UPDATE: A couple of days after my post, the city announced the Kern River company had emptied its line that was in closest proximity to the slide but that its second line was further away and considered not a risk. I am glad the line was emptied. But this was the first that I understood there were two Kern River pipelines. When they upgraded capability a few years ago, they didn't replace the existing pipe, they actually put in a second line. In looking further at Kern River maps, I can see that the lines mostly run close together, but there are a few places where they separate somewhat. So I don't know how far away that second line is. It's not possible to tell from Google maps.
ORIGINAL POST:
A disaster has occurred. But another, more insidious disaster could be waiting in the wings.
This news link and this news link show some dramatic footage of the landslide that suddenly occurred this morning (please click on the links to see photos as I don't have rights to reproduce them here). One house was crushed, and the residents had only left that house shortly before that occurred. And here's a link to a photo gallery of the slide area and the crushed home. Officials say that 27 homes have been evacuated and all gas lines and water lines have been turned off and blown out.
All except one, that is. The Kern River Pipeline that runs within about a block of the slide is being observed by company engineers, but so far, no action has been taken to turn off the gas supply. I have spent the better part of this morning contacting government officials and news outlets, trying to get some attention to this. This is a high-pressure line flowing at 1333 psi -- part of a pipeline thousands of miles long running from Wyoming to California. I have written about it before here and here.
In my opinion, the Kern River pipeline poses the greatest possible threat to that neighborhood and possibly the entire hillside. Should the earth move and cause the line to rupture, there could be an explosion and fire. Fire would quickly spread across the dry mountainside. The risk of not shutting down the pipeline now is huge and failure to do so shows great irresponsibility on the part of state and local officials.
You only need to look at the area with your own eyes to see what a risk it is having that pipeline where it is. I drove down Center Street in North Salt Lake this afternoon and took some photos that provide a bigger-picture of what's going on. The gravel pits conduct frequent blasting as part of their operations. One has to wonder if that affects the stability of the hillside. Notice how near the gravel pit is getting to houses. Also notice how close the Kern River pipeline runs to both houses and the gravel pit where blasting occurs. Also, further note that the pipeline crosses the Wasatch fault line in the Bountiful hills five or six times. And add to that, the instability of this sandy hillside rife with underground springs.
The red arrow here points to the landslide that occurred today--visible even from miles away.
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This Google maps image shows the area of today's slide, the path of the Kern River pipeline, the current active gravel pit, and an old slide area in the Springhill neighborhood where some dozen or more homes were lost to sliding ground over the past decade.
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Moving back a ways, you can see today's slide area near the right edge of my picture, with the Kern River pipeline pathway extending up the mountain behind it.
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Zooming out further you can see the large active gravel pit directly below the slide area. The red arrow points to the Kern River pipeline path where it follows the edge of the active gravel pit and then crosses under I-15.
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Panning to the right, you can see how large the gravel pit operations are in this area.
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And panning to the left, you can see more of the Kern River pipeline pathway clearly visible as it crosses the Wasatch mountains above Bountiful.
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Just once, wouldn't it be nice to say a disaster was anticipated and averted by the government proactively taking steps? Unlike this morning when the family in the home that was crushed were awakened by neighbors and able to get out safely just before the slide hit. Officials had warned the neighborhood to remove valuables from their basements a few days earlier. But in a press conference the mayor and others said they never expected the entire hill to come down. We never expected it!
We never do expect these things, do we?
Well, I've been sounding the alarm on Kern River pipeline for many years and my words fall on deaf ears. It is a disaster waiting to happen. And I will take no pleasure in saying "I told you so."
Ultimately what I think needs to happen is that the government require Kern River to run lines in the existing gas right of way as they should have in the first place, and discontinue use of the pipelines in the Bountiful hillside. But today, they need to shut off the gas immediately until the hill is found to be stable. And I would say that would be the same length of time they are requiring people to stay out of their homes.
ORIGINAL POST:
A disaster has occurred. But another, more insidious disaster could be waiting in the wings.
This news link and this news link show some dramatic footage of the landslide that suddenly occurred this morning (please click on the links to see photos as I don't have rights to reproduce them here). One house was crushed, and the residents had only left that house shortly before that occurred. And here's a link to a photo gallery of the slide area and the crushed home. Officials say that 27 homes have been evacuated and all gas lines and water lines have been turned off and blown out.
All except one, that is. The Kern River Pipeline that runs within about a block of the slide is being observed by company engineers, but so far, no action has been taken to turn off the gas supply. I have spent the better part of this morning contacting government officials and news outlets, trying to get some attention to this. This is a high-pressure line flowing at 1333 psi -- part of a pipeline thousands of miles long running from Wyoming to California. I have written about it before here and here.
In my opinion, the Kern River pipeline poses the greatest possible threat to that neighborhood and possibly the entire hillside. Should the earth move and cause the line to rupture, there could be an explosion and fire. Fire would quickly spread across the dry mountainside. The risk of not shutting down the pipeline now is huge and failure to do so shows great irresponsibility on the part of state and local officials.
You only need to look at the area with your own eyes to see what a risk it is having that pipeline where it is. I drove down Center Street in North Salt Lake this afternoon and took some photos that provide a bigger-picture of what's going on. The gravel pits conduct frequent blasting as part of their operations. One has to wonder if that affects the stability of the hillside. Notice how near the gravel pit is getting to houses. Also notice how close the Kern River pipeline runs to both houses and the gravel pit where blasting occurs. Also, further note that the pipeline crosses the Wasatch fault line in the Bountiful hills five or six times. And add to that, the instability of this sandy hillside rife with underground springs.
The red arrow here points to the landslide that occurred today--visible even from miles away.
Just once, wouldn't it be nice to say a disaster was anticipated and averted by the government proactively taking steps? Unlike this morning when the family in the home that was crushed were awakened by neighbors and able to get out safely just before the slide hit. Officials had warned the neighborhood to remove valuables from their basements a few days earlier. But in a press conference the mayor and others said they never expected the entire hill to come down. We never expected it!
We never do expect these things, do we?
Well, I've been sounding the alarm on Kern River pipeline for many years and my words fall on deaf ears. It is a disaster waiting to happen. And I will take no pleasure in saying "I told you so."
Ultimately what I think needs to happen is that the government require Kern River to run lines in the existing gas right of way as they should have in the first place, and discontinue use of the pipelines in the Bountiful hillside. But today, they need to shut off the gas immediately until the hill is found to be stable. And I would say that would be the same length of time they are requiring people to stay out of their homes.