What happened to having the freedom to ask?
You all seem to be able to do it very well right here. Well, in your snarky way, that is.
One simple question: Show us the tank. DCP has not shown us the tank. They have no accurate images of the tank from street level.
Stand in front of Angler’s Restaurant and give us an accurate image. A company like DCP has the technology.
The Op-ed piece just asks for civility. Hopefully we will have it in Searsport. It almost never shows up here.
I don’t care about this project at all, except to wonder if it does blow up, will i get to see the mushroom cloud from all the way up here in The County. It does not provide jobs for us up here so I really have no opinion if it goes through or not. This editorial makes me laugh however. How can you claim to want civility when you call the opposing side “soulless”?
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/5-hurt-in-propane-explosion-near-Mukilteo-3356473.php
Probably, and get out the marshmallows.
It really won’t matter to the NIMBYs if DCP answers all their questions. They will just come up with more or will not accept the answers and start never ending requests for more studies and more information.
Watch this news clip about the propane fire about three days ago, and think again about how you vote.
“5 Injured in PROPANE EXPLOSION near Mukilteo
By KOMO Staff
Published: Feb 23, 2012 at 11:59 AM PST Last Updated: Feb 23, 2012 at 8:23 PM
PSThttp://www.katu.com/news/local/Propane-tank-explodes-at-construction-site-near-Mukilteo-140188673.html?tab=video&c=y
Propane tank explodes into fireball at construction site, five workers
injured: First explosion is believed to have triggered
a second blast
http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-huge-propane-tank-explodes-at-construction-site-five-workers-injured-two-seriously-20120223,0,2874765.story
NORTH LYNNWOOD —
A propane tank exploded into a fireball at a construction
site north of Edmonds Thursday, injuring five workers, officials said.
All five workers were
transported by paramedics to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said Leslie
Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Hynes said the explosion
was reported at 11:10 a.m. in the 6300 block of Picnic Point Road, where
workers are building a water-treatment plant for Alderwood Water and Wastewater
District.
Contractors estimated about 60
workers were at the site when the explosion occurred as a 1,000-gallon propane
tank was being loaded onto a truck to be removed from the site, Hynes said.
“About 300 gallons of propane
remained in the tank. The tank shifted during the loading process and a valve
snapped, expelling the propane,” Hynes said. “The truck driver told
firefighters he yelled for everyone to get away from the truck, but the propane
immediately ignited and exploded.”
More than 50 firefighters from
Fire Districts 1 and from Lynnwood, Mukilteo and Snohomish County Airport Fire
departments responded.
“The propane tank, truck and
the ground surrounding it were in flames when firefighters arrived. An adjacent
construction trailer was burning. We also had fires in two two-story buildings
that are under construction,” Hynes said.
Damage at the site is expected
to total more than $1 million, Hynes said. The propane explosion had a blast
zone with a 300-foot radius, according to investigators from the Snohomish County
fire Marshal’s office.
All five of the injured workers
were inside a building damaged by the propane explosion. Fire investigators
believe a second explosion most likely occurred inside the building when flames
from the first blast ripped through the building and ignited flammable vapors
from a process that workers were using to apply paint.
Firefighters had the fires
under control by about 1 p.m., but crews continued to battle small brush fires
in a wooded area behind the site throughout the afternoon.
The Snohomish County Fire
Marshal’s Office is investigating the fire.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you assess your stance on this issue.
Why has an Environmental Impact Statement not already been mandated for this proposed development (just the size alone should make this EIS automatic)? What is the actual usage/need of Maine residents for LPG and is this tank in excess of that demand or simply meeting it? If it is in excess then why, what other uses will the LPG go toward? Will this tank provide guaranteed jobs for any Searsport residents? Will DCP put in writing and guarantee the wages (for GED equilivent workers) at this operation (I personally know that corporations makes all kinds of wage and benefit promises as they sell themselves to communities they want to move into, while negotiating tax breaks/regulatory concessions for themselves, but then they fail to live up to their promises)? Does the Searsport have existing and sufficent evaluative measures in place through their permitting processes enabling them to make an accurate and sound assessment of this proposal? If not, shouldn’t Searsport have this mechanism be in place prior to permit approval? If a decision is made without the correct assessment tools in place and something does go wrong (if the tank is approved) then will you, prior to construction, be willing to waive all liability claims against Searsport (not that it will matter I guess since if something does go seriously wrong Searsport may be wiped of the face of the planet and you along with it – not a scare tactic but fact)? Would a proposed moratorium for 6 months (or more if necessary) really matter if it worked to bring clarity to this issue? Why does “propaneformaine.com” not do what it states, that being embracing the communities that host it? This site is defamatory toward those residents of Searsport that seek honest answers to valid questions! Why does DCP present itself as “competition” that will drive prices down? They already operate in Maine, they will not be competition – in fact if they do anything they will drive competition out of the market.
An EIS will be required by the DEP at the very least because of the area of impermeable surface that will be created. That will happen in due time as the process of getting required permits, etc. proceeds. By the way, most of the cr*p required in an EIS is bull and nothing but a waste of time , money, and resources.
I find nothing wrong with Maine becoming an import and distribution center for propane for the entire northeast if that is what happens. The additional rail traffic in particular is good because the added freight traffic will help to keep the rail line economically viable.
And by the way, Searsport does not have nor will it EVER have the local expertise to properly evaluate a project of this type. So the whole idea of a group of local residents being able to analyze and evaluate a project of this type is laughable. Especially considering that the group will be forced to include anti-tank, anti-development zealots who by their very nature will ignore any facts that do not support their personal objections to the project.
“Searsport may be wiped of the face of the planet and you along with it” is pure fear mongering and hyperbole. A meteor COULD strike the town and wipe Searsport off the face of the earth. A tsunami could wipe Searsport off the face of the earth.
I agree with you , GovernmentIstheproblem, that the people f Searsport do not have the espertise to evailaute or oversee this project and also that an EIS will not get at that. See my post aove ( or below) of charging DCP a fee to process the paplication so that we in Maine who have no exertise ub this can get expert guidance.. That’s actually how it works in most states though an industry funded publically accountable LPG Board which we don’t have.
I also agree ( see below) that Maine may need an in state LPG facility ( that is not totally clear especially if it involves a concommittant invetsment of oublic dollars as for the dredging) ad if we do need one or want one, our location has to make sense as access to a larger renal maret for enyonne to be interested in us. We are too smlal on our own.
The entire issue, I hope you would agree, dersves that expert guidance and I think we should pursue that.
The Energy Committee’s failure to rovide for that in its recent compete de regulation of LPG may create a cause of action to the Court to order that establish a special master to oversee the implementation of that expert review and also ongoing review as would ormlaly exist if we had an LPG Board. Or it could be done via memo of understading with all stakeholders with DCP paying the bill.
Hi RJack,
An excellent framing of the situation, the issues.I also really appreciate the discernement and rationality behind your words and evident in your tone. Thank you.
You are correct, I think, that this is not an emergency and that most likely it is not Maine LPG needs alone that are behind this DCP plan
There is a lot happening globally and nationally with LPG markets because there is a current excess and a growing surplus nationally and globally. The market is driven by the short term surplus.reorganizing faciities and redirecting supply to te highest demand centers but at the same time for the long term picture diversifying out of LPG.
What this means for Maine at this moment is that even tough there is agrowing surplus of LPG is chasing big users and Maine’s LPG consumption is not one of the centers the national LPG market is competing to serve. Energy supplies of gas, LPG, fuel oil are all determined by national and global markets and our supply in Maine depends on regional supplies through existing infrastructure. So that means our access to LPG over the next decade or two as we make our transition to totally renewable energy may depend on whether our location is also beneficial for a larger market. Because we are so small ourselves as a market we can only attract interest if we provide acces to a “hot market” elswhere..it won’t be based only on Maine needs.
Marcellus is a gas frac site attrcating a lot of interest from thos ee holding LG surplus. Coincidentally, both of the canadian permits either side of Maine (hmmm is that the East West Highway route????) are owned by a company pioneering gas frac. Gas frac uses a trademarked LPG gel instead of water to shale fracking. So it is possible that that nearby hot market center is part of the capacity planned in the Searsport Tank.
What this means for Maine is at the moment TEPPCO pipeline, now that its leaks are repaired and its back on line, and Canadian Rail ( our principal sources of LPG supply) are meeting Maine’s needs in a delivery system that requires long distance travel for most Maine retail suppliers. I gather the Canadian Rail part is sometimes troublesome. Maine’s network of retail suppliers (Maine Petroleum Gas Association) support the facliity and feel that Maine needs its own midcoast terminal.
It’s not an emergency for Maine..there is no imminent threat that supply won’t be there for Maine. Through global predictions are for a continued excess of LPG.The .U.S. is exporting and looking forfreign markets. There may even be alternatives for us here in Maie..Buckeye who just bought the oil pipeline Portland to Bangor might be interested in converting that pipeline to lPG if we really are a center that needs 22 million gallons of LPG to serve the regional market that is here. And there are other folk like SEA-3 who own that huge safely sited LPG tank in Tamapa and are already a key part of our supply through the New Hampshire facility..Maybe we have more leverage and more choices than we realize?
Even the LPG industry though says it is a transition fuel..a more energy friendly way for rural areas like us to have an alternnative to fuel oil but its not a long term straey for the industry or for us. LPG is about the next 10 or 15 years.
After reading your comment, it’s plain to see why civility almost never shows up in Searsport.
$1MILLION in Damage in Mukilteo PROPANE TANK EXPLOSION
The fire department estimates property damage at $1
million from a propane tank explosion during construction work at a water
treatment plant near Mukilteo.
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017583012_apwamukilteoconstructionblast.html
The corporation is not your friend. Your neighbors who question the tank proposal and want to investigate all the issues before it proceeds are not the enemy. The corporate plutocracy, in this case DCP Midstream, seeks to divide and conquer us. Voting YES for the moratorium gives us all an opportunity to take a closer look.
This explosion was an accident involving a mere 1000 gallons. Take a look.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017583012_apwamukilteoconstructionblast.htmlNewspaper article.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/5-hurt-in-propane-explosion-near-Mukilteo-3356473.php
PROPANE TANK EXPLOSION in SEATTLE. Here’s the link. watch it.
I AM the working class. You obviously have NO real grasp on this situation. This is not going to put food on anyone’s table. It will, however, cause many of us who LIVE HERE, to take our tables and leave the town. But then, as a certain Searsport fire chief said to us on the so-called “Propane For Maine” facebook page “GOOD….we don’t want you here” Nice, neighbor. Classic example of how DCP is already tearing Searsport apart.
Uh, isn’t that what you’re saying to DCP? People who live in glass houses…
On March 13th at 7P.M., the Stockton Springs Fire Dept. will hold a public meeting to answer questions in the town hall, in response to the many calls of concern they are receiving regarding their response/readiness should an accident occur involving the proposed DCP 23 million gallon propane tank.
Surely there was some positive points to having the project in Searsport?
uh…..NO! What good can come from this?? oh silly me…it IS good…..good for DCP. Seriously….do YOU want this monster in YOUR back yard?
Ms Farley wrote: “A year ago DCP worked behind the scenes to influence how a particular height ordinance would be presented to the people at the town meeting in order to ensure it wouldn’t raise any red flags.” This is a serious allegation for which I ask you to submit proof. Otherwise this is slander and defamation against the Town government if not DCP. Be careful, please. BOTH sides are equally responsible for the vile propaganda that has been spread! Each has their own definition of fact. I choose to not listen to either side but research on my own. In my opinion, this Op Ed piece is based more on rhetoric than fact. But what do I know?
As I have stated further, I have no problem supporting a simple moratorium to study the impact of the project. What I have a problem with is section 5 of the moratorium which lets a committee, stacked with Tanks But No Tanks supporters, strip away the control of the selectmen and the planning board. This committee will have the authority to indefinitely extend the moratorium at will AND have the ability to review and change all of the ordinances it sees fit. Presumably (and forgive me if I am wrong), this committee will review and give the Roman thumbs up or down to any future development in Searsport.
This is why I am urging people in Searsport to vote NO. Not because I think the moratorium is a bad thing. It is this circumvention of process the committee will enjoy that I resist.
Regarding your first point, ask those who were at the town meeting last year. The question of changing the height requirement was framed strictly from the perspective that if we didn’t agree Sprague Energy, the operators at the port at Mack Point, would miss out on a plum piece of corporate welfare, a $7 million mobile crane built in Germany and paid for with federal TIGER grant discretionary funds. Faith Garrold, the moderator, stymied any attempt to introduce discussion about the relevance of DCP’s megatank, about which we knew very little at the time.
If you were to do research on your own, as you claim is your preference, you wouldn’t settle for the outright lies being circulated around Searsport by DCP Midstream that the moratorium is as you claim a “circumvention of process” in which tank opponents have “stacked” the review committee and will “strip away the control of the selectmen and the planning board.” Florafolia has addressed this false claim elsewhere on this page.
When you have a proper understanding of the facts, I hope you will have the decency to acknowledge them by changing your position and instead urging people in Searsport to vote yes on the moratorium.
Everyone had better take a look at this recent explosion in Seattle. Only 1000 gallons of propane and the houses rattled, 5 injuries, and a fire ball. Vote YES for the Moratorium and a closer look at the “real” costs to Searsport. Follow this link and watch and listen before it’s too.
5 INJURED in PROPANE EXPLOSION in Mukilteo, By KOMO Staff
Published: Feb 23, 2012 at 11:59 AM PST Last Updated: Feb 23, 2012 at 8:23 PM
PSThttp://www.katu.com/news/local/Propane-tank-explodes-at-construction-site-near-Mukilteo-140188673.html?tab=video&c=y
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017583012_apwamukilteoconstructionblast.html
mainemaid, I REALLY wish that you folks would get your information in order and UNDERSTAND what you are disseminating. First off, this was a PRESSURIZED vessel. Second, it contained 300 gallons of liquid and NOT the 1000 as you claim in your post. TBNT claims that DCP is spreading false information, what did a little reading JUST uncover here? False information!!! TBNT also sites “terrorism” as one of their concerns, maybe they need to dust off their copies of Merriam-Webster and read the definition of terrorism and what a terrorist is. Seems to be that they are spreading a lot of fear themselves.
“Five people were hurt when a 1,000 gallon propane tank exploded at a construction site near Mukilteo Thursday.The fire broke out just after 11 a.m. at an Alderwood Water and Waste District facility in the 6300 block of Picnic Point Road.Witnesses report hearing the explosion across the area and one said they could see a smoke column rising from the scene.”We thought we heard two sonic booms. The house rattled, the windows rattled,” said Elizabeth Gray. “I was afraid the windows would break. And I was almost knocked off my gardening stool it was so huge.”Leslie Hynes with Snohomish County Fire District 1 says five people at the site were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.One patient was in intensive care, while four others were listed in satisfactory condition, hospital officials said.Hynes said crews were loading a 1,000 gallon propane tank on a truck to be taken away from the site when it exploded. There is no word yet what caused the explosion.Mukilteo School District officials say the explosion was about a mile from Picnic Point Elementary and that authorities have warned those at the school that debris may still be in the air nearby. Students will not be allowed outside onto the playfields and will be escorted as they move between buildings.”Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/5-hurt-in-propane-explosion-near-Mukilteo-3356473.php#ixzz1ndh7VugR
To SFD220,Silly me, a 1000 gallon whose contents were estimated at 300 gallons – and here’s what happened. I hope this satisfies your cravings for “truth.””The fire department estimates property damage at $1 million from a propane tank explosion during construction work at a water treatment plant near Mukilteo.Snohomish County Fire District 1 says the explosion Thursday left a 300-foot blast zone that damaged two buildings, building materials and a truck and trailer.Five inured people were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. One was treated and released; three were in satisfactory condition Thursday night, and one critical.Fire department spokeswoman Leslie Hynes says workers were moving a tank with about 300 gallons of propane inside when a valve broke off. Workers were running away when the propane ignited in the explosion.”MUKILTEO, Wash. —
Well, construction equipment is pretty pricey. And if you look at the pictures, it’s pretty amazing that the tank is still white with a blue cover, and those lifting straps are still intact. Why aren’t those pictures being criticized as being “photo shopped” as your friend Florafolia has accused DCP of doing with their pictures? The bottom line here is that TBNT will NOT be happy with any study results, or answers to any questions because they aren’t the ones that they want to hear. BOTTOM LINE!
The news is that a propane tank leaked through human/mechanical error and a fire broke out and people were injured and damages to property were incurred. That is what matters, not your silly forensic photo analysis. Please, let’s stay on topic
Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!!!!
I do hope you do not drive a car. Or park one within 200 feet of your house. Or perhaps even own one. It contains GASOLINE with the explosive power of HUNDREDS of sticks of Dynamite.
In response to MyBrotherDarrell. If the moratorium is enacted, the Selectmen of the Town of Searsport will be the body who can extend the moratorium or not, depending upon whether they are satisfied that the many unanswered concerns and questions posed by citizens to DCP have been adequately addressed. The committee of nine–of which just three are selected by TBNT–are the one who will gather this information from many sources–from impartial experts as well as tha provided by DCP — and present it to the Selectmen.
You should re-read Section 5 of that “sacred text” that TBNT is holding to… And put down the kool-aid glass.
What is your problem with Section 5? Concerned citizens want some “tricky” questions ansswered.
And it’s DCP serving the Kool-Aid–wooing people left and right with overstated promises regarding jobs, tax rebates, gifts to poor humble Searsport.
Seems to me you want a company town–bought and paid for by big oil and big government.
Citizens want transparency in this project–what are the consequences of Big Tank to our town, our economy, our safety in our homes and on our roads, our way of life, our beautiful bay. You’d give it all up for …. I could guess, but I won’t.
If (as TBNT states) you’ve known since LAST March about this project, why now all of a sudden is everyone up in arms? Everyone has had a year to do all the research and ask all the questions they have wanted. This is a classic stall and stop tactic. I hope that the voters come out in force on March 10th and this moratorium gets shut down!
DCP has fast-tracked this project in less time than you would need for permission to pave a parking space if you had wetlands on your property.
TBNT has done copious research, which you can find on their web page–with sources.
DCP have not answered citizen’s questions fully and satisfactorily–their photoshopped presention was outrageous with its deceptive images (and they have produced no scale model of the project –which they promised months ago) and half-answered or dodged questions . But, it seems you’re their man…. so we can’t expect any prudent analysis from you
VOTE YES for a moratorium to get FACTS and impartial economic impact and environmental impact studies.
Corporations don’t want a decent discussion of the issues, as it would educate people to what the real issues are. Instead as we see here they resort to name calling, and missinformation to confuse and divide people on the subject. Create hate and discontent, divide and conquer is their game.
Be careful Suzanne. Your moderate, prudent and reasonable are all showing ! And thank God they are. We should all be seeing where the Public Safety folks in Augusta are in all of this. The State’s Fire Marshal needs to get into this, publicly, right now, from a public safety and emergency response point of view. Any LPG leak is bad enough. But when you have LPG and air mix for any length of time, and add (and we all can see it happening eventually) a spark from somewhere, like a hanging muffler, a stray cigarette or a dropped piece of metal off a scrap truck, well, can we all say Mt St. Helen’s ? Prudence and planning equal responsible public safety and response’s.
Don’t get me wrong. I am all for the job’s and the energy that the tank’s will bring. But some v-e-r-y serious and prudent planning are more than called for. A call to both FEMA and to the Harris County Texas Fire Marshal’s office might not be such a bad idea. Harris County has one of the largest concentration’s of LPG production facillities in the Country. They know what it takes to build, operate and regulate (see, it’s not such a dirty word when your butt’s on the line, is it ?) these types of facillities safely. Why not ask those who know as opposed to re-inventing the wheel ? And I’m up here in The County. Distance, in this case, brings perspective.
Hi Michael,
Many States have LPG industry funded LPG Boards that provide the expertise to handle an application like, including conformity with stautorily manadated fire & emergency esponse capacity, and then to provide the expertsie and technical resources necessary to over see th edafcility once it is in operation. Maine opted to de regulate ( and only recently) so we don’t have any of that.
They are still accountable to federal regs ( more than our bare bones statute references) butthey don’t ocme into play until the faculity is in place..there is nothing to set stabdrds for the application itself..for its plan. State DEP’s scope doesn’t begin to cover what is covered in the review and approval process of an application like this and it goes ithout ssyaingthe Searports local ordinace and its land use plan never contemplated and cannot provide all that is needed to properly review an application for a project like this.
I hope that kind of LPG expertise will become available to the review sought under the moratorium but it is beyond the scope of a full scae normal eis. How many people in America do you think could a proper spec for siting a tank of this size or establish its worst case impact radius. I saw a worst case radius in federal regulations that specified .6 miles for a 400,000 gallon tank. Five times that size. Does that mean the impact raius is 3 miles? An EIS won’t discover or know that. Only LPG expertise can tell us that. It won’t come from an EIS.
The state has left a huge vacuum here with significant public safety issues for hwich we have no instate expertise to answer.
In my opinion, DCP should pay the town an application fee big enough to cover the procurement of independent expertise and we should assemble a panel along the lies of a mini LPG board with industry expertise ( not little reatil dealers but peers of DCP who own and operate dacilities of this scale.
Fully agree withyou cove. The deregulation has left Maine dangerously short of the means to properly plan for these type of emergency’s. And your idea of DCP paying the application fee large enough to cover the independent expertiese is a good one. The fee can be rolled into the construction permit costs and DCP can reover the fee in it’s tax filing’s. See, everybody wins. Now, wasn’t that simple ?
As evidenced by some of the comments here, it seems the pathetically thin promise of jobs is all it takes to win over many people, especially politicians and state bureaucrats, in support of a project — any project. It’s a measure of the desperation of the times and such promises, shamelessly delivered by cynical business executives and invariably inflated to a preposterous degree, are a cruel hoax.
Case in point, DCP Midstream, corporate front for the gas operations of two of the largest petroleum industry giants in the world, ConocoPhillips and Duke Energy. DCP’s hired community manipulators at the law firm of Verrill Dana, operating through a shady entity, Maine Street Solutions, have been very free about suggesting that Searsport residents will get the perhaps dozen permanent jobs at the proposed propane megatank facility, jobs the company says will pay between $65,000 and $80,000 plus premium benefits . The company says it will train them to fill tank trucks and rail tank cars and all they need is a GED certificate!
If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Maine Street Solutions operates a Facebook page, Propane for Maine, to sell the project to Searsport and to interfere in a local citizens initiative seeking a moratorium while townspeople examine all the economic, safety and environmental impacts of dropping this dangerous behemoth smack in the middle of this small town. After all, this tank with 22.7 million gallons of liquefied propane, which must be kept refrigerated at all times to 44 degrees below zero, would sit only 600 feet from dwellings and less than a mile not only from the largest chemical plant in the state but from conventional tank farms containing some 50 million gallons of gasoline, ethanol, heating oil and other hazardous fuels.
Go to Propane for Maine and ask what they mean by “local” jobs and see how they react. Earlier inquiries from Searsport residents have brought a good deal of stonewalling because the fact is employment law doesn’t allow DCP to act on such promises to the exclusion of prospective workers from other communities. Persist in such questions and no matter how politely you ask you will soon find yourself blocked from further inquiries and comments.
The sad and simple truth is, DCP Midstream is doing a masterful job of dividing a community, it operates with all the moral integrity of a sociopath and it is playing decent out-of-work and under-employed people for chumps.
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Thanks for this Suzanne. I just checked the DCP website http://www.propaneformaine.com not much there and no contact nfo..email or phone..also no lace to ask questions. do you have email and phone contact info? Do’t they have a public relations person on site?
It may be they were asked and aswered questions I have at the various communit meetingswhich I am not able to attend. My questions are
(1) why is this so big? Maine only uses about 35 million gallos a year why is 22 million in storage needed? or is this New England Reserve?
(2) what anticpated percentage of this product will actually supply existing Maine retail companies like Dead River, for example or the little retailers that took over their more remote rural routes.. Will all retailers who choose to be able to fuel from this facility? ( the website says dealers have to travel a long distance rom out of state to supply maine now) . Their public relations personn has been ased and ducked this question sever times, I am told.
(3) their web site says this LPG comes form the north sea..so it’s not Qatar or the middle east as widely reported?
(4) the height of this faciliy is apparently determined by site size.the site is too small for a lower profile faciity of smaller tanks. Even if 22 million gallons are some how justifiable why didn’t DCP option a larger lot?
(5) the web site reconfirms that only 10 to 12 permamnet year round jobs will emerge and arent speciic about a realistic estimate of their anticpated local need for other services from the local community. I could tell you what building another cotage would add to my local economy here..surely they have that.
(6) Under almost all State laws ( not ours) the facliity is responsble for its own emergency response and fire ( all very specialized stuff..federal laws with all kinds of special training and well beyond a backyard propoane fire) They have’t committed to that in anything I’ve seen or in their web site.
I have other questions of State Legsiators who just completely de regulated LPG leaving this tiny town in the position of authroity of last resort. The required permits under state law are not a normal complete review that a facility like this would go through in other states.
Sews??? Seriously, where are the editors/proofreaders???? I’d love the job.
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