Local View: Pipeline vandalism has many consequences

In recent days I’ve read how the oil pipelines of several prominent, large pipeline companies have been shut down or where efforts were made to shut them down by people and groups opposed to their sheer existence. If I might make at least a generalization, the people and groups executing such acts are opposed to the use of fossil fuels in large part and fearful of the damage they do or could do to the environment.
Well, I wish we weren’t so reliant on fossil fuels, too, and I also am always concerned about preserving our environment in the best way we possibly can.But I can tell you that, without a shadow of a doubt, going out and closing a valve on an operating pipeline without the knowledge of the owner or operator puts lives at risk. Let me elaborate on the very possible ramifications.Those involved think that closing the valve will just stop the flow of the product in the line. Pretty simple. What they don’t know is what other activities may be occurring on that line at that time in another location. What if the line has some scheduled maintenance activity going on upstream and closing the valve sends a pressure spike (an absolute guarantee to happen) to the area where crews are working? What do you think could happen then? The unintended consequences could include death, damage to the environment, irreparable damage to someone’s well-being or the loss of money because of the interruption of the availability of something on which many good people and businesses heavily rely. Let me explain it another way. If you are in a car and the driver has complete control of the car and you do not like where the driver is going, would it be wise to jerk the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands? What do you think could happen?Or imagine a locomotive coming down the tracks and you jump out in front of it and now it needs to stop. How long do you think that takes?Now put these two scenarios together. If you try to take control of carefully pressurized pipelines with a billion pounds (yes, “billion” with a “b,” and I can prove that) of moving product from the hands of experienced, professional operators, do you get your point across or do you just cause an incident that you and maybe your family will have to pay for as long as you live? Much to the praise of Enbridge, TransCanada, Spectra and Kinder-Morgan, a tragedy didn’t happen in recent days. But it certainly could have. We were lucky the people doing these crazy stunts didn’t kill someone (a likely and unintended outcome), cause a regional economic disaster (another likely unintended outcome), or an environmental disaster for which they would be held solely responsible.I am not overstating these possibilities. You never jerk the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver - ever.  If you don’t like where the driver is going, there are many other options, and they should all be used.For those with a passion for doing good, righting the world, and so on: hang in there; I am OK with that, and I truly hope you can. However, do not let your emotions or your desires be so strong they cloud the very possible consequences of your actions. These unintended outcomes go from having an infinitely low probability on normal operations to an incredibly high probability when taking control of someone’s pipeline.To the extent pipeline operators can prosecute the vandals, I hope they do. R.J. (Bob) Schoneberger is president of United Piping Inc. in Duluth (unitedpiping.us).In recent days I’ve read how the oil pipelines of several prominent, large pipeline companies have been shut down or where efforts were made to shut them down by people and groups opposed to their sheer existence. If I might make at least a generalization, the people and groups executing such acts are opposed to the use of fossil fuels in large part and fearful of the damage they do or could do to the environment.
Well, I wish we weren’t so reliant on fossil fuels, too, and I also am always concerned about preserving our environment in the best way we possibly can.But I can tell you that, without a shadow of a doubt, going out and closing a valve on an operating pipeline without the knowledge of the owner or operator puts lives at risk. Let me elaborate on the very possible ramifications.Those involved think that closing the valve will just stop the flow of the product in the line. Pretty simple. What they don’t know is what other activities may be occurring on that line at that time in another location. What if the line has some scheduled maintenance activity going on upstream and closing the valve sends a pressure spike (an absolute guarantee to happen) to the area where crews are working? What do you think could happen then? The unintended consequences could include death, damage to the environment, irreparable damage to someone’s well-being or the loss of money because of the interruption of the availability of something on which many good people and businesses heavily rely. Let me explain it another way. If you are in a car and the driver has complete control of the car and you do not like where the driver is going, would it be wise to jerk the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands? What do you think could happen?Or imagine a locomotive coming down the tracks and you jump out in front of it and now it needs to stop. How long do you think that takes?Now put these two scenarios together. If you try to take control of carefully pressurized pipelines with a billion pounds (yes, “billion” with a “b,” and I can prove that) of moving product from the hands of experienced, professional operators, do you get your point across or do you just cause an incident that you and maybe your family will have to pay for as long as you live? Much to the praise of Enbridge, TransCanada, Spectra and Kinder-Morgan, a tragedy didn’t happen in recent days. But it certainly could have. We were lucky the people doing these crazy stunts didn’t kill someone (a likely and unintended outcome), cause a regional economic disaster (another likely unintended outcome), or an environmental disaster for which they would be held solely responsible.I am not overstating these possibilities. You never jerk the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver - ever.  If you don’t like where the driver is going, there are many other options, and they should all be used.For those with a passion for doing good, righting the world, and so on: hang in there; I am OK with that, and I truly hope you can. However, do not let your emotions or your desires be so strong they cloud the very possible consequences of your actions. These unintended outcomes go from having an infinitely low probability on normal operations to an incredibly high probability when taking control of someone’s pipeline.To the extent pipeline operators can prosecute the vandals, I hope they do. R.J. (Bob) Schoneberger is president of United Piping Inc. in Duluth (unitedpiping.us).