Posted on 07/18/2006 8:01:21 PM PDT by Semper911
An oil tanker moored in Providence harbor was apparently struck by lightning, and is burning in towering flames. I posted this in breaking because there is an LPG tanker moored nearby, and officials are worried the mooring lines on the burning tanker will burn through, and it will drift toward the LPG.
If that's possible, shouldn't they be evacuating everyone within 5 or 6 miles?
Are you sure it was lightning? It could have been Patrick Kennedy.
I sure as hell hope so. I expect they are shoveling coal (so to speak) as we speak.
Yes.
I think ClearCase should have said....
"It was an TWA 800 tin foil hat, missle shoot down conspiracy theory joke."
and I thought it was a good one.
just for the record.
LNG=Liquefied Natural Gas (boom)
Is it propane or is it nitrogen?
Fire is near I-95 & Detroit Ave. Tanker with home heating oil is burning due to lightening strike.
Ch. 12 WQRI reports the facility holds jet fuel also. Fire started about 9pm.
Aren't they under power and moored in the harbor?
You are correct. The TV news people have corrected themselves. I apologize for the incorrect info.
It's natural gas, lady. Not nitrogen.
Points of commonality:
TWA 800 -- July 17; this incident -- July 18
TWA 800 -- explosion; this incident -- explosion
TWA 800 -- plane; this incident -- ship
TWA 800 -- fuel tank concerns; this incident -- LNG tanker concerns
There's enough there to make the juxtaposition worthy of humor.
If there are mooring lines, it's not undeer power. they generally shut down the main propulsion engines, which take several hours to fire up and get going. besides, they have to get the crew out of the bars, first.
Here's an article about the tank in question---
Residents quiz officials on safety of LNG
PROVIDENCE -- Another public hearing on KeySpan LNG's plan to upgrade its liquefied natural gas facility at Fields Point prompted testy debate last night over whether the federal agency studying the application is willing to consider worst-case scenarios.
"How many people are projected to die if a catastrophe occurs?" resident Steve Fischbach asked, picking up on a theme expressed by others in a hearing at Roger Williams School that drew 60 people.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held the hearing and will hold one tonight at 7 at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown before drafting an environmental impact statement.
KeySpan does not plan to expand the 600,000-barrel LNG tank that has been at the site since 1974.
It wants approval to build a berth alongside to allow ships to deliver the fuel, and install vaporizers that would permit natural gas to be piped throughout New England, via a pipeline along Allens Avenue.
Bill Orr, KeySpan's president, said the berth and vaporizers would make distribution of gas more efficient, because a ship would carry as much liquefied natural gas as is carried by 2,000 tanker trucks from Boston.
Special Assistant Attorney General Terence Tierney asked if regulators looked at what would happen if one or two hijacked planes deliberately crashed into a ship as it was unloading LNG.
Robert Arvedlund, a cryogenic engineer working for FERC, said at least three or four studies have looked at worst-case scenarios, but said he did not think the agency needed to consider what would happen if a ship were hit by a plane.
"Why not?" Tierney asked.
"Because it's not realistic," said Capt. Mary Landry, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office.
Experts can't analyze every possible scenario because there are too many, and must focus on the the most probable disasters, she said.
If every decision were dictated by the worst that could happen, "we would stop energy delivery in this country, and I don't think that's the way to go," she said.
According to one or two of the studies, Arvedlund said, an LNG explosion could create a fireball with a half-mile radius, but insisted that it would be unlikely to happen. When a ship laden with propane gas was hit by a shoulder-fired missile in the Middle East, the attack created a small fire and no explosion, Arvedlund said.
Residents are also worried about the effect on recreational boating and disruption of ferry service while LNG is being delivered.
Landry said it seemed unlikely that the Coast Guard would halt shipping and boating as far as a mile from the ship as it is being unloaded and that a security zone would be closer to 500 to 1,000 yards. The details are being drafted, she said.
The Coast Guard, the East Providence harbor patrol and other municipal agencies have generally been able to absorb the costs of increased security, because only about 10 ships laden with propane gas arrive at the port each year, Landry said.
Security requirements would change if KeySpan were to bring in 50 ships a year.
"With that level of frequency," she said, even the Coast Guard would not want to foot the bill for security and would probably ask the gas industry to pay for it.
If the ships or KeySpan cannot, "Then we won't let them operate until they do," she said.
And fill up with gas (sorry:')
:)
Provincetown is flaming no matter what
ok its Providence not Provincetown
bad brain
TV reports the tanker is in harbor at the Motiva-Shell facility that holds jet fuel & deisel. Lightening is thought to be the cause.
Correction: Fire was reported at 10:15pm.
Reports there are 3 warehouses & 6 deep water unloading bases. No word yet on any casualties.
Reports: Providence Firefighters are on the ground. Airport is also contributing foam to fight the fire.
Reports: Dangers....smoke is very toxic....firefighters must work around the edge of fire & completely cover it with foam.
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